Manfred Honeck conducts Dvořáks Symphony no. 9 ‘From the New World’
The Concertgebouw opens the new season on Monday 7 September 2026 with a concert in the World-famous Symphony Orchestras series by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Under its music director Manfred Honeck, the orchestra performs an American programme: Dvořák's Ninth Symphony 'From the New World', Barber's Violin Concerto with soloist Augustin Hadelich and Four Black American Dances by Carlos Simon, composer in residence of The Concertgebouw.
Manfred Honeck has been music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 2008. The orchestra made its Concertgebouw debut in 1989 and will perform there for the eighth time on 7 September; its previous visit was in 2019. In 2018 orchestra and conductor won a Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance, and they have documented their collaboration in a series of recordings. The Amsterdam programme, with Dvořák's Ninth and Simon's Four Black American Dances, was released on CD this summer. The Amsterdam concert is part of a European tour that also includes performances in Salzburg, Hamburg, Lucerne and Vienna.
Conductor Manfred Honeck: 'This program reflects the richness and diversity of the American symphonic tradition, bringing together music from different periods and voices that have shaped, and continue to shape, its musical landscape.'
250 years of the United States of America in three works
2026 marks 250 years since the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. The programme reflects three moments in American music history. Dvořák wrote his Ninth Symphony in New York in 1893 and gave it the title 'From the New World'. That same year, in the New York press, he expressed the expectation that African American melodies would form the foundation of a distinctly American concert music. Barber's Violin Concerto dates from 1939, was premiered in 1941 and is now among the most frequently performed American violin concertos. Simon based Four Black American Dances (2022) on dances from the African American tradition, including the ring shout and the holy dance.
Composer in residence Carlos Simon
Carlos Simon (Atlanta, 1986) is composer in residence of The Concertgebouw in the 2026–2027 season, his first residency in Europe. Simon grew up in a family of preachers and was shaped by the gospel music of his father's church. 'For me, music is a way of preaching,' he says in an interview with The Concertgebouw. In the United States, Simon is composer in residence with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington and holds the first Composer Chair in the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His Requiem for the Enslaved received a Grammy nomination in 2023.
His music can be heard on several occasions at The Concertgebouw this season, including the European premieres of Warmth from Other Suns (Quatuor Arod) and the Gardner Suite (New European Ensemble). An overview of all concerts featuring Carlos Simon is available at concertgebouw.nl.
World-famous Symphony Orchestras 2026–2027
- Mon 7 Sep 2026 – Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Manfred Honeck, with Augustin Hadelich (violin) – Simon, Barber and Dvořák's Ninth
- Tue 24 Nov 2026 – Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich conducted by Paavo Järvi – Mahler's Symphony no. 6
- Fri 19 Feb 2027 – Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pekka Kuusisto (also soloist in Sibelius' Violin Concerto) – Tarrodi, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky's Fifth
- Wed 7 Apr 2027 – Czech Philharmonic conducted by Semyon Bychkov, with Seong-Jin Cho (piano) – Smetana and Rachmaninoff
- Tue 18 May 2027 – Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Sir Simon Rattle – Mahler's Adagio from the Tenth and Beethoven's 'Eroica'
