The Orchestra Now Announces 2025-26 Season, September 20–May 12

Rarely Heard Works by John Cage, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Ulysses Kay, and Boris Lyatoshinsky; and World Premiere of Yevhen Stankovych’s
The Vikings Suite

Special Event at the Fisher Center at Bard: HD Screening of Jurassic Park
with Live Performance of the Score

Conductors James Bagwell, Leon Botstein, Tan Dun, Tatiana Kalinichenko,
Leonardo Pineda, and Zachary Schwartzman

Soloists Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Blythe; Tenor Ryan Michki;
Violinist Dmytro Tkachenko; Pianists Blair McMillen and Terrence Wilson

New York, NY, July 30, 2025 — The Orchestra Now (TŌN), the visionary orchestra and master’s degree program founded by Bard College, and led by president, conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein, begins its 11th season on September 20, 2025, and continues through May 12, 2026. Acclaimed for its novel combinations of both well-known and seldom-heard repertoire, TŌN offers 13 programs and a total of 20 concerts this season, including two at Carnegie Hall, three at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, three free concerts in Manhattan at Peter Norton Symphony Space and the Julia Richman Educational Complex, and 12 at the Orchestra’s home at Bard College’s Fisher Center, including one special event.

The Orchestra welcomes 28 new members this season, for a total of 63 musicians from 18 countries around the globe: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Mongolia, Netherlands, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.K., and the United States.

Highlights of the 2025-26 season
Leon Botstein conducts two concerts at Carnegie Hall, including a program of works by rarely-heard Eastern European composers and an all-Richard Strauss concert. The popular Sight & Sound series at The Metropolitan Museum of Art returns with three programs investigating the ties between fine arts and music through a focus on ancient Egyptian artwork and the music of Saint-Säens, Johann Strauss II, and Mozart; the simplistic style of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck alongside the works of Sibelius; and Mozart’s final Symphony, the Jupiter. The Fisher Center series at Bard College offers 12 performances of seven different programs, including a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with celebrated mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and the U.S. premiere of Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych’s The Vikings Suite. Of note is a special event at Bard: a screening of Jurassic Park with a live performance of the film score. There are also three free concerts in Manhattan, led by TŌN resident conductor Zachary Schwartzman at Peter Norton Symphony Space, and conductor Leonardo Pineda at the Julia Richman Educational Complex, joined by NYC’s All-City High School Orchestra.

“As we begin our 11th season, I look forward to building on the achievements of last year’s 10th anniversary, which included two successful concerts in Germany marking the Orchestra’s first European tour,” said founder and music director Leon Botstein. “Over the past decade, TŌN musicians can now be found as professionals in orchestras around the world, and as faculty members of major universities. I have no doubt that, in addition to their given musical talents, this is due to the foundation of TŌN’s program: exposure to both standard and unfamiliar repertoire, and experience with such special projects as movie screenings and recordings. On that note, I’m especially proud of two additional recordings coming out in the fall: Premieres, featuring violinist Gil Shaham; and Transcription as Translation.”

Broadcasts and Recordings
This year marks the 9th season of TŌN’s popular broadcast series on WMHT-FM, the classical music radio station of New York’s Capital Region, and the 8th season on WWFM, the Classical Network station serving New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, both featuring programs from the Orchestra’s Fisher Center series. TŌN’s performances are also heard regularly on American Public Media’s Performance Today. TŌN’s latest album, Exodus—featuring Josef Tal’s Exodus, Walter Kaufman’s Indian Symphony, and Marcel Rubin’s Symphony No. 4, Dies Irae—was released in September 2024. Scheduled for release in Fall 2025 are two albums: Premieres, featuring violinist Gil Shaham on Canary Classics in works by Scott Wheeler, Avner Dorman, and Bright Sheng (September 5); and Transcription as Translation, with works by Smetana and Beethoven on AVIE Records.

For detailed information about the 2025-26 season, visit ton.bard.edu.

