Gemma New announces 2023-2024 season highlights

Photo Credit: Sylvia Elzafon Photography

Admired as “a dynamo on stage” (The Herald Scotland), conductor Gemma New embarks on a global 2023/2024 season highlighted by multiple major debuts – plus her final season as Music Director of Canada’s Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. During a tightly paced schedule that takes her through North America, Europe and her native New Zealand, New makes debuts this season with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen-Normandie, Bamberger Symphoniker, Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona, Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Among the highlights of her season, New makes her London Philharmonic Orchestra debut at Royal Festival Hall on Friday, March 22, 2024, with a second program to follow on Sunday, March 24, 2024 at Eastbourne Congress Theatre. At Royal Festival Hall, New conducts the orchestra in Romeo and Juliet, a program pairing excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet ballet with the Fantasy Overture from Tchaikovsky’s orchestral work of the same name. The program also includes Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, with American violinist Randall Goosby as featured soloist.

In North America, New makes her subscription debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and her overall debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, also on a subscription program. On Saturday, January 6 and Sunday, January 7, she conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Mozart’s “Prague” Symphony, a program also featuring Stravinsky’s Danses concertantes and contemporary composer Veronika Krausas’ world premiere work Sphinx, commissioned by the LA Phil with support from the MaddocksBrown Fund for New Music. On Thursday, February 8 and Saturday, February 10, 2024, New leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Seong-Jin Cho Plays Beethoven, a concert starring the internationally acclaimed pianist on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The program also features Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 (Scottish) and Aaron Jay Kernis’s Musica Celestis. To close out her North American debuts, New later conducts the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Holst’s The Planets & Augustin Hadelich on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13, 2024.

In Europe, New’s string of debuts begins Friday, September 15, 2023, as she conducts the Bamberger Symphoniker at Germany’s MOZART@AUGSBURG Festival, featuring works by Rossini, Gershwin and Beethoven. On Saturday, September 16, 2023, she leads the orchestra in an “open day” at Konzerthalle Bamberg, celebrating the concert hall’s 30th anniversary with a program featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Her next engagement brings her to Orquesta Nacional de España, where she conducts the orchestra in Symphonic Cycle / Henri Dutilleux and Jean Sibelius on Friday, October 6, Saturday, October 7 and Sunday, October 8, 2023. On Thursday, November 30, 2023, she conducts Finland’s Lahti Symphony Orchestra in Brass with Brawn, a program of works by Jessie Montgomery, Schumann and Beethoven. In her debut with Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen-Normandie, on Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 9, 2023, she leads an all-Mozart program of Idomeneo selections, along with the Clarinet Concerto and Jupiter Symphony. She goes on to make her debut with Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña on Saturday, January 20 and Sunday, January 21, 2024. On Thursday, March 14 and Friday, March 15, 2024, she conducts Orchestre National de France in Beethoven, Symphonie « Pastorale » - Christian Tetzlaff, a concert highlighting Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6. She debuts with Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine on Sunday, May 28, 2024, collaborating with opera star Natalie Dessay on an all-Mozart first half and concluding with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. In her final debut of the season, she conducts Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23, 2024, leading a program that opens with Salina Fisher’s Rainphase, followed by Copland’s Concerto for clarinet, strings, harp and piano and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.

Among her other landmark engagements, New conducts the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra in both the opening and closing concerts of its 2023/2024 season. This caps her nine-year run with the orchestra, where her leadership and chemistry with fellow artists was called “an amazing conglomeration. Audiences can almost physically sense the affection and respect between musicians and the podium” (Ontario Arts). New told the Hamilton Spectator: “I am grateful for the many deeply moving performances our musicians and audiences have inspired... I look forward to cheering on the many future successes of the HPO, and it will always be a pleasure to return as an old friend.” On Saturday, September 23, 2023, New leads the orchestra in Gemma Conducts Schumann & Mendelssohn, a program also featuring the world premiere of Scherzo by contemporary Canadian composer Liam Ritz – who was featured as HPO Composer Fellow for the 2018/2019 season. On Saturday, May 4, 2024, New returns for Gemma Conducts Beethoven 9, a program highlighting works by Andrew Balfour and Claude Vivier along with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, “Ode to Joy!”

In return engagements this season, New conducts several programs with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, where she serves as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor – earning sparkling reviews for her leadership to date. Following the orchestra’s April 2023 performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, the NZ Herald affirmed that in “effortlessly navigating passages of chorale-like serenity along with mighty orchestral climaxes, (New) gave us the emotional assurance Mahler had originally intended.” On Friday, October 27, Saturday, October 28, Friday, November 3, and Friday, November 10, 2023, New leads the NZSO in their program Poem of Ecstasy, a celebration of early 20th century Romanticism. On Saturday, November 4 and Saturday, November 11, 2023, she conducts the orchestra in Benjamin on Britten, featuring New Zealand-born violinist Benjamin Morrison. On two consecutive Sundays, November 5 and November 12, 2023, New conducts Movie Magic: Best of John Williams, a celebration of the legendary film composer. She appears alongside renowned violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in a second program honoring John Williams – Music of John Williams – on Friday, November 17 and Saturday, November 18, 2023. She makes a second run of appearances with the NZSO from April 1-7, 2024, with details to be announced in fall 2023.

