New York Philharmonic Announces Young People's Concert

The 96th season of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) will continue on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. with "Level Up - Beethoven, Andrew Norman, and Video Games," the third program in this season's series of YPCs, Music Across Borders. Conducted by Edwin Outwater, hosted by The Marie-Josée Kravis Creative Partner Nadia Sirota, and directed by Habib Azar, the program will explore how writing music is like playing a video game - specifically, how the development section of a piece is like creating your own story in a video game.

The program will illustrate the concept through the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; Level I from Play by Andrew Norman, who will speak about his piece; and a new work by 12-year-old Philharmonic Very Young Composer Kyler Simon, who will talk about the process of writing his piece in a video and onstage. Animation by Steven Mertens will accompany the performances of the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and Level I from Andrew Norman's Play.

Created by Jon Deak (Director, Very Young Composers Program) - a composer and former Philharmonic Associate Principal Bass - the Very Young Composers Program enables students from diverse backgrounds to compose music to be performed by Philharmonic musicians, sometimes by the full Orchestra.

Andrew Norman's Play was awarded the 2017 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, named one of NPR's top 50 albums of 2015, and nominated for a Grammy. He has also written works to be performed by and for young people and serves as the director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Barry and Nancy Sanders Composer Fellowship Program for young composers.

Attendees are invited to arrive early to take part in YPC Overtures on the Grand Promenade and upper tiers of David Geffen Hall, at which children can meet Philharmonic musicians, try out orchestral instruments, and participate in an interactive performance featuring original compositions by Very Young Composers.

Single tickets to Young People's Concerts start at $15; all tickets include admission to YPC Overtures. (Ticket prices subject to change.)

Tickets may be purchased online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday; 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday; and noon to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. Tickets may also be purchased at the David Geffen Hall Box Office. The Box Office opens at 10:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday, and at noon on Sunday. On performance evenings, the Box Office closes one-half hour after performance time; other evenings it closes at 6:00 p.m.