AAP VAN ZWEDEN and the NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
THE INAUGURAL SEASON, 2018–19 


OPENING NIGHT 
Inaugural Concert — September 20, 2018
World Premiere by Ashley Fure, Stravinsky The Rite of Spring,
Ravel Piano Concerto in G with Daniil Trifonov
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SEASON PILLARS: LED BY JAAP VAN ZWEDEN
MUSIC OF CONSCIENCE
World Premiere of David Lang opera prisoner of the state,
Directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer; John Corigliano Symphony No. 1; and more

NEW YORK STORIES: THREADS OF OUR CITY 
World Premiere of Julia Wolfe Fire in my mouth, and more

THE ART OF ANDRIESSEN 
World Premiere of Louis Andriessen Agamemnon, and more
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NEW MUSIC: NEW VENUES
Hosted by Nadia Sirota as Creative Partner, a new position
Nightcap at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
Sound ON at The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center

WORLD PREMIERES
New York Philharmonic Commissions 
Louis Andriessen, Ashley Fure, David Lang, Conrad Tao, and Julia Wolfe
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PHIL THE HALL 
$5 concerts for New York’s community and service professionals

Jaap van Zweden begins his tenure as the 26th Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in the 2018–19 season. In introducing Jaap, the Philharmonic also welcomes an expanded connection to New York City: embracing our position as New York’s Orchestra; weaving our tradition of innovation throughout the season’s programs; celebrating seminal works of the repertoire; exploring ways in which music impacts and responds to social issues; and telling the stories of our home city through music. The Philharmonic emphasizes its commitment to today’s composers and expanding audience experiences through two new series at The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. With a legacy of firsts, the New York Philharmonic will pave the way for its future while building on its storied past under the leadership of its new Maestro.

Jaap van Zweden said: “This season is a celebration of groundbreaking music, both new and classic, and in these turbulent times, powerful music is needed more than ever. Along with saluting the outstanding musicians of the New York Philharmonic, I look forward to connecting to our vital public and to honoring our traditions while establishing new traditions for the future. It is such an honor to be working with this Orchestra, our Board and staff, and, of course, my partner Deborah Borda. To be back in New York, where it all began for me as a student at Juilliard, is thrilling; to be part of the heartbeat of New York City is exhilarating.”

President and CEO Deborah Borda stated: “The story of this season is one of the future as well as the past. The New York Philharmonic flourishes when it lives in its time and in its community. That’s how it all got started 176 years ago. Our plan is for it to go at least another 176. Challenges are nothing new to this organization, nor is finding answers. Jaap van Zweden and the musicians of the New York Philharmonic are a powerful combination that will lead us into the future. In Jaap’s inaugural season we strive to introduce new ideas, new music in new ways, and new artists — and, critically, to be outward facing to the city we call home.”

Chairman Oscar S. Schafer commented: “We are excited to welcome Jaap and Aaltje van Zweden to the New York Philharmonic family. As our new Music Director, Jaap’s passion, energy, and vision will soon be felt at David Geffen Hall, New York City, the U.S., and the world.”

MUSIC DIRECTOR JAAP VAN ZWEDEN’S INAUGURAL SEASON

In his inaugural season as Music Director, Jaap van Zweden will conduct a broad range of repertoire including music of our time and cornerstones of the symphonic canon. He will connect with New York City through free concerts, special projects, and collaborations with cultural institutions.

• Opening Week
  Jaap van Zweden begins his tenure on September 20, 2018, with the inaugural Opening Gala Concert, featuring the World Premiere of a New York Philharmonic commission by Ashley Fure, Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major with Daniil Trifonov as soloist. The first subscription program, September 21–22 and 25, 2018, reprises Ms. Fure’s new work and The Rite of Spring, and Daniil Trifonov will return as soloist, this time in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor.
  
