Michael Tilson Thomas News

Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival , one of New York's premier summer performance series, kicks off its 51st season on July 25. Among the highlights in the first two weeks are a special opening concert led by Louis Langrée, Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director, featuring traditional and indigenous songs from Mozart's time; a choral presentation by Les Arts Florissants; and guest conductors Edward Gardner and Gianandrea Noseda; festival debuts by more than 10 artists, including Kit Armstrong, Janai Brugger, Jennifer Johnson Cano, S? Percussion, Beatrice Rana, Ksenija Sidorova, and the Young People's Chorus of New York City; and the New York premiere of David Lang's concerto for percussion, man made. A complete listing of events from July 25 through August 6 follows.

This summer, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America, featuring 115 outstanding young musicians from across the country, comes together for its fifth year of extraordinary music making, culminating in the orchestra's first-ever tour of Latin America. NYO-USA's 2017 Latin America tour takes place from July 26 through August 4 with orchestra performances in Guadalajara, Mexico; Quito, Ecuador; and Bogota, Colombia, including side-by-side musical collaborations with fellow young musicians in all three tour countries.

The New York Philharmonic will return to Bravo! Vail in Colorado, celebrating its 30th season, for the Orchestra's 15th annual summer residency, July 21-28, 2017. The residency will include six orchestral concerts that honor the Philharmonic's legacy on the occasion of its 175th anniversary season and the conclusion of Alan Gilbert's tenure as Music Director.

San Francisco Symphony (SFS) President Sakurako Fisher, on behalf of the Board of Governors, and Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas, today announced the appointment of Mark C. Hanson as Executive Director of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS). Hanson will succeed Brent Assink, who stepped down from the position in March 2017 after 18 years as the Orchestra's chief administrator. Hanson will begin his new post September 1.

Following a one year hiatus, Midsummer Mozart returns for two concerts this summer.

Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) today released SFS Media's first-ever digital-only album, Berg: Three Pieces for Orchestra.

92Y's 17-18 season opens on October 5 with internationally renowned cellist Mischa Maisky joining the “amazing precision” (Huffington Post) of the notably conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which returns to 92Y for the first time in 15 years, to celebrate the cellist's 70th birthday season. Together, they open 92Y's illustrious concert season with Schubert's beloved “Arpeggione” Sonata, arranged for cello and string orchestra by Dobrinka Tabakova, as well as Arensky's Variations on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.  Acclaimed for the sheer intensity and vigor of his performances, Maisky has the distinct honor of being the only cellist in the world to have studied under both Gregor Piatigorsky and Mlatislav Rostrapovich.  The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is renowned as one of the foremost chamber orchestras in the world, with more than 70 albums in its sprawling discography since its founding in 1972.

With the launch of its 2017-18 season this fall, the New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy (NWS), led by Co-Founder and Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT), celebrates 30 years as the nation's most innovative training ground for the next generation of classical musicians, preparing its resident Fellows for professional careers through an experiential curriculum of hands-on training, live performance, and audience interaction.

Limiting access initially to a small group of university and conservatory students, New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy (NWS), now launches its online MUSAIC platform to the general public, in partnership with nine leading universities and conservatories (http://musaic.nws.edu/). Catering to a wide demographic from high-school students and college music majors to young professional musicians and serious amateurs, MUSAIC offers 24/7 access to an extensive video catalog of classical musical instruction, advice, and insight. Among the musicians to contribute content are Michael Tilson Thomas, Thomas Hampson, Yo-Yo Ma, Paula Robison, and Gil Shaham, as well as current and former members of some of the world's leading orchestras and educational institutions.

Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival , one of New York's premier summer performance series, kicks off its 51st season on July 25. Among the highlights in the first two weeks are a special opening concert led by Louis Langrée, Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director, featuring traditional and indigenous songs from Mozart's time; a choral presentation by Les Arts Florissants; and guest conductors Edward Gardner and Gianandrea Noseda; festival debuts by more than 10 artists, including Kit Armstrong, Janai Brugger, Jennifer Johnson Cano, S? Percussion, Beatrice Rana, Ksenija Sidorova, and the Young People's Chorus of New York City; and the New York premiere of David Lang's concerto for percussion, man made. A complete listing of events from July 25 through August 6 follows.

This July, three Carnegie Hall concerts showcase some of the finest young teen musicians from across the United States and abroad in performances presented over three consecutive nights in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage.

Sony Classical announces the release of Joshua Bell - The Classical Collection, a 14-CD set of albums of classical repertoire that the internationally acclaimed, Grammy® Award winning violinist has recorded for the label over the past twenty years. The collection is available worldwide on August 18th, 2017.

This July, Carnegie Hall brings together close to 200 of the best teen musicians from across the country for a month of exceptional music making as part of two exciting ensembles. The critically-acclaimed National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), now entering its fifth year, is comprised of 116 musicians, ages 16-19. NYO2, a new group launched in summer 2016 for younger players, ages 14-17, was created with a particular focus of attracting talented students from communities traditionally underserved or underrepresented in the classical music field. In total, the musicians of NYO-USA and NYO2 come from 40 US states, plus Puerto Rico. Both programs are free, ensuring that all promising young players can have the opportunity to take part in this unique community of musicians-learning from a world-class faculty, playing alongside talented peers, and performing with leading artists on the stages of some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, including Carnegie Hall.

New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), composed of orchestra, chamber, jazz, conducting, and composition programs, heads into the 2017/18 season with a new strategic plan to strengthen the organization's position as the premier, independent music education organization for ensemble training in the New York metropolitan area.

Joshua Gersen, New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductor will guest conduct the Adelphi Orchestra in a sumptuous concert of French masterworks on June 11th at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City.  Adelphi Orchestra's benefit concert for the orchestra's Young Artist Program "Une Fete en France" will showcase a former Adelphi Orchestra Young Artist Competition winner as guest soloist and will recognize the former winners and current finalists of the Adelphi Orchestra's Young Artist Program.  The concert's goal is to generate funds to support future outstanding young musicians through the Young Artist Program's endeavors.

Music Director Manfred Honeck leads the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, guest vocalists and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in Gustav Mahler's groundbreaking Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection," as part of the BNY Mellon Grand Classics at Heinz Hall on June 2-4.

Conductor Joshua Gersen will lead the New York Youth Symphony (NYYS) orchestra for the last time as Music Director for its 54th season finale on Sunday, May 28th at Carnegie Hall.

The New York Virtuoso Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, Conductor and Artistic Director, will present ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards Concert, the second event of their 2016-17 concert season on Saturday, May 20 @ 8:00 PM at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, 552 West End Avenue, New York, NY.

San Francisco Opera today announced its participation as a co-commissioner of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs—the first full-length opera written by Bay Area composer Mason Bates and set to a libretto by Mark Campbell—joining Santa Fe Opera and Seattle Opera, with support from Cal Performances. The new work is a co-production with Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and will have its world premiere beginning July 22, 2017 at Santa Fe Opera. San Francisco Opera will present the Bay Area premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs during the Company's 2019–20 repertory season at the War Memorial Opera House. Bates' electro-acoustic opera is composed in one act and is comprised of a prologue and 19 scenes.