CARNEGIE HALL SERIES, Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

Sounds and Echoes of Empire
Monday, October 13, 2025, at 7 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Overture on Russian Themes in D Major, Op. 28
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis: In the Forest (Miške)
Vítězslava Kaprálová: Military Sinfonietta, Op. 11 (Vojenská Symfonieta)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Festival Coronation March, TH 50
Boris Lyatoshynsky: Symphony No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 50
This program spotlights Eastern European works from the late-19th and early-20th centuries that reflect the nationalism of the Russian Empire. More familiar pieces like Rimsky-Korsakov’s Overture on Russian Themes and Tchaikovsky’s grand Festival Coronation March, written to celebrate the coronation of Alexander III, are performed alongside lesser-known works. The symphonic poem In the Forest, by Lithuanian composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, was among his earliest musical successes. The Military Sinfonietta of Vítězslava Kaprálová brought international exposure when the work received the prestigious Smetana Foundation award. Boris Lyatoshynsky’s Third Symphony was premiered in his native Ukraine in 1951, but later revised after being banned by Soviet authorities. TŌN performs the original version in this concert.

Strauss’s Alpine Symphony
Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 7 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Blair McMillen, piano
Members of the Bard Festival Chorale
James Bagwell, choral director
Members of the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra (for An Alpine Symphony)
All-Richard Strauss Program
Burleske in D Minor, TrV 145
Times of the Day, TrV 256, Op. 76 (Die Tageszeiten)
An Alpine Symphony, TrV 233, Op. 64 (Eine Alpensinfonie)
After a string of successful tone poems, An Alpine Symphony was Richard Strauss’s first such composition after nearly a dozen years of focusing on opera. Written for a massive orchestra that includes such rarities as the heckelphone, thunder sheets, and a wind machine, this rich masterpiece takes listeners through the ascent and descent of a mountain in the Alps, with meadows, streams, storms, and vistas along the way. Strauss’s Burleske for piano and orchestra is performed by Blair McMillen. Hailed as “prodigiously accomplished and exciting” (New York Times), he is co-founder and co-director of the Rite of Summer Music Festival at New York City’s Governors Island. Also on the program is Times of the Day, a setting of four nature poems by Joseph von Eichendorff.

Tickets, priced at $25-$50, are available starting in August at carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or at the Carnegie Hall box office at 57^th & 7th Avenue.

SIGHT & SOUND SERIES AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
 The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium

In the popular Sight & Sound series, The Orchestra Now explores the parallels between orchestral music and visual art. Each performance includes a discussion with conductor and music historian Leon Botstein accompanied by on-screen exhibition images and live musical excerpts, followed by a full performance of the works and an audience Q&A.

Egypt in Music and Art
Sunday, December 7, 2025, at 2 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Terrence Wilson, piano
Johann Strauss II: Egyptian March, Op. 335
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Magic Flute Overture, K.620
Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, “Egyptian”, Op. 103
Artwork from the exhibition Divine Egypt
In ancient Egypt, images of gods weren’t just images—they brought the gods to life. Egyptians believed that it was through their depictions in tombs, temples, and shrines that the deities could enter sacred spaces and become active participants in rituals, offering a vital connection between the human and divine worlds. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, European composers like Mozart and Johann Strauss II incorporated influences from the Middle East into some of their music. Saint-Saëns’s Fifth Piano Concerto was written in Egypt, where the composer included in his work the melody of a Nubian love song he had heard along the Nile. Grammy-nominated pianist Terrence Wilson, winner of the SONY ES Award for Musical Excellence, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Juilliard Petschek Award, will perform the concerto with TŌN.

The exhibition Divine Egypt will be on view at The Met Fifth Avenue from October 12, 2025–January 19, 2026 in gallery 899.

Sibelius, Schjerfbeck, and Finland
Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 2 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Jean Sibelius: Finlandia, Op. 26
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 105
Artwork by Helene Schjerfbeck and others
Beloved in Nordic countries for her highly original style, Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck overcame immense personal struggles working in a remote location for decades, producing a powerful body of work through sheer willpower. Over the years, her art shifted from traditional and realistic subjects to a simplified, spare style. The music of Schjerfbeck’s contemporary compatriot Jean Sibelius saw a similar change over time. His patriotic 1900 work Finlandia paints a clear picture of the historical progress of Finland and its bright future. By the time he finished his Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh symphonies 20 years later, Sibelius became increasingly concerned with paring down his music to the bare essentials.

The exhibition Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck will be on view at The Met Fifth Avenue December 5, 2025–April 5, 2026 in gallery 964.

Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony
Sunday, March 29, 2026, at 2 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, “Jupiter”, K. 551
Artwork to be announced
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the most prolific and influential artists of the Classical period. He gave piano concerts starting at age five, wrote his first opera at age 11, and composed more than 800 works by the time of his death at age 35. He wrote dozens of symphonies, composing the final three over six weeks in the summer of 1788. The Symphony No. 41, his last, puts on full display his extraordinary compositional technique.

