Alan leads a program at the New York Philharmonic that highlights both Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse and Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Emanuel Ax in the next installment of Gilbert's Playlist on June 20, 21, and 22. Emanuel Ax returns for the final performances of his Philharmonic residency with Haydn's Piano Concerto No. 11 in D major. Next is the New York premiere of the Symphony No. 3 by Christopher Rouse, whose association with the Philharmonic will continue next season. Of the symphony and concerto, Alan says: "Christopher Rouse's music, while being highly individualistic, is absolutely rooted in the tradition from which it springs. Chris has described his Symphony No. 3 as new wine he poured into the older bottle of Prokofiev's Second Symphony. These are two great pieces, and together they represent both our Artist-in-Residence and our Composer-in-Residence on the same program. Doing so reflects that whole idea of connecting and collaborating to which I am committed."

The program will conclude with A Ring Journey, Alan's own synthesis of orchestral music from Wagner's Ring cycle, based on Erich Leinsdorf's condensed version. A Ring Journey begins with The Ride of the Valkyries and moves chronologically through the entire cycle, offering selections that are not often heard in the concert hall, to form a rich orchestral telling of the complex story. Find tickets and more information here.

Italian modernist composer Luigi Dallapiccola's serialist opera Il Prigioniero, featuring bass-baritone Gerald Finley as The Prisoner and soprano Patricia Racette as The Mother, highlight the next installment of Gilbert's Playlist — four weeks of programs showcasing themes and ideas that have become a hallmark of the Alan's tenure as Music Director — June 6, 8, and 11. The program will open with Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1, featuring Lisa Batiashvili. Additional cast for Il Prigioniero includes tenor Peter Hoare as The Jailer and Grand Inquisitor; tenor William Ferguson as the First Priest; baritone Sidney Outlaw (debut) as the Second Priest; and The Collegiate Chorale, directed by James Bagwell. Find more information and tickets here.

On June 7, Alan, the Philharmonic, and Ms. Batiashvili will also perform Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 at Long Island University's Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, in addition to Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, Pathétique, and Musorgsky's Prelude to Khovanshchina (led by Assistant Conductor Joshua Weilerstein). Find more information about this performance here.

For the fourth consecutive season, Alan will join Philharmonic musicians in chamber music on a Saturday Matinee concert on June 8. The afternoon's performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, Pathétique will be preceded by Brahms's String Quintet in G major, with Alan and Ms. Batiashvili on violin alongside Philharmonic principal musicians. Find more information about the Saturday Matinee performance here.

Jazz and its influences on orchestral music form the basis of the first program in "Gilbert's Playlist" — four weeks of programs conducted by Alan that showcase the themes of collaboration, breaking boundaries, theatricality, and wide-ranging music that have become a hallmark of his tenure.

On Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1, Alan leads the Philharmonic in Copland's Clarinet Concerto, with Acting Principal Clarinet Mark Nuccio as soloist, and Wynton Marsalis's Swing Symphony (Symphony No. 3), featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, the forces that gave the work's U.S. premiere on opening night in September 2010. Stravinsky's Ragtime and Shostakovich's Tahiti Trot, led by Assistant Conductor Case Scaglione, open the program. Alan will also lead the Rush Hour Concert on Thursday, May 30, which features Marsalis's Swing Symphony exclusively.

"One thing I've been interested in pursuing with the Philharmonic is collaboration with important cultural institutions across New York City," Alan said. "Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis were an obvious choice. Wynton is such an iconic figure: a great artist, instrumentalist, teacher, and communicator who really believes in the power of music and the importance of bringing people into our world."

Find more information and tickets here.

On May 27, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic continue their May tradition by presenting the 22nd Annual Free Memorial Day Concert at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. On the program is Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, "Wagner", in its final 1889 version. In Alan's words about the symphony: "The New York Philharmonic has the kind of weight, beauty, and substance in its sound that is perfect for Bruckner. He was one of the many composers who felt Beethoven's shadow behind him, and this symphony is a clear reaction to Beethoven's Ninth. There's a seriousness and monumental fatalistic message that this symphony wonderfully expresses. It is a full-throated romantic utterance and has some of the most beautiful, touching music that Bruckner ever wrote."

Tickets are first-come, first-served and will be handed out at 6:00pm on the day of the performance at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. The concert will begin at 8:00pm. Audio of the performance will be broadcast onto the adjacent Pulpit Green, weather permitting. Find more information here.

