A Messiah for Our Time
In a fitting conclusion for a city that hosted the American premiere of Handel’s Messiah in 1818, NEP joins forces with Cantata Singers and vocal soloists on Sunday, April 28, at 3 pm in Jordan Hall to present A Messiah for Our Time. Sven-David Sandström’s dramatic 2009 setting of the Messiah’s well-known text will be performed for the first time on the East Coast. Co-conducted by Tianhui Ng and Cantata Singers Music Director Noah Horn, the season finale marks the first collaboration between the two organizations.
New Music New England
New Music New England is the NEP’s new programming initiative. This concert spotlights the vibrant New England-based composer community, specifically recognizing distinguished composer John Harbison on his 85th birthday. His composition, What Do We Make of Bach? (2018) will close the program with internationally renowned organist Paul Jacobs
The concert also includes the local premiere of Wan Lu’s Surge (2022), David Sanford’s Thy Book of Toil (2014), Kati Agócs’s Perpetual Summer (2010), and Charles Ives’s Three Places in New England (1911-1929).
Annual Family Concert
NEP’s annual Family Concert, on Sunday, December 10, at 3 pm at Tsai Performance Center, presents the Boston premiere of Jordan Kuspa’s Mystery of the Missing Music (2021). This musical whodunit showcases two teen actors, Lila Gurry and Hannah Nocon, as they introduce the instruments of the orchestra. The concert also features the winners of the NEP Young Artist Competition, Henry Tushman on piano and Sophie Long Sha Tung on violin.
Hey kids! Stay after the concert for our traditional Instrument Petting Zoo. You can come on stage to see the instruments up close and try some out yourself!
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Epic Journeys
Epic Journeys opens the season on Sunday, October 22, at 3 pm in Jordan Hall. The program’s theme traverses cultural differences and the immigrant experience, centering on the NEP Call for Scores winner, Oswald Huỳnh’s Gia Đình (Family). This is preceded by In Between II, a Co-commission with The Oberlin College & Conservatory, by NEP’s Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan. Closing the program is one of the most beloved works of Western classical music from China: The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (1959) by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, with Sophie Wang as soloist.
It is with regret that NEP’s concertmaster Danielle Maddon must step down as soloist due to health issues.
People in Between
Adeliia Faizullina Bolghar, 3 flute version for Symphony Orchestra (2020) (8 minutes)
New England premiere
Thomas de Hartmann Violin Concerto, op. 66 (1943) (37 minutes)
Danielle Maddon, violin
New England premiere
INTERMISSION
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony no. 7, “Leningrad” (1941) (75 minutes)
Poetic Dances
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Thank You Notes for Richard Pittman (2022)
NEP commission, world premiere
Kareem Roustom Ramal (2014)
Boston premiere
Elijah Daniel Smith Wraith Weight (2021)
NEP 2022 Call for Scores winner
New England premiere
Matthew Aucoin Two Dances (arr. 2022)
Danielle Maddon & Keir GoGwilt, violins
World premiere of orchestral arrangement
Sergei Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances (1940)
Symphonic Dance Party — Annual Family Concert
Texu Kim Spin-Flip (2014)
New England premiere
Claude Debussy Danses sacrée et profane (1904)
Olivia Lee, Harp
2022 Young Artist Competition Winner
Gabriela Ortiz Kauyumari (2021)
New England premiere
Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto in D MInor Op.47, Mvt. I (1904)
Ayaan Ahmad, Violin
2022 Young Artist Competition Winner
Aaron Copland Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes (1942)
Conduct Us! Featuring the New England Philharmonic
Join the NEP at the Boston Children’s Museum for our 2022 event!
Remembered Futures
John Corigliano Symphony no. 1 (1988)
Mary D. Watkins Soul of Remembrance, from Five Movements in Color (1994)
Boston premiere
Iván Rodríguez A Metaphor for Power (2018)
New England premiere
Eric Nathan Opening (2021)
New England premiere
VIDEO: New Friends, New Music
The NEP Chamber Players present chamber works by TJ Cole, Sofía Rocha, and Eric Nathan – composers whose full orchestral works were performed during the NEP’s 2021 - 2022 season.
Now streaming free on NEP’s YouTube Channel.
VIDEO: Eric Nathan's Double Concerto for Solo Violin, Solo Clarinet, and Strings
Performed live by Stefan Jackiw (solo violin), Yoonah Kim (solo clarinet) and the New England Philharmonic, with Yoichi Udagawa (conductor). Recorded at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall (Boston, MA) on Saturday, June 18, 2022.
Now streaming free on NEP’s YouTube Channel.
