2022–23 BSO programs expand the orchestra’s work with young artists and voices new to the BSO, open a dialogue on social change, and celebrate enduring classics and renowned guest artists
CLICK HERE TO VIEW AN UPDATED 2022–23 BSO SEASON BROCHURE (PDF)
CLICK HERE TO VIEW AN UPDATED 2022–23 BSO SEASON PRESS RELEASE
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2022–23 SEASON
BSO MUSIC DIRECTOR ANDRIS NELSONS LEADS 13 PROGRAMS
• The September 22 opening night program welcoming Awadagin Pratt in his BSO debut performing J.S. Bach’s Piano Concerto in A and Jessie Montgomery’s Rounds for piano and string orchestra; program opens with John Williams’ A Toast! and closes with Holst’s The Planets, featuring the Lorelei Ensemble
• World premieres by Iman Habibi, Steven Mackey, and Carlos Simon; American premieres by Thierry Escaich and Thomas Adès; and recent works by Elizabeth Ogonek and Caroline Shaw
• An all-Wagner program—Act III of Tannhäuser, opening with the opera’s overture and Venusberg music; featured vocalists include Amber Wagner (Elisabeth), Klaus Florian Vogt (Tannhäuser), and Christian Gerhaher (Wolfram), as well as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, under the direction of James Burton
• The continuation of the orchestra’s Grammy Award-winning Shostakovich cycle with Symphony No. 3, The First of May, and Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar, with bass Ildar Abdrazakov and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, as well as Symphony No. 5
• Programs featuring three preeminent pianists of our time—Lang Lang (Saint-Saëns), Yuja Wang (Shostakovich), and Mitsuko Uchida (Beethoven); two rising stars of the classical music field: cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason (Bloch) and pianist Seong-Jin Cho (Ravel); and four widely acclaimed violinists: Augustin Hadelich (Britten), Janine Jansen (Bernstein), Anne-Sophie Mutter (Thomas Adès, American premiere), and Baiba Skride (Shostakovich)
• Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, Mahler’s Symphony No. 6, Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5, Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony, and Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1947 version, complete)
• A two-concert series at Carnegie Hall
Click here for a listing of BSO concerts with Andris Nelsons
BSO PRESENTS VOICES OF LOSS, RECKONING, AND HOPE—A THREE-WEEK FESTIVAL, MARCH 3-18, FEATURING WORKS BY AMERICAN COMPOSERS THAT INSPIRE DIALOGUE ON SOCIAL CHANGE
• Uri Caine’s The Passion of Octavius Catto—a work that reflects on the life and tragic death of civil rights activist Octavius Catto—with conductor André Raphel in his subscription series debut, the BSO, Uri Caine Trio, Barbara Walker, and the Catto Chorus; the program will also include Coleridge-Taylor’s Petite Suite de Concert and Still’s Symphony No. 1, Afro-American
• Anthony Davis’ You Have the Right to Remain Silent, featuring clarinetist Anthony McGill, on a program with a selection from Margaret Bonds’ Montgomery Variations and William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, under the direction of Thomas Wilkins
• Julia Wolfe’s Her Story (BSO co-commission) invokes the words of historical figures and the spirit of pivotal moments to pay tribute to the centuries of ongoing struggle for equal rights for women in America; the performance will be conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero and feature the Lorelei Ensemble, Beth Willer, conductor
PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE SEASON THAT ADDRESS THE TRAGEDIES OF WAR AND CONFLICT
• Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar, under the direction of Andris Nelsons, based on poems by Yevgeny Yevteshenko, is a five-movement denunciation of Stalinism, the first of which condemns Soviet revisionist history and anti-Semitism surrounding a Nazi massacre of Ukrainian Jews
• The American premiere of Ella Milch-Sheriff’s The Eternal Stranger, for narrator and orchestra, under the direction of Omer Meir Wellber; the work connects Beethoven’s difficulty in society due to his deafness to the hostility and rejection experienced by refugees and other “strangers”
• Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, with soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, under the direction of Giancarlo Guerrero (on program with Julia Wolfe’s Her Story), movingly contemplates the grief of a mother who lost her child to war (“Where has he gone, my dearest son? Perhaps during the uprising the cruel enemy killed him” is the opening text of the third song)