  

• Pillars of the 2018–19 Season
  Jaap van Zweden’s inaugural season will be anchored by three initiatives, each delving into a major theme through subscription programs, new-music concerts, and ancillary activities with partners across the city. Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic will explore how composers have responded to the social issues of their time through Music of Conscience (May–June 2019); musical expressions of the immigrant experience in New York through New York Stories: Threads of Our City (January 2019); and the music of Dutch composer Louis Andriessen, winner of the Philharmonic’s Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music, through The Art of Andriessen (October 2018). (More information to follow.)
  
  

• World Premiere–New York Philharmonic Commissions
  Jaap van Zweden will lead five World Premieres commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in the 2018–19 season: Louis Andriessen’s Agamemnon, David Lang’s opera prisoner of the state, Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth, and new works by Ashley Fure and Conrad Tao.
  
  

• Free and Low-Cost Concerts for New York
  Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic will engage with New York City in free and low-cost concerts throughout his inaugural season. The Philharmonic opens its doors to fellow New Yorkers with Phil the Hall, April 4–6, 2019, four $5 performances for New York’s community and service professionals, hosted by iconic New Yorkers at David Geffen Hall. Jaap van Zweden will also conduct all of the Philharmonic’s free concerts that are open to the whole city: the Annual Free Memorial Day Concert, May 27, 2019, and the Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, in June 2019.
  
  

• Repertoire Highlights
  Jaap van Zweden will lead works by composers ranging from Mozart, Brahms, Bruckner, and Stravinsky to Ives, John Adams, and Stucky. He will lead core symphonic masterworks such as Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, Jupiter; Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8; Mahler’s Symphony No. 6; Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2; and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, Leningrad, as well as waltzes by J. Strauss II on New Year’s Eve.
  
  

• Decca Gold Partnership
  The New York Philharmonic will launch its partnership with Decca Gold, Universal Music Group’s newly established U.S. classical music label, on February 23, 2018, with the release of Jaap van Zweden and the Philharmonic’s performances of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7. This new relationship between a major label and a major orchestra will yield a series of New York Philharmonic performances that will be made available on CD and for streaming and download. Decca Gold will also take over the New York Philharmonic’s catalogue of self-produced digital recordings released since 2008, expanding the reach of Philharmonic performances from the past decade. Decca Gold will release six additional recordings in the 2018–19 season featuring Jaap van Zweden and the Philharmonic. Details of these recordings will be announced at a later date.
  
  

 More information on Jaap van Zweden’s inaugural season is available at nyphil.org/jaap.

MUSIC OF CONSCIENCE

Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic will explore the ways in which composers have used music to respond to the social and political issues of their times in the three-week-long Music of Conscience. The first program, May 22–23, 25, and 28, 2019, will feature Jaap van Zweden leading two works written in opposition to tyrants: Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica. Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony (orchestrated by Barshai) derives from his String Quartet No. 8, written in three days while visiting Dresden 15 years after it was razed in an Allied bombing; it is inscribed “in memory of victims of fascism and war,” although Shostakovich was later quoted as saying that it was actually autobiographical, about his struggles and terror under Stalin. Beethoven initially dedicated his Eroica Symphony to Napoleon, but angrily scratched out the dedication when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, denouncing him as “a tyrant … who will think himself superior to all men”; the disillusioned composer then inscribed the manuscript to “the memory of a great man.”

The second program, May 30 and June 1, 2019, will feature John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1, the New York composer’s “personal response to the AIDS crisis” and inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The New York Philharmonic gave the symphony’s New York Premiere in January 1992 in a program “dedicated to those who have died of AIDS, those who are living with AIDS, and those who help and support them.” Audience members inscribed the names of AIDS victims they knew on a fabric panel that then became part of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was nominated for the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize and remains the world’s largest community art project. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center created its own Quilt Project, and a portion of that quilt — inscribed by visitors to Central Park in June 1988 — will be on display in the lobby of David Geffen Hall.