Tickets, priced at $30 - $50, include same-day museum admission. Tickets will be available starting in August and may be purchased at metmuseum.org, by calling The Met at 212.570.3949, or at The Great Hall box office at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

THE FISHER CENTER SERIES AT BARD, Sosnoff Theater

The Orchestra Now presents its 11th season of 7 different programs and 12 concerts. Performances at the Fisher Center led by Leon Botstein will be livestreamed on TŌNtube at ton.bard.edu/tontube.

Mahler’s Third Symphony
Saturday, September 20, 2025, at 7 pm
Sunday, September 21, 2025, at 2 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano
Bard Conservatory Preparatory Chorus
Bard College Chamber Singers
Members of Bard Conservatory’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program
James Bagwell, choral director
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 3 in D Minor
For the fourth year in a row, TŌN opens the season with a Mahler symphony. The Third Symphony is the composer’s longest work, a deeply personal and all-encompassing masterpiece that stands as a towering monument to nature and humankind’s place within it. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe—a Musical America Vocalist of the Year, Opera News, and Richard Tucker Award-winner—joins the orchestra for two of the Symphony’s six movements, singing a text by Nietzsche telling of joy transcending death and worldly suffering, and then a German folk poem about heavenly joy rewarding the faithful.

Sounds and Echoes of Empire: A Carnegie Hall Preview Concert
Saturday, October 11, 2025, at 7 pm
Sunday, October 12, 2025, at 2 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Overture on Russian Themes in D Major, Op. 28
Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis: In the Forest (Miške)
Vítězslava Kaprálová: Military Sinfonietta Op. 11 (Vojenská Symfonieta)
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Festival Coronation March, TH 50
Boris Lyatoshynsky: Symphony No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 50

TŌN performs this program at Carnegie Hall on October 13; see description above.

Dvořák and the Music of Ukraine
Saturday, January 24, 2026, at 7 pm
Tatiana Kalinichenko, conductor
Dmytro Tkachenko, violin
Victoria Poleva: Nova
Antonín Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53
Myroslav Skoryk: Carpathian Concerto
Yevhen Stankovych: The Vikings Suite (U.S. Premiere)
Ukrainian musicians Tatiana Kalinichenko—co-founder, music director, and conductor of the New Era Orchestra in Kyiv—and internationally-recognized violinist Dmytro Tkachenko, winner of the Carl Nielsen, Lysenko, and Wronski Solo Violin Competitions—come to the Fisher Center for a one-night-only concert. Tkachenko performs Dvořák’s Violin Concerto, which includes a uniquely Czech finale featuring two popular folk dances. The program also presents music by three Ukrainian composers: Skoryk’s Carpathian Concerto, inspired by the folklore of the country’s Western region; the U.S. premiere of Stankovych’s suite from his ballet The Vikings; and Poleva’s 2022 composition Nova, a salute to the courage of the Ukrainian people.
 
Stravinsky, Cage, and C.P.E. Bach
Saturday, February 7, 2026, at 7 pm
Sunday, February 8, 2026, at 2 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Ulysses Kay: Chariots: Orchestral Rhapsody
John Cage: Suite for Toy Piano (orch. Lou Harrison)
Igor Stravinsky: Symphony in C, K061
C. P. E. Bach: Symphony D Major, H. 663, W. 183/1
Albert Roussel: Symphony No. 3 in G Minor, Op. 42
Leon Botstein leads TŌN in a concert of music spanning over 200 years, from 1776 to 1978, with four 20th-century works. The program comprises Ulysses Kay’s Chariots, based on the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”; Lou Harrison’s orchestration of John Cage’s Suite for Toy Piano, which was initially used as music for Merce Cunningham’s choreographed piece A Diversion; Stravinsky’s Symphony in C, which he finished composing in America before he conducted the premiere with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; C.P.E. Bach’s Symphony in D Major, written in Hamburg and dedicated to Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia; and one of Albert Roussel’s most beloved works, his Third Symphony, composed for the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1930.