Following their triumph at the Dresden Music Festival with a performance at the Dresden Semperoper and a live webcast of Magnus Lindberg's Kraft from Volkswagen's Die Gläserne Manufaktur ("Transparent Factory"), Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic conclude their EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour with three concerts at Vienna's Konzerthaus, celebrating its 100th season. Wednesday, May 15, features a program of Austrian composers: Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 (performed by Philharmonic Artist-In-Residence Emanuel Ax) and Bruckner's Symphony No. 3 in D Minor. On Thursday, May 16, Joshua Bell is the soloist in Leonard Bernstein's Serenade, followed by Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique". The final performance, on Friday, May 17, includes Christopher Rouse's Prospero's Rooms, Mozart's Symphony No. 36, Linz, and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, as arranged by Ravel.

On Tuesday, May 14, Alan will lead the New York Philharmonic at Volkswagen's Die Gläserne Manufaktur ("Transparent Factory") in Dresden. The sold-out concert, given as part of the orchestra's EUROPE/SPRING 2013 tour and presented by the Dresden Music Festival, will showcase Magnus Lindberg's groundbreaking, site-specific work Kraft (with the composer himself at the piano and a host of Philharmonic musicians as soloists), alongside Prospero's Rooms by Christopher Rouse, and Bernstein's Serenade with Joshua Bell as violin soloist. Audiences worldwide will be able to watch the concert on medici.tv, in a free, live webcast that will be available for streaming for the following 90 days.

It was Alan and the New York Philharmonic who gave Kraft its New York premiere in 2010, during Lindberg's tenure as the orchestra's Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence. Die Gläserne Manufaktur makes an especially fitting venue for the work, since the composer specifies that the orchestra perform on repurposed, locally sourced metal, which Volkswagen is providing in the form of luxury Phaeton car parts. Find more information about the medici.tv webcast here.

This week, Alan and the New York Philharmonic travel to German-speaking Europe for the next segment of their EUROPE / SPRING 2013 tour. First, they arrive in Zurich, Switzerland for a concert at the Tonhalle on May 6, and then move to Munich, Germany for a performance at the Gasteig on May 7. The program for both concerts opens with Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Prospero's Rooms, a Philharmonic commission that reflects on the story of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death". Next, violinist Joshua Bell performs Bernstein's Serenade (after Plato's Symposium), which was described by the composer himself as his most important serious work, and was recorded by Mr. Bell in 2001. Rounding out the program is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique".

On May 8, Alan and the New York Philharmonic travel to the Philharmonie In Essen, Germany to perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 featuring Artist-in-Residence Emanuel Ax, followed by Bruckner's Symphony No. 3. In Dortmund, Germany at the Konzerthaus on May 9, the Philharmonic again performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25 with Emanuel Ax and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique". On May 11, the Philharmonic repeats this program at the Konzerthaus in Berlin, marking its first appearance in the Konzerthaus since 1988 when it was part of East Germany and known as the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Previous Berlin performances in 1993, 1996, 2000, 2005, and 2011 took place at the Philharmonie. For programming details, visit Alan's calendar.

From May 2 to 17, Alan and the New York Philharmonic take their sixth international concert tour together across Europe, performing a blend of American masters, innovative contemporary music, Austrian classics, and two landmarks of the Russian Romantic era. The wide-ranging tour will feature 13 concerts in four countries, beginning with the Philharmonic's debut in Izmir, Turkey, and its return to Istanbul after 18 years, before continuing on to Zurich, Switzerland; Munich, Essen, Dortmund, Berlin, and Dresden, Germany; and finally to Austria, for a centennial celebration of the Vienna Konzerthaus.

Programming includes Magnus Lindberg's site-specific work Kraft at Volkswagen's Die Gläserne Manufaktur (Volkswagen Transparent Factory) in Dresden, as well as the European premiere of Prospero's Rooms by New York Philharmonic Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse. Distinguished guest soloists performing on the tour include the Philharmonic's Artist-in-Residence, pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Joshua Bell, and cellist Jan Vogler. For complete programming details, view the calendar.

This week, Alan Gilbert leads the New York Philharmonic in two programs at two halls with two iconic soloists — at Carnegie Hall with soprano Renée Fleming on April 26 and at Avery Fisher Hall with pianist and Philharmonic Artist-In-Residence Emanuel Ax on April 24, 25, and 27. The one-night-only Carnegie engagement features Ms. Fleming in the world premiere of The Strand Settings by Swedish composer Anders Hillborg, a Philharmonic co-commission with Carnegie Hall. Also on the program are Ottorino Respighi's tone poem Fountains of Rome and Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky. Tickets and more information can be found here. At Avery Fisher Hall, Alan and the Philharmonic join forces with Emanuel Ax to perform Mozart's grand Piano Concerto No. 25. Also to be performed is Anton Bruckner's majestic Symphony No. 3 in D Minor, "Wagner", which was dedicated to the composer after whom it was named and includes quotations from his operas Die Walküre and Tristan und Isolde. Find tickets and more information here.