In North America, New’s return engagements bring her first to Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, where she conducts Holst’s Legendary Planets on Wednesday, September 27, Thursday, September 28 and Sunday, October 1, 2023. On Thursday, February 1 and Saturday, February 3, 2024 she returns to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for a second Holst program. On Thursday, April 25, Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April, 28, 2024, she returns to conduct the Seattle Symphony in Antarctic Symphony, a program highlighting Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 7, “Antarctic” and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes.

Return engagements across Europe began Thursday, September 7 and Saturday, September 9, 2023 with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening program The Firebird, highlighting Stravinksy’s work of the same name. On December 3, 2023, New leads the Hungarian National Philharmonic in a concert featuring Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica.” On Sunday, February 18, 2024, she conducts Germany’s Bochum Symphony in a program featuring works by Bernstein and Villa-Lobos. On Thursday, March 7, 2024, she leads the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Barber Violin Concerto, a program also including Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E minor and contemporary composer Sarah Gibson’s warp & weft.

Gemma New 2023-2024 Season Calendar

September 7-9, 2023Mälmo Symphony OrchestraMälmo, SwedenLink: https://malmolive.se/en/program/season-opening-the-firebird

September 15-16, 2023Bamberger SymphonikerAugsburg, GermanyLink: https://www.bamberger-symphoniker.de/en/programme-tickets/concert-overview/guest-performance-at-the-mozartaugsburg-festival-15-09-2023.html

Saturday, September 23, 2023Hamilton Philharmonic OrchestraHamilton, OntarioLink: https://www.hpo.org/event/gemma-conducts-schumann-mendelssohn/

September 27-October 1, 2023Orchestre Symphonique de MontréalMontreal, QuebecLink: https://www.osm.ca/en/concerts/holsts-legendary-planets/

October 6-8, 2023Orquesta Nacional de EspañaMadrid, SpainLink: https://ocne.mcu.es/programacion/sinfonico-03-henri-dutilleux-y-jean-sibelius

October 27-November 18, 2023New Zealand Symphony OrchestraVarious Venues | New ZealandLink: https://www.nzso.co.nz/the-nzso/events-tickets/events/poem-of-ecstasy

Thursday, November 30, 2023Lahti Symphony OrchestraLahti, FinlandLink: https://www.sibeliustalo.fi/tapahtumat/lahti-symphony-orchestra-brass-with-brawn/?lang=en

Sunday, December 3, 2023Hungarian National PhilharmonicSzeged, HungaryLink: https://koncertmester.hu/2023/12/03/concerto-budapest

December 8-9, 2023Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen-NormandieNormandy, FranceLink: https://www.operaderouen.fr/programmation/mozart/

January 6-7, 2024Los Angeles PhilharmonicLos Angeles, CaliforniaLink: https://www.laphil.com/events/performances/2435/2024-01-06/mozarts-prague-symphony

January 20-21, 2024Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de CataluñaBarcelona, SpainLink: https://www.auditori.cat/en/event-2/obc-scotish-mendelssohn/

February 1-3, 2024Atlanta Symphony OrchestraAtlanta, GeorgiaLink: https://www.aso.org/events/detail/the-planets

February 8-10, 2024Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago, IllinoisLink: https://cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/seong-jin-cho-plays-beethoven/

Sunday, February 18, 2024Bochum Symphony Bochum, Germany Link: www.bochumer-symphoniker.de/konzerte/detail/bosy-matinee-28/

Thursday, March 7, 2024BBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraGlasgow, United KingdomLink: https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ex59h

March 14-15, 2024Orchestre National de FranceParis, FranceLink: www.maisondelaradioetdelamusique.fr/evenement/concert-symphonique/beethoven-symphonie-pastorale-christian-tetzlaff-gemma-new

Friday, March 22, 2024London Philharmonic OrchestraLondon, United KingdomLink: https://lpo.org.uk/event/romeo-and-juliet/

Sunday, March 24, 2024London Philharmonic OrchestraEastbourne, United KingdomLink: https://lpo.org.uk/event/randall-goosby-plays-mozart-eastbourne-theatres/

April 1-7, 2024New Zealand Symphony OrchestraWellington and Auckland, New ZealandLink: https://www.nzso.co.nz/

April 12-13, 2024Vancouver Symphony OrchestraVancouver, CanadaLink: https://www.vancouversymphony.ca/event/holsts-the-planets-augustin-hadelich/

April 25-28, 2024Seattle SymphonySeattle, WashingtonLink: https://www.seattlesymphony.org/en/concerttickets/calendar/2023-2024/23sub17

May 4, 2024Hamilton Philharmonic OrchestraHamilton, OntarioLink: https://www.hpo.org/event/gemma-conducts-beethoven-9/

May 28, 2024Orchestre National Bordeaux AquitaineBordeaux, FranceLink: https://www.opera-bordeaux.com/en/node/47372

June 22-23, 2024Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester HannoverHannover, GermanyLink: https://staatstheater-hannover.de/de_DE/programm-staatsoper/8-sinfoniekonzert-lebensenergie.1343136