Music of Conscience, and the subscription season, will conclude June 6–8, 2019, with the World Premiere of David Lang’s opera prisoner of the state (co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in collaboration with Rotterdam’s de Doelen and London’s Barbican, Barcelona’s l’Auditori, Bochum Symphony Orchestra, and Bruges’s Concertgebouw), the story of a woman who disguises herself as a prison guard to rescue her husband from unjust political imprisonment. With a libretto by the composer that self-consciously refers to Beethoven’s opera, Fidelio, prisoner of the state will feature the Philharmonic debuts of soprano Julie Mathevet as The Assistant, tenor Alan Oke as The Leader, and baritone Jarrett Ott as The Prisoner, as well as bass-baritone Eric Owens as The Jailor. It will be directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer — who has directed works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, and Boston Lyric Opera, among others — in her Philharmonic debut.

During Music of Conscience, John Corigliano will curate a program of contemporary music as part of Nightcap at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse on June 1, 2019, and the Philharmonic will present “Response,” a contemporary glimpse at music of conscience performed by Philharmonic musicians as part of Sound ON at The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, on June 2, 2019. The New York Philharmonic will further explore music of conscience through ancillary activities with The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, the International Rescue Committee in New York, and Stonewall 50 Committee.

More information on Music of Conscience is available at nyphil.org/conscience.

NEW YORK STORIES: THREADS OF OUR CITY

Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic will examine New York City’s roots as a city of immigrants during New York Stories: Threads of Our City. It will center on the Orchestra’s January 24–26, 2019, performances of the World Premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. The work is based on the garment industry in New York at the turn of the century, and specifically focuses on the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, which killed 146 garment workers, most of them young, female immigrants. The immersive, multimedia performance will feature the Philharmonic debut of the 36 women of the Grammy Award–winning chamber choir The Crossing, directed by Donald Nally, and the Philharmonic debut of Jeff Sugg as scenic, lighting, video, and projection designer. The New York Philharmonic presented the New York Premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Anthracite Fields in May 2014.

The program will also include Stucky’s Elegy from August 4, 1964 and Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill as soloist. Stucky’s oratorio August 4, 1964 is based on a single date in Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency that led to both the United States’s entrance into the Vietnam War and the galvanization of the Civil Rights Movement. Jaap van Zweden led the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in the work’s World Premiere in Dallas and its New York Premiere at the 2011 Spring for Music festival at Carnegie Hall.

As part of New York Stories: Threads of Our City, a program of new music by immigrants, “Threads,” will be performed by Philharmonic musicians as part of Sound ON at The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, on January 27, 2019. New York City cultural institutions — including the Museum of the City of New York, National Archives at New York City, and the Tenement Museum — will join the New York Philharmonic in exploring immigration and labor activism with ancillary activities to be announced at a later date.

More information on New York Stories: Threads of Our City is available at nyphil.org/stories.

THE ART OF ANDRIESSEN

The New York Philharmonic will build on its commitment to nurturing long-term relationships with today’s composers through a focus on the works of Jaap van Zweden’s Dutch compatriot Louis Andriessen, October 4–13, 2018. Mr. Andriessen is the third recipient of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic, which recognizes a composer for extraordinary artistic endeavor in the field of new music.

Jaap van Zweden will lead the World Premiere of Louis Andriessen’s Agamemnon, October 4–6, 2018, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. The work is based on the story of the ancient Greek mythological character who sacrificed his daughter to the gods and, upon returning from leading the Greek forces in the Trojan War, was killed by his unfaithful wife and her lover in revenge for his sacrifice of their daughter. A second program, October 10 and 12–13, 2018, will feature David Robertson leadingLouis Andriessen’s TAO, with members of Synergy Vocals and Philharmonic pianist Eric Huebner in his Philharmonic subscription solo debut. TAO is the second part of Mr. Andriessen’s Trilogy of the Last Day, on the theme of mortality, andquotes the writings of ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu.

Louis Andriessen will curate a new-music program as part of Nightcap at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse on October 13, 2018,and his music will be the center of “Going Dutch,” a new-music program featuring Jaap van Zweden and Philharmonic musicians as part of Sound ON at The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, on October 7, 2018. New York City cultural institutions, including The Juilliard School, will join the New York Philharmonic in exploring the music of Louis Andriessen with ancillary activities to be announced at a later date.

More information on The Art of Andriessen is available at nyphil.org/andriessen.