Strauss’s Alpine Symphony: A Carnegie Hall Preview Concert
Saturday, May 9, 2026, at 7 pm
Sunday, May 10, 2026, at 3 pm
Leon Botstein, conductor
Blair McMillen, piano
Members of the Bard Festival Chorale
James Bagwell, choral director
Members of the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra (for An Alpine Symphony)
All-Richard Strauss Program
Burleske in D Minor, TrV 145
Times of the Day, TrV 256, Op. 76 (Die Tageszeiten)
An Alpine Symphony, TrV 233, Op. 64 (Eine Alpensinfonie)

TŌN performs this program at Carnegie Hall on May 12; see description above.

Tickets, priced at $15 - $35, will be available starting in August at fishercenter.bard.edu, or by calling the Fisher Center at 845.758.7900.  

SPECIAL EVENTS AT THE FISHER CENTER AT BARD

TŌN Benefit: Jurassic Park in Concert
Saturday, November 15, 2025, at 7 pm
Sunday, November 16, 2025, at 2 pm
James Bagwell, conductor
John Williams: Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg’s epic 1993 adventure film, Jurassic Park, pits man against prehistoric predators in a cinematic smash hit that features stunning imagery and groundbreaking special effects. Williams, the composer of more than 100 film scores and recipient of five Academy Awards, worked closely with Spielberg while creating the score.  He wanted to create music that "would convey a sense of’ awe and fascination" and used a wide range of instruments, including harps, a shakuhachi, and synthesizers. Jurassic Park, will be projected in HD with TŌN performing John Williams’ score live.

Jurassic Park is a trademark and copyright of Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Licensed by Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Tickets, priced at $25 - $75, will be available starting in August at fishercenter.bard.edu, or by calling the Fisher Center at 845.758.7900.

Tan Dun Conducts
Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 7 pm
Tan Dun, conductor
Program to be announced
Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer and conductor Tan Dun makes his fourth appearance with TŌN.

Tickets, priced at $15 - $35, will be available starting in August at fishercenter.bard.edu, or by calling the Fisher Center at 845.758.7900.

FREE CONCERTS SERIES

Don Juan and Vaughan Williams
Sunday, November 23, 2025, at 4 pm
Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, New York, NY
Zachary Schwartzman, conductor
Ryan Michki, tenor
Richard Strauss: Don Juan, Op. 20, in E Major
Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge
Henry Purcell (arr. Steven Stuckey): Funeral Music for Queen Mary, Z. 860
Samuel Barber: Symphony No. 1 in One Movement, Op. 9
TŌN Resident Conductor Zachary Schwartzman returns with the Orchestra to Symphony Space for another free concert. The program comprises Strauss’s beloved tone poem Don Juan, followed by 2024 Bard Conservatory Concerto Competition winner tenor Ryan Michki in a performance of Vaughan Williams’ English song cycle On Wenlock Edge, written after the composer had spent three months studying with Maurice Ravel in Paris. Also on the program are Stuckey’s arrangement of Purcell’s Funeral Music for Queen Mary, composed 330 years ago in 1695, and Barber’s Symphony No. 1 in One Movement.

TŌN + All-City High School Orchestra
Sunday, December 21, 2025, at 3 pm
Julia Richman Educational Complex, 317 E 67th Street, New York, NY
Leonardo Pineda, conductor
Selections performed with the All-City High School Orchestra
David West, principal director
Program to be announced
The Orchestra Now and conductor Leonardo Pineda present a free holiday-season concert at the Julia Richman Educational Complex on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. For the second year in a row, TŌN is joined by NYC’s All-City High School Orchestra for a side-by-side performance.

Franck, Faust, and William Tell
Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 4 pm
Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, New York, NY
Zachary Schwartzman, conductor
Gioachino Rossini: William Tell Overture
Charles Gounod: Faust Ballet Music
César Franck: Symphony in D Minor
TŌN Resident Conductor Zachary Schwartzman leads the Orchestra in a free concert of audience favorites. The program comprises Rossini’s popular William Tell Overture, famed for the final notes that came to be used as the Lone Ranger theme music in movies and on radio; the ballet music from Gounod’s opera Faust, which premiered in Paris in 1859 and is based on the Goethe play telling the story of a philosopher who sells his soul to the devil; and French composer César Franck’s Symphony in D Minor, completed two years before his death and known for the repeating themes that occur throughout all of its movements. 

Tickets are free. Advance RSVP requested at ton.bard.edu, available in August.

