American Symphony Orchestra to Launch 65th Season With Free 9/11 Anniversary Concert
Leon Botstein leads the ASO at Bryant Park, Carnegie Hall, and Riverside Church in a five-concert season.
The American Symphony Orchestra (ASO) announced its 65th season of five full-orchestra concerts led by Music Director Leon Botstein at Carnegie Hall, Bryant Park, the Kupferberg Center for the Arts, and Riverside Church. Continuing a popular tradition for the fifth consecutive year, the ASO will open its 2026-27 season on September 11 as part of the Picnic Performances series at Bryant Park. The free concerts, titled New York Resounds—which occur on the 25th anniversary of September 11—will offer a memorial program with music by Copland, Walker, Ives, Haydn, and Mahler. The free performance will be repeated at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts in Queens on September 13.
Season Highlights include a concert of music by Hasse, Benda, and Joseph Haydn's little brother, Michael, all eminent composers from Mozart's time that are rarely heard today (Nov. 5 at Riverside Church); an all-Beethoven program spanning such early works as the Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II to his later Consecration of the House Overture (Jan. 29 at Carnegie Hall); and the presentation of Strauss's light-hearted opera Intermezzo (Apr. 1 at Carnegie Hall). The ASO will be joined by the Bard Festival Chorale led by James Bagwell for the November and January performances.
New York Resounds
Friday, September 11, 2026, at 7:00 PM, Bryant Park
Sunday, September 13, 2026, at 3:00 PM, Kupferberg Center
American Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein, Conductor
Aaron Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
George Walker: Lyric for Strings
Charles Ives: The Gong on the Hook and Ladder
Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 44 in E minor “Trauersinfonie”
Gustav Mahler (arr. Cliff Colnot): Adagio from Symphony No. 10
This year's program, presented in partnership with Bryant Park, will be performed on the 25th anniversary of September 11. While serving as an occasion for remembrance, the program also celebrates the enduring strength of the human spirit. The majesty of Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, the anguished beauty of Mahler's Adagio from Symphony No. 10, the poignancy of George Walker's Lyric for Strings, the imagery of Ives's The Gong on the Hook and Ladder, and the intensity of Haydn's Symphony No. 44, (“Mourning Symphony”) together pay tribute to the contributions of ordinary Americans, as well as the courage and sacrifice of 9/11 heroes.
Attendance for both performances is free. RSVP to Kupferberg is required. Bryant Park staff lends out hundreds of free picnic blankets, provides bistro chairs, and offers a curated selection of food and drink to purchase from local vendors. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Mozart & Friends
Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 8:00 PM, Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive
American Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein, Conductor
Bard Festival Chorale
James Bagwell, Music Director of the Bard Festival Chorale
Soloists to be announced at a later date
Johann Adolf Hasse: Miserere in C minor
Michael Haydn: Missa Sancti Joannis Nepomuceni
Georg Anton Benda (arr. C.P.E. Bach): Gott steigt herab (God comes down)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Mass in C Major, K. 317 “Coronation Mass”
The ASO returns to Riverside Church with a program focusing on Mozart and the composers who influenced him, with particular emphasis on the tradition of sacred music. Once widely celebrated, composers such as Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783), Georg Anton Benda (1722-1795), and Michael Haydn (1737-1806)—Franz Joseph Haydn's younger brother—may be less familiar to audiences today, but were important influences on Mozart's work. Hasse's Miserere in C minor blends operatic lyricism with sacred solemnity. Likewise, Benda brought a dramatic flair to sacred music in his cantata, Gott steigt herab, while Haydn's compact Missa Sancti Joannis Nepomuceni exemplifies the simplicity that characterized liturgical music in Salzburg under Archbishop Colloredo. The program concludes with Mozart's beloved “Coronation” Mass in C Major, a work offering a variety of musical ideas that surpass anything he had written in the genre ahead of that time.
Tickets, starting at $25, will go on sale on September 1 at americansymphony.org.
Beethoven: A Voyage Beyond
Friday, January 29, 2027, at 8:00 PM, Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
American Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein, Conductor
Bard Festival Chorale
James Bagwell, Music Director of the Bard Festival Chorale
Soloists to be announced at a later date
All-Beethoven Program
Die Weihe des Hauses, Op. 124 (The Consecration of the House): Overture
Tremate, empi, tremate, Op. 116 (Tremble, guilty ones, tremble)
Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II
Meerestille und glückliche Fahrt, Op. 112 (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage)
Mass in C Major, Op. 86
To honor Beethoven in 2027, two hundred years following the composer's death, the ASO presents an all-Beethoven program showcasing several of his rarely performed works. Early scores such as the Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II (1790) and the concert trio Tremate, empi, tremate (1802) reveal the unmistakable qualities of Beethoven's genius: emotional intensity, raw energy, and dramatic breadth that would come to define his mature voice. Two late works—The Consecration of the House Overture and Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage—reflect his mastery of orchestral writing and musical depiction. The Mass in C Major, Beethoven's first religious work in a traditional liturgical style, is one of his most underappreciated masterpieces. Marked by striking dynamic contrasts, the work reimagines the conventional Mass with emotional depth and originality.
Tickets, starting at $25, will go on sale on September 1 at carnegiehall.org, by calling Carnegie Hall at 212.247.7800, or by visiting the box office at 57th St. & 7th Ave.
Strauss's Intermezzo
Thursday, April 1, 2027, at 8:00 PM, Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium / Perelman
American Symphony Orchestra
Leon Botstein, Conductor
Richard Strauss: Intermezzo, Op. 72
Strauss's Intermezzo (1924) is a deeply personal work for which he wrote his own libretto, inspired by episodes from his married life. Blending wit, warmth, and lyrical refinement, this comic opera offers a rare glimpse into Strauss's lighter compositional side, portraying the misunderstandings and reconciliations of the opera's story with technical command and musical sophistication. The role of Christine, based on Strauss's wife Pauline, was created by soprano Lotte Lehmann for the opera's 1924 premiere at Semperoper Dresden.
Tickets, starting at $25, will go on sale on September 1 at carnegiehall.org, by calling Carnegie Hall at 212.247.7800, or by visiting the box office at 57th St. & 7th Ave.