Alan Gilbert News

Alan Gilbert will launch the New York Philharmonic's 168th season's subscription concerts in his new role as Music Director, conducting works that reflect his interest in creating programs that feature established repertoire and new and lesser-known music in innovative contexts.

Operatic comedy at its most appealing opens the 2009/10 L.A. Opera season. A magic love potion and destiny decide the fate of a love triangle involving a small-town bumpkin, a dashing sergeant and the bewitching town flirt in one of opera's most popular comedies. Filled with light-hearted charm and bursting with feel-good laughs, Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love features effervescent Italian melodies and plenty of bel canto vocal fireworks.

Alan Gilbert will become the 25th music director of the New York Philharmonic when he conducts the Opening Night Gala Concert of the Orchestra's 168th season, Wednesday, September 16, 2009, at 7:30 p.m.

New York Philharmonic President and Executive Director Zarin Mehta has appointed John Mangum as Artistic Administrator of the New York Philharmonic. Mr. Mangum assumes his position on September 2, 2009, two weeks prior to the start of the Orchestra's 2009-10 season under the baton of its new Music Director, Alan Gilbert.

The New York Philharmonic presents its final two concerts in Vail, both led by Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert, and says farewell to two of its own ? Principal Clarinet Stanley Drucker, who is retiring after 60 years, and Associate Principal Bass Jon Deak, retiring after 39.

Having taken a bus, a plane, and another bus, the New York Philharmonic has arrived in Colorado and begun rehearsals for its seventh annual residency in Vail. The first concert is tonight, conducted by Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert and with baritone Nathan Gunn singing Copland.

A live concert recording of the New York Philharmonic's performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 conducted by Alan Gilbert will be available for streaming on the Orchestra's Website, nyphil.org, through July 31, 2009.

Having taken a bus, a plane, and another bus, the New York Philharmonic has arrived in Colorado and begun rehearsals for its seventh annual residency in Vail. The first concert is tonight, conducted by Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert and with baritone Nathan Gunn singing Copland.

A live concert recording of the New York Philharmonic's performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 conducted by Alan Gilbert will be available for streaming on the Orchestra's Website, nyphil.org, through July 31, 2009.

The New York Philharmonic will open its doors to the public on Wednesday, September 16, 2009, at 9:45 a.m. for a free Open Rehearsal for the evening's concert, which will launch the Orchestra's 168th season, Alan Gilbert's inaugural season as the Philharmonic's 25th Music Director.

On July 16 and 17, 2009, the New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, sponsored by Target and MetLife Foundation, brought the Orchestra to the Bronx and back to Manhattan. Alan Gilbert, who will become the Orchestra?s Music Director in September 2009, conducted and was joined by baritone Nathan Gunn in Central Park. An online photo album captures the excitement.

American baritone Thomas Hampson has been named the Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic for the 2009-10 season in conjunction with his role as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence. Mr. Hampson will present two Insight Series events and the Annual Erich Leinsdorf Lecture in a series entitled 'Listening to Thought,' exploring the interplay of verbal and musical languages in vocal music.

On July 14, 2009, the New York Philharmonic opened the 2009 Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, Sponsored by Target and MetLife Foundation, with works by Mozart and Beethoven performed on the Great Lawn of Central Park before an estimated crowd of 80,000. Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert was at the helm.

This summer, for the first time, those attending the free 2009 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, Sponsored by Target and MetLife Foundation, can send a text message to support the Philharmonic and its free concerts in the parks.

The New York Philharmonic's performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand, conducted by Lorin Maazel in his last program with the Orchestra as Music Director, will be broadcast live, Thursday, June 25, 2009, on The New York Philharmonic This Week - a two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the Philharmonic.

Gary W. Parr was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., today at a meeting of the organization's Board of Directors. He will hold the title of Chairman Designate through the summer and assume the Chairmanship on September 24, 2009, succeeding Paul B. Guenther, who has held the post since September 1996. As Chairman, Mr. Parr will serve as the Society's chief volunteer officer.

The world premiere by New York Philharmonic Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg that will open the 2009-10 season - Alan Gilbert's debut season as Music Director - has been titled EXPO. The work, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, will be the first piece on the Philharmonic's opening night program, conducted by Mr. Gilbert on September 16, 2009. 'I wanted to give it a strong, celebratory title,' explains Mr. Lindberg. The work will be the first of two World Premiere-New York Philharmonic Commissions by Mr. Lindberg to be performed in the 2009-10 season.

New York Philharmonic Principal Clarinet Stanley Drucker, who will retire from the Orchestra at the end of the 2008-09 season concluding a 60-year tenure, has set a new Guinness World Record for the 'Longest Career as a Clarinetist.' The record text reads: 'The longest career as a clarinetist was achieved by Stanley Drucker (USA, b. 4 February 1929) who performed professionally for 62 years, 7 months, 1 day as of June 4, 2009.'

At a press conference in Tokyo today, New York Philharmonic Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert and President and Executive Director Zarin Mehta announced the details of Asian Horizons: Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic, October 8?24, 2009. This will be the Orchestra?s inaugural international concert tour under the leadership of Alan Gilbert, who will begin his tenure as Music Director in September 2009. Asian Horizons will consist of eleven concerts, spanning five Asian countries, with performances in Tokyo, Japan (a destination of special significance in light of Mr. Gilbert?s Japanese heritage); Seoul, Korea; Singapore; and the Philharmonic?s debut performances in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Pianist Emanuel Ax and violinists Frank Peter Zimmermann and Ye-Eun Choi (Philharmonic debut) are the featured soloists on the tour. Asian Horizons marks the fourth New York Philharmonic concert tour under the aegis of Credit Suisse, the Orchestra?s Global Sponsor, and the second in Asia.

The New York Philharmonic's performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Symphony of a Thousand, conducted by Lorin Maazel in his last program with the Orchestra as Music Director, will be broadcast live, Thursday, June 25, 2009, on The New York Philharmonic This Week - a two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the Philharmonic.