OSL celebrates its 50th anniversary with an incredibly ambitious 2024-25 season featuring 13 performances at Carnegie Hall, performances at the orchestra’s home, The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, and with partners in all five boroughs. OSL is truly an integral part of NYC’s classical music ecosystem.

Performances in Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage include conductor Louis Langrée making his Carnegie Hall debut with cellist Sterling Elliott as guest soloist on Nov 14; the New York debut of conductor Raphaël Pichon, who leads the U.S. premiere of his evening-length concert of Schubert and his contemporaries, Mein Traum on January 23; and two programs that mark Bernard Labadie’s final season as OSL Principal Conductor, first featuring pianist Marc-André Hamelin in Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto alongside works by Mozart and Haydn on February 13, and then Bach’s St. John Passion with Labadie’s own La Chapelle de Québec on April 10. 

OSL’s Chamber Music Series, performed in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, returns with celebrated bandoneon player Julien Labro playing music by Piazzolla and others on December 11; a program of wind music by Barber, Mozart and Strauss, along with Beethoven’s B-flat Piano Trio, with special guest pianist Zhu Wang on March 5; and the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour and Rita Dove’s A Standing Witness featuring mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and pianist Michael Boriskin on April 16. OSL’s Bach Festival in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall juxtaposes the Baroque master with three other composers: Vivaldi on June 3, French Baroque violinist and composer Jean-Marie Leclair on June 10, and Mozart on June 17, with featured guest artists conductor Lionel Meunier, countertenor Reginald Mobley, soprano Gemma Nha, violinist/conductor Théotime Langlois de Swarte, and pianist/conductor Angela Hewitt. The fourth and final performance of the festival on June 204 will feature OSL performing all six of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti.

The “Visionary Sounds” series at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music includes Matthew Aucoin & Freya Waley-Cohen with baritone John Brancy on Dec 4; Vocalists Eliza Bagg, Catherine Brookman, Kayleigh Butcher, & Kirsten Sollek perform Zorn, Brookman, & Bryan on Feb 19; and St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble in “Thoughts & Riddles” ft. works by Augusta Read Thomas, Joan Tower, Chen Yi, & more on April 30. The music of Chinese American composer Chen Yi is the focus of the annual NYC Five Borough Tour (March 23–29), and OSL celebrates the work of twelve other women composers in the 2024–25 season as well. OSL continues its tradition of offering free school concerts, with this season’s performances featuring the music of Kinan Azmeh. The Orchestra continues its longstanding collaboration with the Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC), performing live on every program during PTDC’s three-week Lincoln Center season on Nov 5–24. https://oslmusic.org