NEW MUSIC: NEW VENUES
HOSTED BY NADIA SIROTA, CREATIVE PARTNER

In the 2018–19 season the New York Philharmonic introduces Nightcap and Sound ON, two new series highlighting the music of today in informal settings. Both series will be hosted by Nadia Sirota as Creative Partner, a newly created position. As the Peabody Award–winning host and producer of the podcast Meet the Composer, which profiles contemporary composers, a soloist, and a member of the ensemble yMusic, violist Nadia Sirota is a leader in the new-music community. She will be involved in the Philharmonic’s new-music initiatives, including curating Sound ON and hosting both series.

“I am extremely excited to work with the New York Philharmonic in this newly created role,” said Nadia Sirota. “There are so many wonderful concerts and incredible composers on the docket, the Philharmonic needed to tap more Lincoln Center spaces to pick up the overflow! The two new series I’m hosting, Nightcap and Sound ON, inspired by the fantastic programming this season, are designed for curious music lovers and newcomers alike. We will explore new pieces and meet the musicians who summon them, diving deep into sound, emotion, and creativity.”

• Nightcap at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse
  Nightcap is a series of late-night, cabaret-style concerts curated by composers of today, performed by guest musicians and ensembles, and hosted by Nadia Sirota, who will engage in conversation with the artists. Taking place at the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at 10:30 p.m. after select subscription programs, the collaborative concerts will explore themes related to those Philharmonic concerts in a casual and interactive setting. Curators for the 2018–19 season will include Conrad Tao, who will also perform on piano, on September 28, 2018; Louis Andriessen, on October 13, 2018; Gabriel Kahane, on November 10, 2018; Matthias Pintscher, on February 23, 2019; John Adams, on March 23, 2019; and John Corigliano, on June 1, 2019.
  
  

• Sound ON at The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center
  Sound ON is a series of afternoon chamber concerts of contemporary repertoire taking place at 3:00 p.m. in The Appel Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center. Hosted and curated by Nadia Sirota, the concerts will feature Philharmonic musicians performing works connected to key season initiatives: “Going Dutch” on October 7, 2018, featuring Jaap van Zweden and tied to The Art of Andriessen; “Threads” on January 27, 2019, tied to New York Stories: Threads of Our City; and “Response” on June 2, 2019, tied to Music of Conscience.
  
  

More information on the two new-music series is available at nyphil.org/nightcap and nyphil.org/soundon.

PHIL THE HALL

Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic will invite community and service professionals to Phil the Hall, four $5 performances, hosted by iconic New Yorkers and led by Jaap van Zweden at David Geffen Hall, April 4–6, 2019. The series will honor the Orchestra’s hometown and those who serve. Repertoire and artists will be announced at a later date.

More information on Phil the Hall is available at nyphil.org/philthehall.

THE MARY AND JAMES G. WALLACH ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE MATTHIAS GOERNE

The New York Philharmonic has named German baritone Matthias Goerne as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence for the 2018–19 season. He will perform a range of works with the Orchestra, all led by Jaap van Zweden, and chamber music with Philharmonic musicians. Mr. Goerne will perform songs by Schubert and Richard Strauss, December 6–8, 2018; Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem, alongside soprano Ying Fang and the Concert Chorale of New York, directed by James Bagwell, February 7–9, 2019; and John Adams’s The Wound-Dresser, March 21, 23, and 26, 2019. He will also perform chamber music with pianist Daniil Trifonov and Philharmonic musicians on March 17, 2019, at 92nd Street Y; the program will include Eisler’s Ernste Gesänge, a selection of Lieder, and Brahms’s Piano Quintet. Matthias Goerne and Jaap van Zweden have previously collaborated in acclaimed performances of songs by Schubert and Richard Strauss and on the Naxos compilation recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

More information on Matthias Goerne’s residency is available at nyphil.org/goerne.

