Celebrating Andris Nelsons' Fifth Season, Boston Symphony Announces 2019-2020 Concerts

In celebration of Andris Nelsons' fifth anniversary as music director, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2019-20 season delves deeper into the popular programmatic themes from Mr. Nelsons' first five years with the orchestra and offers Symphony Hall audiences an unprecedented variety of music in wide-ranging styles.

"In looking forward to our fifth season of making music together, I could not be happier about the sense of family that continues to deepen the connections between the BSO, our devoted audience, and myself," said Mr. Nelsons. "This shared musical journey is so meaningful to all of us, and so important for bringing our entire community together, including not just our devoted subscribers, but so many new concertgoers we're pleased to welcome to Symphony Hall."

The 2019-2020 season is highlighted by 14 works – including seven world and American premieres – by contemporary composers, including Michael Gandolfi, Galina Grigorjeva, Helen Grime, HK Gruber, Betsy Jolas, Eric Nathan, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Mr. Nelsons' ongoing passionate commitment to opera, the Boston Symphony/Gewandhaus Orchestra Alliance, and the BSO's Grammy Award-winning Shostakovich cycle are featured front and center among the many highlights of the season, with a performance of Act III from "Tristan und Isolde," with Jonas Kaufmann and Emily Magee in the title roles; performances of Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 2 ("To October") and 12 ("The Year 1917"); and a two-week residency by the Gewandhaus Orchestra, including joint concerts with the BSO and GHO performing works by Strauss, Haydn, Schoenberg, and Scriabin.

Mr. Nelsons' dedication to the touchstones of classical music and the great concerto performers of our time is represented by major works of Bart�k, Dvor�k, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, and Strauss, among others, and appearances by Leif Ove Andsnes, Yefim Bronfman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Mitsuko Uchida, Yuja Wang, Augustin Hadelich, and Daniel Lozakovich, as well as BSO principal cello Blaise D�jardin. Beyond Symphony Hall, Mr. Nelsons and the BSO embark on their first tour of Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Shanghai together, February 6-16, and they perform their annual three-concert series at Carnegie Hall on November 18, April 14, and April 15.

Click here for the complete 2019-20 season concert listing.

Audiences during the 2019-20 BSO season will be introduced to 14 artists making their BSO and/or subscription debuts, including Lucas and Arthur Jussen, the young Dutch duo-pianists who are the featured soloists in works of Poulenc and Beethoven, on a program that also includes the world premiere of Eric Nathan's BSO-commissioned "Concerto for Orchestra," under the direction of Andris Nelsons. Andr� Raphel makes his subscription debut leading Uri Caine's "The Passion of Octavius Catto," featuring multifaceted vocalist Barbara Walker in her BSO debut and the specially formed BSO Gospel Choir on a program that also includes works by Coleridge-Taylor and Still. BSO Assistant Conductor Yu-An Chang, also making his subscription debut, leads the world premiere of a new work commissioned by the BSO from Chihchun Chi-Sun Lee, as well as works by Mozart and Tchaikovsky. In his BSO debut, Constantinos Carydis leads Periklis Koukos' "In Memoriam Y. A. Papaioannu" and works by Beethoven and Prokofiev.

In addition to these debuts, the BSO welcomes back Susanna M�lkki, who leads the American premiere of a new work for piano and orchestra by Dieter Ammann, with Andreas Haefliger as soloist, as well as music by Faur�, Debussy, and Messiaen; Sir Andr�s Schiff, who makes his first BSO appearances as conductor/pianist in a program of works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Bart�k; former BSO assistant/associate conductor Marcelo Lehninger who, in his BSO guest conducting debut, leads a Beethoven/Tchaikovsky program with pianist Nelson Freire; and Christoph von Dohn�nyi who conducts works by Haydn, Ligeti, and Tchaikovsky to bring the 2019-20 season to a close. In addition, BSO Artistic Partner Thomas Ad�s returns to the BSO podium to lead works by Stravinsky and his own Lieux Retrouv�s.

BSO In Residence, Community Chamber Concerts, Youth and Family Concerts, Casual Fridays, and Discounted Tickets

Following upon the successful launch in fall 2017 of the BSO In Residence program – a new paradigm for building wide-ranging creative collaborations between an orchestra and its surrounding communities – the initiative will continue in 2019-20 with a final year of new activities in Jamaica Plain beginning in fall 2019. As part of the 2019-20 BSO In Residence program, the BSO will collaborate with composers Elena Roussanova, Julius Williams, and Andrew Lists – all three of whom are members of the Jamaica Plain community and on the Berklee School of Music faculty – to commission three new works, each inspired by an aspect of Jamaica Plain, to be performed both at Symphony Hall and in Jamaica Plain by a chamber orchestra made up of members of the BSO.

The BSO is also pleased to present another season of Community Chamber Concerts featuring members of the BSO performing in various community venues throughout Greater Boston and beyond, also including the participation of young local musicians. In addition, "Trading Stages," introduced this past season and continuing in 2019-20, invites student groups from host communities to perform at BSO events at Symphony Hall and Tanglewood throughout the year (details of both programs will be announced at a later date). The BSO will also present its annual Youth and Family Concert Series, featuring three programs throughout the 2019-20 BSO season, including a program led by BSO Youth and Family Concerts Conductor Thomas Wilkins and two programs with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras: Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with conductor Adrian Slywotsky and a program led by conductor Marta Zurad and featuring magician Matt Roberts.

"Casual Fridays" will continue in 2019-20 with Friday-evening programs designed to make concerts more affordable and accessible, including free pre- and post-concert receptions for all concertgoers, and an opportunity for audience members to hear from BSO musicians who introduce the program from the Symphony Hall stage. This popular series also features a special section for Conductor-Cam seating, as well as ConcertCue, an innovative app introduced in the 2017-18 season, which presents contextual program notes and images on concertgoers' mobile devices in real-time during the musical performance. In addition, the BSO's highly successful $25 tickets for patrons under the age of 40, College Card, High School Card, and Rush Ticket programs – all offering significantly discounted tickets for concertgoers – will continue in the 2019-20 season.

The BSO at Home at Symphony Hall in Boston and at Tanglewood in Lenox and Stockbridge, MA.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra, founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, performs late September through early May in internationally acclaimed Symphony Hall (301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA), which opened in 1900 and is widely regarded as one of the top three concert halls in the world. The orchestra's summer season takes place at Tanglewood – this country's preeminent music festival and the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937 – located in the Berkshire Hills between Stockbridge and Lenox, MA. Details of the 2019 Tanglewood season are available at www.tanglewood.org; details about the first season of the Tanglewood Learning Institute and the opening of the Linde Center for Music and Learning are available at www.tli.org.

Bank of America is the Lead Sponsor of the 2019-20 BSO season. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited is the Supporting Sponsor of the 2019-20 season.

Watch Andris Nelsons conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra: