Seong-Jin Cho and Music Director Gianandrea Noseda announce National Symphony Orchestra European tour
Photo Credit: Christoph Köstlin
(WASHINGTON)—Music Director Gianandrea Noseda will lead the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) on its European tour, February 16–28, 2024. The two-week international tour will mark Noseda’s first with the Orchestra and includes 10 concerts across nine cities in three countries, a highlight being a homecoming performance in Noseda’s hometown of Milan, Italy, at Teatro alla Scala. Noseda and the Orchestra’s Asia Tour 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic. The tour soloists include violinist Hilary Hahn performing Korngold’s Violin Concerto and pianist Seong-Jin Cho performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, and the NSO will perform the European premiere of the NSO co-commission, Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra by Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Carlos Simon.
Before embarking on its European tour, the NSO will perform its tour programs at home at the Kennedy Center in the Concert Hall, January 25–February 9, 2024. The NSO will also present one of the tour programs at Carnegie Hall on February 12, 2024, with special guest James Ehnes performing the Korngold Violin Concerto.
The National Symphony Orchestra is partnering with American Forests, the oldest conservation organization in the U.S., to restore forests burned by wildfire in Oregon. The initiative will help return climate-adapted forests to the region, while recovering biodiverse habitat, protecting clean waterways, and bringing recreation back to local communities. The project will help reduce the climate impact of the Orchestra’s 2024 Europe tour by advancing natural climate solutions – restoring damaged forest ecosystems and their ability to capture carbon dioxide. This is one of many ways the NSO has changed its business practices to reduce its impact on the environment.
This is the NSO’s first European tour since 2016, which was led by former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach, and the 12th tour to Europe in its 92-year history. On this tour, the Orchestra visits Zaragoza, Spain for the first time and will make its debut at Spain’s Auditorio de Zaragoza, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie. It will also make appearances at Berliner Philharmonie, Nuremberg’s Meistersingerhalle, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Cologne’s Philharmonie, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, and Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional de Música.
Music Director Gianandrea Noseda said: “This first international tour of my tenure will give the artists of the National Symphony Orchestra and me the opportunity to showcase what we have been achieving at the Kennedy Center, including works we are adding to our recording legacy. We will tour throughout Europe in our role as musical ambassadors and I’m proud that Carlos Simon, the Kennedy Center’s Composer-in-Residence, will be with us as well as violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Seong-Jin Cho. One of my personal highlights will be appearing with the NSO on the stage of Teatro alla Scala in my hometown of Milan. I’m excited for this tour and everyone who will have the opportunity to experience our performances.”
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