The Orchestra Now
Founded in 2015 by Bard College, The Orchestra Now (TŌN) is a graduate program of Bard College that trains the next generation of music professionals to become creative ambassadors of classical music. Led by conductor and educator Leon Botstein, TŌN offers accomplished young musicians a full-tuition fellowship toward a master’s degree in curatorial, critical, and performance studies or an advanced certificate in orchestra studies. TŌN’s innovative curriculum combines rehearsal, performance, recording, and touring with seminars, masterclasses, professional development workshops, teaching, and more. The members of the Orchestra are graduates of the world’s leading conservatories, and hail from countries across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Many have gone on to careers in the Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Vancouver, and National symphony orchestras; Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia; the United States military bands; and many others. In the 2025-26 season, the Orchestra welcomes 28 new members, for a total of 63 musicians from 18 countries around the globe.

TŌN performs dozens of concerts a year at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Fisher Center at Bard. Specializing in both familiar and rarely heard repertoire, the Orchestra has given numerous New York, U.S., and world premieres, and performed the work of living composers including Joan Tower and Tania León. In May 2025, TŌN performed two concerts in Koblenz and Nuremberg, Germany marking 80 years since the surrender of Nazi Germany. In 2023, TŌN appeared with Bradley Cooper in the Academy Award-nominated film Maestro, and was featured on the Grammy-winning Deutsche Grammophon soundtrack, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The Orchestra has performed with many other distinguished guest conductors and soloists, including Leonard Slatkin, Gil Shaham, Neeme Järvi, Stephanie Blythe, Fabio Luisi, Vadim Repin, Peter Serkin, Tan Dun, and JoAnn Falletta.

TŌN has released several albums on the Hyperion, Sorel Classics, and AVIE labels. Fall 2025 releases include Premieres with violinist Gil Shaham and Transcription as Translation. Other highlights include 2024’s The Lost Generation and Exodus, and rare recordings of Othmar Schoeck’s Lebendig begraben and Bristow’s Arcadian Symphony. Recordings of TŌN’s live concerts from the Fisher Center can be heard regularly on Classical WMHT-FM and WWFM The Classical Network, and the Orchestra has appeared more than 100 times on Performance Today, broadcast nationwide.

Visit ton.bard.edu to find out more about TŌN’s academic program, concerts, musicians, albums, and broadcasts; sign up for the email list; and support the orchestra with a donation.

Leon Botstein
Leon Botstein is founder and music director of The Orchestra Now (TŌN), music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra (ASO), artistic co-director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival, and conductor laureate and principal guest conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (JSO), where he served as music director from 2003 to 2011. He has been guest conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre, Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Taipei Symphony, Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, and Sinfónica Juvenil de Caracas in Venezuela, among others. In May 2025 he led two concerts with TŌN in Koblenz and Nuremberg, Germany marking 80 years since the surrender of Nazi Germany. With ASO he has revived numerous neglected operas and rare repertoire, such as Schoenberg’s massive Gurre-Lieder, Richard Strauss’s first opera, Guntram, and the U.S. premiere of Sergei Taneyev’s final work, At the Reading of a Psalm.

Albums include The Lost Generation and Exodus, two 2024 releases with TŌN; Hindemith’s The Long Christmas Dinner with the ASO; a Grammy-nominated recording of Popov’s First Symphony with the London Symphony Orchestra; and other various recordings with TŌN, ASO, the London Philharmonic, NDR Orchestra Hamburg, and JSO, among others. Fall 2025 releases include Premieres with violinist Gil Shaham and Transcription as Translation, both with TŌN. He is editor of The Musical Quarterly and author of numerous articles and books, including The Compleat Brahms (Norton), Jefferson’s Children (Doubleday), Judentum und Modernität (Bölau), and Von Beethoven zu Berg (Zsolnay). His many honors include Harvard University’s prestigious Centennial Award; the American Academy of Arts and Letters award; and Cross of Honor, First Class, from the government of Austria, for his contributions to music. Other distinctions include the Bruckner Society’s Julio Kilenyi Medal of Honor for his interpretations of that composer’s music, the Leonard Bernstein Award for the Elevation of Music in Society, and Carnegie Foundation’s Academic Leadership Award. In 2011, he was inducted into the American Philosophical Society.

Press Contacts
Pascal Nadon
Pascal Nadon Communications
Phone: 646.234.7088
Email: [email protected]

Jennifer Strodl 
Director of Communications
Bard College
Phone: 845.758.7015
Email: [email protected]        
 

This event was last updated on 07-30-2025

Back to Top