Into the Spotlight
Conducted by music director finalist Yoichi Udagawa
Kathryn Salfelder Fanfare for Richard Pittman
World Premiere, NEP Commission
Igor Santos ploy, pivot
2021 Call for Scores Winner
Boston Premiere
TJ Cole Nightscape
Boston Premiere
Eric Nathan Double Concerto for Solo Violin, Solo Clarinet, and Strings
Stefan Jackiw, violin, and Yoonah Kim, clarinet
Co-commission with The New York Classical Players
Boston Premiere
Witold Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra
Listening In: Composer Igor Santos
Listening In: A Deep Dive into the Music with the NEP is your opportunity to sit in on fun and lively conversations with the composers and artists on NEP’s concerts this season.Your hosts, New England Philharmonic Concertmaster and soloist Danielle Maddon, and Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan, take you behind the scenes to see how the music is made, what inspired it, and how performances have come together.
Refold, Rebuild, REVUELTAS!
Conducted by music director finalist Tianhui Ng
Yehudi Wyner Richard Pittman… Come Back!
World Premiere, NEP Commission
Sofía Rocha Replier
2020 Call for Scores winner
World Premiere
Chen Yi Spring in Dresden
Danielle Maddon, Violin soloist
Silvestre Revueltas La noche de los Mayas
The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
The NEP Chamber Players join the Northeastern University Choral Society, Chamber Singers and Mosaic Treble Choir to present Jocelyn Hagen’s multi-media work, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci.
Listening In: Composer Chen Yi
Listening In: A Deep Dive into the Music with the NEP is your opportunity to sit in on fun and lively conversations with the composers and artists on NEP’s concerts this season.Your hosts, New England Philharmonic Concertmaster and soloist Danielle Maddon, and Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan, take a step behind the scenes to see how the music is made, what inspired it, and how performances have come together.
Our Stories, Ourselves
Conducted by music director finalist Nicholas DeMaison
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Upbeat!
Boston Premiere
Jonathan Bailey Holland Stories from Home
George Tsontakis Violin Concerto No. 3
Danielle Maddon, Violin
Boston Premiere
Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 5
Listening In: Composer George Tsontakis
Listening In is your opportunity to sit in on fun and lively conversations with the composers and artists on NEP’s concerts this season.Your hosts, New England Philharmonic Concertmaster and soloist Danielle Maddon, and Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan, take a step behind the scenes to see how the music is made, what inspired it, and how performances have come together.
Dreams of Love and War
Conducted by music director finalist Adam Kerry Boyles
Michael Gandolfi Stepping Up Fanfare in Honor of Richard Pittman
World Premiere
Bernard Rands DREAM
Boston Premiere
Amy Beach Jephthah’s Daughter
Sarah Pelletier, soprano
Camille Saint-Saëns Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso in A minor
Ella J. Kim, violin, 2021 Young Artist Winner
Maurice Ravel Daphnis et Chloé, Suite 2
Musical Hide and Seek!
The New England Philharmonic’s String Quartet will lead you in a game of musical hide and seek. Use your eyes and ears to figure out which musician has Beethoven’s tune.
Two performances:
11:00 - 11:30 am
2:00 - 2:30 pm
Sherlock, Jr.
The NEP Chamber Players and the Boston Athenaeum present Sherlock, Jr., a Buster Keaton silent film with a new score by NEP Composer Laureate Bernie Hoffer, commissioned by the Boston Athenaeum. This new score, played live by the NEP Chamber Players Septet, matches the live action of the film as you watch.
The New England Philharmonic thanks the Boston Athenaeum for commissioning this lively new score which is receiving its world premiere at this event.
Visit the Boston Athenaeum website for more info!
Opening a New Door
Conducted by NEP Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan
Bernard Hoffer Fanfare for Dick
Eric Nathan the space of a door
Hannah Kendall The Spark Catchers
Igor Stravinsky Firebird Suite (1919)
Listening In: Composer Sofía Rocha
Join NEP Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan and Concertmaster Danielle Maddon for the next installment of the NEP’s virtual series, Listening In. Sofía Rocha, winner of the 2020 NEP Call for Scores, will join Nathan and Maddon to discuss her works Standing Waves and Scenes of Night.
Listening In: Clarinetist Yoonah Kim & Violinist Stefan Jackiw
Join NEP Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan and Concertmaster Danielle Maddon for the next installment of the NEP’s virtual series, Listening In. Clarinetist Yoonah Kim and violinist Stefan Jackiw join the NEP to discuss Eric Nathan’s Double Concerto, which was co-commissioned by the NEP and the New York Classical Players.
Listening In: Composer Bernard Rands
Join NEP Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan and Concertmaster Danielle Maddon for the next installment of the NEP’s virtual series, Listening In. Renowned composer Bernard Rands connects with Nathan and Maddon about his Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra and Concert for Piano and Orchestra.
Listening In: Composer TJ Cole
Jump into the music and join NEP Concertmaster Dani Maddon and Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan as they chat with composer TJ Cole about her works Nightscape and Playtime and learn about the inspiration for the works, the various performance techniques each piece requires, and the overall composition process.
This performance was part of the Virtual Boston New Music Festival, a two-week showcase of Boston’s leading new music ensembles.
Meet the Instruments
Join the NEP and the Boston Children’s Museum for our annual series Meet the Instruments. This year, the Meet the Instruments series has gone completely virtual. Rewatch the sessions on YouTube now!