This Wednesday, April 17 through Saturday, April 20 at the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert conducts a dynamic program of American music featuring superstar violinist Joshua Bell. Opening the concert will be the world premiere of New York Philharmonic Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Prospero's Rooms, an aural journey inspired by Prince Prospero's sinister masked ball in Edgar Allen Poe's chilling story "The Masque of the Red Death". Next, Joshua Bell, "the greatest American violinist active today" (The Boston Herald) is the soloist in Leonard Bernstein's Serenade, a rumination on love inspired by the thought processes of Plato. Alan then leads the orchestra in Charles Ives's seminal Fourth Symphony, a cacaphonous masterpiece featuring an oversized orchestra, choir of members of the New York Choral Consortium, and an assistant conductor managing the complex polyrhythms of superimposed folk songs, ballads, hymns, marches, and other tunes from America's history. Find tickets and more information here.

Alan has withdrawn from his engagements this week with Munich's Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra). Alan comments: "I had been looking forward to this week with the Bayerischer Rundfunk for a long time. I have only great memories of my previous experiences with this wonderful orchestra. Unfortunately my medical condition is such that I am unable to travel at this time."

Next week, Alan makes a special guest appearance on iconic children's television series Sesame Street, joining artist representatives of several Lincoln Center institutions on the "People in Your Neighborhood" segment, in which Sesame Street character Murray Monster goes on location to interview people about their jobs. Alan conducts student musicians from The Juilliard School and Sesame Street monster Ovejita in Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, a work Gilbert first heard on the show when he was a child. The segment becomes available on Sesame Street's YouTube Channel beginning April 9, on PBS stations beginning April 11, and on WNET/Thirteen in New York City on April 12.

Early April marks the return of CONTACT!, the New York Philharmonic's "dynamic addition to the Philharmonic's offerings beyond Avery Fisher Hall" (New York Times) that aims to connect audiences with the most interesting, innovative, and engaging music being written today. Alan leads Philharmonic chamber ensembles in two performances. The first, on April 5 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is hosted by New York Philharmonic Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse. The following performance, on April 6 at Symphony Space on New York City's Upper West Side is hosted by John Schaefer, host of WNYC's Soundcheck and New Sounds. The performance begins with Unsuk Chin's Gougalōn and Poul Ruders' Oboe Concerto, featuring Principal Oboist Liang Wang. Rounding out the program is Anders Hillborg's Vaporized Tivoli and Yann Robin's Backdrift. More information and tickets can be found here and here, respectively.

On March 21 and 23, Alan leads the Cleveland Orchestra in two performances of Mahler's wondrously strange Symphony No. 7 and Ravel's Mother Goose. Tickets and more information are available here. Alan most recently guest-conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in November 2011 and previously served on its conducting staff for three seasons, first as conducting assistant (1994-95) and then as assistant conductor (1995-97) to former music director Christoph von Dohnányi. For these performances, Alan replaces Pierre Boulez, who withdrew in February due to health reasons.

From March 13 to 16, Alan leads the New York Philharmonic, New York Choral Artists, and soloists in a performance of J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass at Avery Fisher Hall. The performance is the second orchestral program of The Bach Variations, a monthlong festival that celebrates the many approaches taken to historical interpretation. The soloists in this performance are soprano Dorothea Röschmann, mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, tenor Steve Davislim, and bass-baritone Eric Owens. More information is available here. The Bach Variations marks the first time the New York Philharmonic has presented a festival of the music of the Baroque master. Masaaki Suzuki, Bernard Labadie, and András Schiff are also to lead the Philharmonic as part of the festival, each bringing a different perspective to the composer's works.

Alan steps in to conduct two performances of Mahler's epic Symphony No. 7 and Ravel's Mother Goose with the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall on March 21 and 23. He replaces Pierre Boulez, who has withdrawn due to health reasons. Tickets and more information are available here. Alan most recently guest-conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in November 2011. He previously served on its conducting staff for three seasons, first as conducting assistant (1994-95) and then as assistant conductor (1995-97) to former music director Christoph von Dohnányi.

This Thursday and Friday, Alan directs the New York Philharmonic in performances of Christopher Rouse's hallucinatory Phantasmata. Sharing the program is Brahms's potent First Symphony and Ernest Bloch's Schelomo, featuring young German cellist Jan Vogler. Ticket information can be found here. Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony, Brahms's First Symphony, and Schelomo are all also on the agenda when Alan takes the Philharmonic on tour to the Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, MI, for performances on February 23 and 24 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the venue under the auspices of the University Musical Society.

Tonight, Alan joins forces with pianist Rudolf Buchbinder and the New York Philharmonic for the first of a three-night series of subscription performances that build upon the orchestra's season-long survey of Brahms's complete symphonies and concertos. Buchbinder performs Johannes Brahms's epic Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83. Rounding out the program is an account of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique", the last work the composer finished before his death.

