Famed for its four-note opening, Beethoven’s Fifth is imaginative, violent, and brimming with drama. Noseda pairs this colossal crowd-pleaser with the First Sinfonia by D.C. native George Walker, the first Black composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Gianandrea Noseda pairs Beethoven’s Fourth with the Fourth Symphony by William Grant Still—the first Black composer to have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra (Rochester Philharmonic) and to conduct a major American symphony orchestra (Los Angeles Philharmonic).

Beethoven’s epic Ninth is the symphony by which all others are measured. Witness the vast cosmic drama of this groundbreaking piece—the first symphony to include chorus it its orchestration. With its grand emotional melodies and tremendous final “Ode to Joy,” Beethoven’s final symphony resounds as loudly today as it did two centuries ago.

The Washington Post described Gemma New’s 2019 NSO debut as “meticulously calibrated beauty.” Now, the New Zealand-born conductor leads the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Violin Concerto (Procession), commissioned by the NSO and performed by superstar Jennifer Koh.