Jaap van Zweden To Conduct 28th Annual Free Memorial Day Concert, May 27

Music Director Jaap van Zweden will conduct the New York Philharmonic in Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 at the 28th Annual Free Memorial Day Concert, Monday, May 27, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the performance; ticket distribution will begin at 5:00 p.m. The audio of the performance will be broadcast onto the adjacent Pulpit Green, weather permitting. The program will be presented without intermission.

Since it was introduced in 1992, this gift to the people of New York City has become both a day of musical remembrance and a traditional start of the Philharmonic's summer activities, with The New Yorker calling it "one of the orchestra's most admirable traditions."

The New York Times wrote of Jaap van Zweden and the Orchestra's performance of Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 at David Geffen Hall in September 2018: "Mr. van Zweden has made a specialty of Bruckner, and this performance demonstrated the strengths he brings to the task of conducting the monumental Eighth Symphony.... the performance had visceral intensity and won a long ovation from the audience."

Admission to this performance is free. Tickets are required and will be distributed at The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine beginning at 5:00 p.m. the evening of the concert; doors will open at 6:00 p.m. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the performance.

Photo Credit: Chris Lee