Recent Decca Records release Poèmes, featuring Renée Fleming accompanied by Alan and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, has just been awarded a 2013 Grammy award in the Best Classical Vocal Solo category. The CD of French vocal music includes performances of Alan conducting Olivier Messaien's major song cycle Poèmes pour Mi and Maurice Ravel's Sheherazade, followed by Deux Sonnets de Jean Cassou, written for Fleming by Henri Dutilleux. Finally, Dutilleux's song cycle Le temps l'horloge pairs Fleming with Seiji Ozawa and the Orchestre National de France.

Alan returns to Europe this week where he will conduct two orchestras in Germany. He begins with Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra, where he is Principal Guest Conductor and will lead the orchestra in a program of Brahms's "Double Concerto," with violinist Stefan Wagner and cellist Andreas Grünkorn, and Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 (Jan 31 and Feb 1, ticket information here). Soon after, Alan makes his debut with Leipzig's legendary Gewandhaus Orchestra, where he will conduct an all-Russian program featuring Prokofiev's "Classical" Symphony, his Violin Concerto No. 1 with Lisa Batiashvili, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 (Feb 7–8, ticket information here).

At a news conference yesterday webcast live from WQXR's Greene Space, the New York Philharmonic announced its 2013-14 season – Alan Gilbert's fifth as Music Director of the orchestra. Among the numerous highlights of the new season are the inaugural season of the NY Phil Biennial, an ten-day celebration of the music of today featuring the orchestra in partnership with other music presenters around the city; the world premiere of Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Symphony No. 4 and New York premiere of his 90-minute Requiem; a cycle of Beethoven's Five Piano Concertos with Artist-in-Residence Yefim Bronfman; a continuation of The Nielsen project with performances and recordings of the Danish composer's First and Fifth Symphonies; concerts with departing Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow; and Art of the Score, a week of film featuring Alec Baldwin as Artistic Advisor and Alan conducting the score to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey live to a showing of the complete film. Click here for further information.

Join Alan Gilbert and others as the New York Philharmonic's 2013–14 season —Alan's fifth season as music director — is revealed at a press conference announcing the programs, projects, and guests. It will be Webcast LIVE from WQXR's The Greene Space. Click here January 23 at 11:00 a.m to view the webcast and be among the first to know what's in store!

Alan and the BSO give the last of their four performances together this season tomorrow night in Boston's Orchestra Hall with a wide-ranging program featuring music by Dutilleux, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Ravel. Reviewing the opening concert in the series, Jeremy Eichler reported in the Boston Globe, "Given [Gilbert's] thoughtful musicianship and fresh approaches to programming, it's fortunate for Boston that he has found time to return." Eichler called their rendering of Stravinsky's "Symphony in Three Movements" "a wonderfully persuasive performance, vigorous in rhythm, bold in texture, and forcefully driven from the podium." In Boston's Classical Review, David Wright observed, "The Boston Symphony Orchestra really took a shine to guest conductor Alan Gilbert Thursday night," making "edgy, bright-hued music together." Click here for ticket information.

Alan launches 2013 with a return to the Boston Symphony, where he will conduct a colorful program that includes three vibrant 20th-century orchestral works (Dutilleux's Métaboles, Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements, and Ravel's La Valse) paired with Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto performed by Julian Rachlin in his BSO debut (Rachlin is substituting for Lisa Batiashvili who withdrew because of a back injury). Alan had this to say about returning to Boston: "The Boston Symphony is one of the orchestras I have felt closest to since my student days at Harvard. I can't wait to do this exciting program with these wonderful musicians." After Alan's last appearance with the Boston Symphony, the Boston Globe expressed admiration for his "flair for programming with rich contrasts" and his rapport with the orchestra. Jan 10, 11, 12 & 15, 2013, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston, MA (Symphony Hall) Click here for more information.

The New York Times has recognized the New York Philharmonic's first recording of "The Nielsen Project" as one of the best classical albums of 2012, praising Alan Gilbert's "pulsing and insightful accounts of the Second Symphony ("The Four Temperaments") and the Third ("Sinfonia Espansiva")." The album, released this past September on Dacapo, is the first in a series that will showcase the Danish composer's six symphonies and three concertos on four CDs, to be released as a complete set on the 150th anniversary of Nielsen's birth in 2015. For more information, and to purchase the recording, click here.

Alan closes out 2012 and rings in the New Year with two special holiday concerts in Shanghai, China, when he leads the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in performances on December 31 and January 1. The New Year's Eve concert, which will be televised nationally in China, offers Act II from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, the "Symphonic Dances" from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, and Gershwin's An American in Paris. Alan and the orchestra will reprise the Nutcracker's second act in a New Year's Day performance at the Grand Hyatt Shanghai, to be followed afterwards by a gala dinner. While in China, Alan will lead a master class for students from the Shanghai Conservatory, who will also be able to see him in rehearsal with their city's orchestra.