• Osvaldo Golijov’s Falling Out of Time, A Tone Poem in Voices, composed for a multicultural, multistylistic instrumental ensemble, drawing powerfully upon popular and folk music styles, and inspired by the experimental novel by David Grossman—who characterizes the loss of his son to war as “a disaster that befell me,” which “now permeates every minute of my life”; featured vocalists include Biella da Costa and Nora Fischer
BSO ARTISTS AND GUEST PERFORMERS AND COMPOSERS
BSO Assistant Conductors
• BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Rakitina opens her program with Elena Langer’s Suite from Figaro Gets a Divorce, followed by Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with pianist Inon Barnatan, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)
• BSO Assistant Conductor Earl Lee leads Unsuk Chin’s subito con forza, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, with soloist Eric Lu, and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2
Guest Artists and Composers
• In their Symphony Hall debuts, Karina Canellakis (Dvorák’s Wood Dove, Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No 2 with soloist Nicola Benedetti, and Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra) and Lahav Shani (Khachaturian Piano Concerto with soloist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, Classical, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances)
• In their BSO conducting debuts, Omer Meir Wellber (Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with soloist Midori, American premiere of Ella Milch-Sheriff’s The Eternal Stranger, and the Funeral March from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica, and his Leonore Overture No. 3) and Andrés Orozco-Estrada (Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 18 in B-flat with soloist Emanuel Ax, Bartók’s Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, and music of Enescu and Tchaikovsky)
• Making a return to the BSO podium, Alan Gilbert (world premiere of Justin Dello Joio’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Oceans Apart, with soloist Garrick Ohlsson, on a program with music of Boulanger, Stenhammar, and Dvorák)
• Thomas Adès, former BSO Artistic Partner (2016–22), opens his program with Stravinsky’s Perséphone; his own Suite from Inferno and Paradiso complete the program
Click here for the 2022–23 BSO Performance Schedule
2022–23 BSO Tickets
• Tickets to the 2022–23 BSO season–subscription renewals began on April 20 and public sale on August 8–may be purchased through bso.org, by calling 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Symphony Hall Box Office
New Thursday-evening start time, three-concert Sunday series and four-concert Casual Fridays series continue, and popular discounted programs return
• Thursday-evening BSO performances to begin at 7:30 p.m., in response to patron feedback
• BSO continues new three-concert Sunday-afternoon series, October 30, February 12, and March 5, with new start time of 2 p.m.
• For Casual Fridays, continuing for the eighth season, patrons are encouraged to wear casual attire and enjoy shorter programs, informal conversations with BSO members, and special Conductor-Cam seating
• BSO’s highly successful $25 tickets for people under 40 returns in 2022–23
• $30 College Card available throughout the season
• $10 Rush Tickets program, offering significantly discounted tickets to concertgoers on the day of concert since the orchestra’s inception, continues for select performances throughout the year
Click here for further details about ticketing and discount ticket programs
BANK OF AMERICA IS THE LEAD SPONSOR OF THE 2022–23 BSO SEASON
To view an online press kit including photos and video of the BSO and Andris Nelsons, guest artist bios and photos, and concert listings and a narrative season overview, click here
Links to Season Calendar Listings, Narrative Overview of Season, Ticket Purchasing Details, an Andris Nelsons Bio, and BSO History
• 2022–23 BSO Season Narrative Overview
• 2022–23 BSO Ticket and Access Information
• 2022–23 BSO Full Performance Listing
• 2022–23 BSO / Andris Nelsons Concert Listing
• Brief Description of BSO and Symphony Hall
• Andris Nelsons Bio