FILM MUSIC

The New York Philharmonic will present several movie scores performed live to the complete films throughout the 2018–19 season. The sixth annual The Art of the Score, with Alec Baldwin as Artistic Advisor, will open with director Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, with Jonny Greenwood’s Grammy-nominated score performed live to the film, conducted by Hugh Brunt in his Philharmonic debut, September 12–13, 2018. The Art of the Score will also feature Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey with the score — featuring music by Richard Strauss, Ligeti, J. Strauss II, and Khachaturian — performed live to the film, conducted by André de Ridder, September 14–15, 2018. The Philharmonic will also present François Girard’s The Red Violin with John Corigliano’s Oscar-winning score performed live to the film, conducted by Michael Stern and featuring violinist Joshua Bell, the sound track’s original soloist, October 16–18 and 20, 2018; the New York Premiere screening of Home Alone in Concert with John Williams’s Oscar-nominated score performed live to the film, conducted by Constantine Kitsopoulos and featuring the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, directed by Dianne Berkun Menaker, December 20–21, 2018; and Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II, conducted by George Daugherty and created by Daugherty and David Ka Lik Wong, May 17–18, 2019, a program presented with Warner Bros. celebrating classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and their original Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn scores.

More information on The Art of the Score is available at nyphil.org/artofthescore.

OTHER SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Additional 2018–19 season highlights:

• Violinist Leila Josefowicz returns for Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, led by Jaap van Zweden, October 4–6, 2018.
• Tugan Sokhiev makes his Philharmonic debut, October 25–27, 2018, conducting an all-Russian program featuring violinist Gil Shaham.
• Concertmaster Frank Huang performs Barber’s Violin Concerto, October 31–November 1 and 3, 2018, conducted by Juraj Valčuha.
• Iván Fischer returns November 7–8 and 10, 2018, to conduct Schubert’s The Shepherd on the Rock (orchestrated by Reinecke) with Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill and soprano Miah Persson.
• Manfred Honeck returns for two weeks: November 15–17, 2018, to conduct a program that includes selected waltzes and polkas by J. Strauss II, and March 13, 15–16, and 19, 2019, to lead an all-Mozart program that includes the Requiem (unfinished).
• Emmanuelle Haïm, leading Baroque harpsichordist and conductor, makes her Philharmonic debut, November 21 and 23–24, 2018, leading works by Handel and Rameau.
• Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla makes her Philharmonic debut, January 3–5, 2019, conducting a program of works by Sibelius, Ravel, and Dvořák featuring cellist Gautier Capuçon.
• Pianist Yefim Bronfman returns for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2, led by Jaap van Zweden, January 16, 18–19, and 22, 2019.
• Pianist Emanuel Ax returns for Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major, Hob.XVIII: 11, and Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, led by Jaap van Zweden, January 30–February 2, 2019.
• Former Music Director Zubin Mehta returns February 14–16, 2019, leading works by Webern and Schubert.
• Matthias Pintscher makes his Philharmonic subscription debut, February 21–23, 2019, leading the New York Premiere of his mar’eh with violinist Renaud Capuçon as soloist in his Philharmonic subscription debut.
• Herbert Blomstedt returns February 28–March 2, 2019, to conduct a program of works by Dvořák and Grieg featuring pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.
• Cellist Yo-Yo Ma returns for the U.S. Premiere of Zhao Lin’s Concerto for Pipa and Cello, led by Long Yu and featuring pipa player Wu Man, March 6–9, 2019.
• Pianist Maurizio Pollini returns for a one-night-only performance of Schumann’s Piano Concerto led by Jaap van Zweden, almost 50 years after his Philharmonic debut, March 27, 2019.
• Semyon Bychkov returns for two weeks: April 24–25, 27, and 30, 2019, to conduct the U.S. Premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Symphony No. 2, Kenotaph, and May 2–4, 2019, to lead Bruch’s Concerto for Two Pianos, with Katia and Marielle Labèque as soloists.
• Patti LuPone returns to celebrate her 70th birthday, performing Broadway selections, including highlights from Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, and Evita, in the Spring Gala, May 16, 2019.
  
  

For more information on the New York Philharmonic’s 2018–19 season, its education programs, and more, visit: nyphil.org/addendum.