New York magazine named the Metropolitan Opera and Juilliard's co-production of Così fan tutte, conducted by Alan, as one of the top ten classical performances of 2012. Justin Davidson writes that Alan "deftly guided an effervescent young ensemble through Mozart's tricky mix of romance and cynicism." Read the full article here.

On Thursday, November 29, Alan leads the New York Philharmonic in the New York premiere of Steven Stucky's Symphony, a co-commission between the Phil and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is also joined by violinist Gil Shaham for Barber's Violin Concerto; the program finishes with Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. The program is repeated on November 30 and December 1. For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here.

Last Thursday, NBC aired Alan's appearance on 30 Rock; for those who missed the broadcast, the episode is available to stream, free and in full, for a limited time on Hulu. To watch the episode, click here.

Tune in tonight at 8 / 7 Central to see Alan make an appearance on NBC's 30 Rock alongside musicians from the New York Philharmonic. For more information, click here.

On Wednesday, November 14, Alan leads a cast of Juilliard students and members of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in a fully staged production of Mozart's comedy, Così fan tutte, produced jointly by the two institutions in their third collaboration to date. Alan, who is Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at Juilliard as well as the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, will lead further performances on Saturday, November 17 and Monday, November 19. For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here.

Tune in to WQXR radio Sunday, November 4 beginning at 10AM to hear Alan as guide to the station's Beethoven Symphonies marathon (more information here). Alan provides his personal insights as to the secrets of each work, from the extraordinary joy of the First to the stirring idealism of the Ninth. The marathon is part of the station's "Beethoven Awareness Month," which also includes marathons of the composer's complete Piano Sonatas and String Quartets, as well as an ongoing, online Beethoven stream.

The New York Philharmonic has announced that it has extended Alan Gilbert's contract as Music Director through the 2016-2017 season. Citing the extraordinary chemistry between conductor and orchestra, and a string of enormously successful artistic initiatives – including sold-out Philharmonic milestones such as Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen, and "Philharmonic 360" at the Park Avenue Armory – the orchestra's management paid tribute to Alan's "innovative and visionary" leadership in its announcement. In the orchestra's official news release, Alan called his tenure to date "a dream that I hadn't dared to dream" and "a spectacular adventure." To read the entire release, and to send your congratulations to Alan, visit the New York Philharmonic's website.

After a triumphant run of concerts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam this past week, Alan travels to Berlin for his debut concerts with the Staatskapelle Berlin on November 5 and 6. The program consists of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and a concert performance of Bartók's one-act opera, Bluebeard's Castle. Joining Alan and the Staatskapelle are soprano Michelle DeYoung and bass-baritone Falk Struckmann. For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here.

On November 15, Alan will be seen conducting Tracy Morgan and musicians from the New York Philharmonic on the NBC hit show, 30 Rock. The show airs every Thursday at 8 PM Eastern Time; click here for more information, and stay tuned here and on Alan's Facebook page as the air date nears.

Fresh from the release of the first recording in the Nielsen Project on September 25, Alan leads the New York Philharmonic, flutist Robert Langevin and violinist Nikolaj Znaider in a program of Nielsen's Flute and Violin Concertos on October 10-13. Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" symphony rounds out the program. More information about the concert and tickets is available here.

Beginning this Thursday, Alan conducts the New York Philharmonic joined by Emanuel Ax, the 2012-13 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, for three performances. The program includes Ax's debut performance of a Bach concerto – the Keyboard Concerto in D minor – as well as performances of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto and Mozart's Symphony No. 36, "Linz." More information about the concert and tickets is available here.

Fresh off a season-opening performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring that the New York Times called "newly wild and ingenious," Alan continues to lead the New York Philharmonic through its exciting 2012-13 season. First, on Thursday, Alan conducts the legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman in the Phil's Season Opening Gala Concert, with a program that includes some of classical music's most beloved orchestral repertoire. Then, on Friday and Saturday, Alan leads the Phil and pianist Daniil Trifonov in a program that includes Musorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. More information is available about the gala here and Scheherazade here.

In September 2012, the Dacapo label will issue the first release in its "Nielsen Project" with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic. The recording of Symphony No. 2, "The Four Temperaments," and Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia Espansiva," inaugurates a series that will present all of the Danish composer's six symphonies and three concertos on four CDs, to be released as a complete set in 2015, the 150th anniversary of Nielsen's birth. The recordings, distributed by Naxos, will mark the New York Philharmonic's first complete set of these works, some of which were championed by Leonard Bernstein – who recorded Nielsen's Fifth Symphony with the orchestra. The new recording is a "Mastered for iTunes" title that will be available on September 4; a CD release follows on September 25.

