Osvaldo Golijov's CREATION to Premiere with Boston Symphony Orchestra

On November 12–14, 2026, the Boston Symphony Orchestra will present the world premiere of Creation, a new evening-length oratorio by composer Osvaldo Golijov, at Symphony Hall in Boston. Conceived as a contemporary response to Haydn's The Creation, the work explores the continual creation and renewal of the universe, weaving together stories of life, death, and wonder. With a book by David Henry Hwang and lyrics by Leah Hager Cohen, Creation brings together orchestra, adult and children's choirs, and four soloists whose distinct musical traditions are central to Golijov's vision.

Conducted by Eric Jacobsen, the premiere features GRAMMY Award–winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, bass-baritone Davóne Tines, Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, and Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor, alongside the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and BSO x NEC Honors Children's Choir. The production also features original artwork and animation by Alex Sopp, with projections designed by Camilla Tassi. Co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Edinburgh International Festival, the premiere is the centerpiece of the BSO's Creation Festival, part of its multi-season exploration of Faith in Our Time.

Where Haydn's monumental oratorio recounts the biblical story of the world's beginnings, Golijov's Creation imagines a universe without a fixed beginning or end, in which life emerges through an endless cycle of transformation. Its stories are told through an array of voices and perspectives, from the world's oldest tree and the first dog sent to outer space to the first human born to a woman and fantastical beasts. Throughout, a children's chorus persistently asks the fundamental questions: “Why? How?” Ultimately, their questions give way to a chorus of cosmic joy, teaching us to celebrate life even when answers fall short.

'There's no Big Bang or 'In the Beginning' here,' Golijov explains. 'In fact, there's no beginning, only a constant swirl of atoms that gives birth and brings death to everything except for the dancing atoms themselves.'

The work brings together musical worlds spanning classical, jazz, Brazilian percussion, Persian traditions, and electronic sound. Golijov has conceived the four soloists as creative forces whose musical identities shape the work itself. Their contributions are joined by the synthesizer, electric guitar, and sound design of Jeremy Flower.

'I am lucky to be working on this piece with soloists who are vessels of great mythologies,' Golijov says. 'In our work together, we open ourselves to untap the potential that the collisions and fusions of these worlds may bring.'

For Golijov, the work's central questions are as much musical as philosophical: 'Does it dance? Does it tell us the story as if we are children filled with awe and wonder?'

“Creation is a hymn to life composed of life, composed of celebration and lamentation, of wonder and rue and love, and all of it in motion. —Osvaldo Golijov

Creation draws on lyrics created by Cohen, alongside writings by Dante Alighieri, Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Ecclesiastes, the Zohar, and the Psalms. Moving between celebration and lamentation, the oratorio confronts both the beauty of the natural world and humanity's capacity for cruelty and tenderness, asking what it means for us, human beings, to become creators.

Golijov describes Creation as 'a hymn to life composed of life, composed of celebration and lamentation, of wonder and rue and love, and all of it in motion.'

The premiere reunites Golijov and Hwang, whose previous collaboration, the opera Ainadamar, was commissioned by the BSO and premiered at Tanglewood in 2003. Its acclaimed recording subsequently won two GRAMMY Awards. Creation also recalls the ambitious scale and cross-cultural musical language of Golijov's landmark La Pasión según San Marcos, which received its North American premiere at Symphony Hall in 2001.

The visual dimension of the new oratorio is equally integral to the experience. At Golijov's invitation, artist and musician Alex Sopp has created original artwork inspired by Creation, commissioned by the Prior Performing Arts Center at the College of the Holy Cross. Her imagery will form the centerpiece of projections designed by Camilla Tassi, incorporating the work's supertitles.