On November 14, the Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School will be premiering a new, fully-staged production of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte. Alan, who is the Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at Juilliard, will be conducting the Juilliard Orchestra and a cast of singers drawn from the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Tickets will go on sale on October 17; further performances are on November 17 and 19. More information is available here, or call (212) 769-7406.

Just a month out from launching his fourth season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, Alan heads to Maine for a chamber music concert in a beautiful setting. The program for the Salt Bay Chamberfest, located in Damariscotta, Maine, includes Barber's Dover Beach, Beethoven's Piano Trio, and Richard Strauss's elegiac Metamorphosen for Strings. The last of these works will be heard in a version for string septet that will feature Alan as one of the violinists. Additional information is available here.

Beginning this Wednesday, August 1, Alan performs in and conducts seven concerts over two weeks at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, where he is the 2012 Artist-in-Residence. He will be conducting Schoenberg's Chamber Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, as well as Strauss's Sonatina, "From the Workshop of an Invalid." Performances, with Gilbert on violin and viola, include Brahms's String Sextet No. 2 and Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat Major; in these performances, Alan will be sharing the stage with his wife, cellist Kajsa William-Olsson, and his sister, violinist Jennifer Gilbert, as well as many other world-class musicians.

More information can be found on Alan's calendar; to purchase tickets, go to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival's website.

At the end of this month, Alan joins the New York Philharmonic at its summer home in Vail, CO for three concerts as part of the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. On July 25, they reprise much of the program of their recent New York City Concerts in the Parks, performing Respighi's Fountains of Rome, "Spring" and "Winter" from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (featuring Principal Associate Concertmaster of the NY Phil Sheryl Staples), and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. July 26 sees soprano Jennifer Zetland and baritone Joshua Hopkins join the NY Phil for Nielsen's Third Symphony, joined on the program by Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring pianist Yefim Bronfman. Finally, on July 27, Alan conducts Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements; he is then joined by Zetland, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Paul Appleby, Hopkins, and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra Chorus (Duain Wolfe, conductor) for Mozart's sublime Mass in C minor.

For more information and to purchase tickets, click here for the July 25th concert, here for the 26th, and here for the 27th.

The New York Philharmonic travels the boroughs of its hometown July 11 - 17 with the return of its free Concerts in the Parks, the 47th season for this hugely popular series. Alan takes up the baton for two of the five performances, conducting a program of Respighi (Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome) and Tchaikovsky (Symphony No. 4) in Brooklyn's Prospect Park (Wednesday, July 11) and Manhattan's Central Park (Friday, July 13). Complete details are available at the New York Philharmonic's website.

This Friday, July 6, medici.tv presents a milestone – its first New York Philharmonic webcast from the U.S. and a blockbuster event at that: Philharmonic 360, a co-presentation of the New York Philharmonic and Park Avenue Armory, which showcases a spectacular program of spatial music from Mozart and Ives to Boulez and Stockhausen. Already acclaimed as another landmark event in Alan's tenure as Music Director of the orchestra, and filmed by the New York Philharmonic in the monumental ‪Wade Thompson Drill Hall of the Park Avenue Armory just days ago, the concert will be available for streaming free on medici.tv for 90 days, starting tomorrow at 2pm EDT.

This Friday and Saturday, June 29 and 30, Alan Gilbert is joined by composer/conductors Magnus Lindberg and Matthias Pintscher at the Park Avenue Armory for "Philharmonic 360—Spatial Music from Mozart's Don Giovanni to Stockhausen's Gruppen." Taking advantage of the Armory's spacious layout, the Philharmonic will perform throughout the hall and among the audience. A stellar cast of vocal soloists, including Ryan McKinny, Keith Miller, and Julianna Di Giacomo, join the Philharmonic for the Act I Finale of Don Giovanni, and the program is rounded out by Boulez's Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna, Stockhausen's Gruppen and Ives's The Unanswered Question. This spectacular event will be available for free streaming on the acclaimed website medici.tv beginning Friday, July 6 (2pm EDT). For more information, click here.

This Wednesday at 7:30, Alan leads the New York Philharmonic in the final concert series of the season, an all-Mozart program consisting of the Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat major with Emmanuel Ax on the piano and the sublime Great Mass in C minor. Soprano Jennifer Zetlan, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Paul Appleby and baritone Joshua Hopkins will be the featured vocal soloists. The program will be repeated Thursday, June 21 at 7:30 and Friday and Saturday, June 22 and 23 at 8. For more information, and to purchase tickets, click here.

Alan Gilbert puts down his baton and picks up his violin this Saturday, June 16, for a matinee concert at 2 PM EDT in the Avery Fisher Hall. Gilbert joins violinist Leonidas Kavakos (the featured soloist in the weekend's evening performances of Korngold's Violin Concerto) and members of the New York Philharmonic for a performance of Schubert's String Quintet in C major. The program is rounded out by Nielsen's Sinfonia espansiva, featuring soprano Erin Morley and baritone Joshua Hopkins. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

Alan Gilbert's plans to perform and record all of the symphonies and concertos of Carl Nielsen with the New York Philharmonic continues with four concerts (June 14 – 16) featuring the Danish composer's Symphony No. 3, "Sinfonia espansiva." Alan calls it "one of my favorites of all Nielsen's works – it's both compelling and powerfully direct." The sparkling program also features Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and Korngold's swashbuckling Violin Concerto, performed by the enormously talented Leonidas Kakavos. Several of the themes from Korngold's "Golden Era" Hollywood film scores make their way into this exuberant work, which legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz played with the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in March 1947, a month after he gave the work its American premiere with the St. Louis Symphony.

In addition to subscription concerts featuring New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow performing Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 1 and the orchestra performing Tchaikovksy's Fourth Symphony (May 22 and 26), Alan Gilbert will lead two special one-night-only events in the coming days. In the first, superstar pianist Evgeny Kissin joins the orchestra for two concerto performances: the evergreen favorite by Norwegian Edvard Grieg and the comparatively unknown concerto by Russian mystic composer Alexander Scriabin (Wednesday, May 23). Then, on Memorial Day (Monday, May 28) Alan leads the orchestra in its annual free concert at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, again featuring Tchaikovksy's Fourth Symphony along with Debussy's La Mer.

Alan Gilbert made his debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1998 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and led that same orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2006. He returns to the celebrated venue tonight, this time leading his home orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, in its Walt Disney Concert Hall debut. The program features the West-Coast premiere of Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2, as well as Dvořák's Carnival Overture and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4. Alan and the orchestra round out their six-city, seven-concert CALIFORNIA 2012 tour with performances in Santa Barbara (May 10), Davis (May 12), San Francisco (May 13, 14) and San Diego (May 15).

This week, Alan Gilbert conducts two programs with the New York Philharmonic at two different venues. On Wednesday, May 2 Alan and the orchestra head a few blocks south from their usual home for a performance at Carnegie Hall of Mahler's powerful Sixth Symphony. While nicknamed "Tragic" - a reference, most notably, to the "hammer blows" of fate in the final movement – the work, one of Alan's favorite Mahler symphonies, is a celebration of life and love and human striving. A day later, Alan and the New York Philharmonic are home again at Avery Fisher Hall, where they will give the world-premiere performance of Magnus Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Yefim Bronfman. The program (May 4, 5 and 8) also features Tchaikovsky's fate-obsessed Symphony No. 4 and Dvorak's ebullient Carnival Overture.

Following his highly successful run of performances of Wagner's Lohengrin at Royal Swedish Opera, Alan Gilbert has returned to New York where he will lead his home orchestra in three concerts featuring the world premiere of a work commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. Alan will conduct Mark Neikrug's Concerto for Orchestra in three concerts (April 26 – 28) that also feature Berlioz's Le Corsaire Overture, Debussy's La Mer and Lisa Batiashvili performing Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3. That same program, minus the Neikrug work, is found on the Rush Hour program Alan will conduct on Wednesday April 25. Alan calls Neikrug "one of the composers that I most believe in today."

Alan Gilbert has important artistic and family ties to Sweden. He now also has a tie to one of the country's more popular exports: Absolut Vodka. Alan is one of three personalities featured in the company's new "Absolut Rumors" campaign, which includes both video and print components. You can view the video here and learn more about the campaign here.

Alan Gilbert is featured in a new and fascinating print/video feature in the New York Times that seeks to demystify the art of conducting and reveal "the connection between gesture and music." A highlight is motion-capture imaging of Alan conducting the Grand Chorale of Stravinsky's "Soldier's Tale," which you can see here. The full print feature runs on Sunday, April 8, and can be read on-line here.

On Saturday, April 7, Alan Gilbert conducts the first of six performances of Wagner's Lohengrin at the Royal Swedish Opera. The performances mark his first time conducting the score, as well as his debut with the company. Alan calls Lohengrin a "deeply spiritual work" and one of his favorite Wagner operas. For complete information visit the company's website.

In his first concert as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert was joined by soprano Renée Fleming in a nationally televised performance of Olivier Messiaen's mystical song cycle, Poèmes pour Mi. That same work is featured on Poèmes, a new release from Decca that also teams Fleming with Gilbert and the Orchestre Philharmonique of French Radio in Ravel's seductively beautiful Sheherazade. Rounding out the new album of French vocal music are two songs by Henri Dutilleux, this time pairing Fleming with Seiji Ozawa and the Orchestre National de France.

This Friday, March 2, Alan Gilbert leads the Juilliard Orchestra in a colorful concert at Avery Fisher Hall. The program features Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin, Christopher Rouse's Violin Concerto, with soloist Fabiola Kim, and Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). Alan Gilbert, now in his third season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, is also Juilliard's Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies. He is also holder of the School's Schuman Chair, and in addition to conducting one concert a season at Juilliard, his alma mater, he also leads coaching sessions of ensembles and conductors, as well as performance master classes during each academic year. Ticket information is available here.

You can now watch Alan Gilbert discuss the recently announced New York Philharmonic 2012-13 season online! The event, broadcast and webcast live from The Greene Space earlier this week, and available for streaming here, features Gilbert in discussion with Zarin Mehta, the orchestra's President and Executive Director, the new Composer-in-Residence, Christopher Rouse, the new Artist-in-Residence, pianist Emanuel Ax, and others.

At a news conference yesterday, broadcast on WQXR and webcast live from the Greene Space, Alan Gilbert and several special guests presented an overview of the New York Philharmonic's 2012-13 season, his fourth as Music Director of the orchestra. Highlights include concerts with pianist Emanuel Ax, the New York Philharmonic's new Artist-in-Residence, old and new works by Christopher Rouse, the orchestra's new Composer-in-Residence, a multi-conductor Bach festival that will feature Gilbert conducting the composer's monumental Mass in B minor, and a reunion with director/designer Doug Fitch – who teamed up with Gilbert and the orchestra for acclaimed productions of Le Grande Macabre and The Cunning Little Vixen – for "Stravinsky On Stage," featuring a presentation of the composer's ballet Petrushka brought to life through animation, video projections, puppets and dancers. Additional information is available at the New York Philharmonic website.

Following a European tour with the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert and the orchestra are back in the States for concerts at their home hall as well as in Philadelphia. They perform a program featuring Stephen Stucky's Son et Lumière, Berlioz's Les Nuits d'Été – with mezzo-soprano soloist Joyce DiDonato – and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in New York on Feb 23, 25 and 28, and at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center on February 24.

Alan Gilbert, who is currently on tour in Europe with the New York Philharmonic, won a Grammy Award yesterday for Best Opera Recording. Gilbert won the award for a video of John Adams's "Doctor Atomic" with the orchestra and chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, leading a cast that included Gerald Finley in the title role. The DVD, available on Sony Classical, captures Gilbert's debut performances with the Metropolitan Opera in October 2008, named the number one classical music event of the year by New York magazine.

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic begin their EUROPE/WINTER 2012 tour this week with a concert on Feb 2 in Cologne, Germany. The tour features 14 concerts in seven cities including Luxembourg (Feb 3, 4), Paris (Feb 6, 7), Frankfurt (Feb 8, 9), Düsseldorf (Feb 11) and Amsterdam (Feb 13, 14). Four concerts in London Feb 16 – 18 inaugurate the New York Philharmonic's International Associates residency at the Barbican Centre. Tour soloists include Philharmonic's 2011–12 Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Frank Peter Zimmermann, pianist Lang Lang, and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, in programs featuring works by Magnus Lindberg, the Philharmonic's Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence, Thomas Adès – the UK premiere of Polaris – as well as Bartók, Beethoven, Mahler, Prokofiev, Ravel, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky.

Tonight, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic present the first of three concerts featuring the music of Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Ravel. Artist-in-Residence Frank Peter Zimmerman is the soloist in Beethoven's Violin Concerto, often described as "the Mount Everest of violin concertos" and "Beethoven's tenth symphony with violin obbligato." Rounding out the program are Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements — a piece the Philharmonic premiered, under Stravinsky himself, in 1946 — and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2. The program will be repeated on January 27 and 28. Tickets and other information are available at the Philharmonic website.

Alan Gilbert was faced with a surprise marimba solo during a performance of Mahler's 9th Symphony Tuesday night, when an iPhone alarm went on for several minutes — long enough to force him to stop the performance and have the ringtone silenced. This act sparked an online sensation as journalists and bloggers wrote about the experience: apart from dozens of blogs (including Paul Pelkonen's Superconductor), it made Page Six of the New York Post, as well as an ArtsBeat post by the New York Times' Dan Wakin.

Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic kick off 2012 with the New York premiere of Thomas Adès's Polaris, on January 5 at Avery Fisher Hall, almost one year to the day after presenting the New York premiere of Adès's piano concerto In Seven Days. The program also includes Mahler's Symphony No. 9, Gilbert's recording of which with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra was named Best Classical Recording of 2009 by John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune, who praised its "wonderful balance between desolation and acceptance, with luminous sonics to match." The program will be repeated on January 6 at the Tilles Center for Performing Arts, and January 7 and 10 at Avery Fisher Hall.