America UNBOUND – World Premiere

Experience the world premiere of this new piece by percussionist Javier Diaz, whose studio credits include Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. Commissioned by the American Symphony Orchestra, this chamber music composition incorporates stylistic elements from music across the Americas and takes us on a journey through history, spaces, and generations. It…

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A Century of Great American Jazz Composers

The American Symphony Orchestra explores a truly American genre—jazz, with an ensemble comprised of ASO musicians and other featured artists active in the New York jazz scene today. The program chronicles some of America’s greatest jazz composers of the last century who lived between 1923 and 2023 and made lasting contributions to the canon of…

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A Century of Great American Jazz Composers

The American Symphony Orchestra explores a truly American genre—jazz, with an ensemble comprised of ASO musicians and other featured artists active in the New York jazz scene today. The program chronicles some of America’s greatest jazz composers of the last century who lived between 1923 and 2023 and made lasting contributions to the canon of…

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Celebrating New York

Performed live at Bryant Park on September 17, 2022, Celebrating New York, highlighted composers who have influenced the artistic landscape of New York and works that were inspired by our great city. A full livestream of the concert is available to watch on-demand on ASO Online through November 1, 2022.  The program opens with a…

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Daphne

The ASO spotlights Richard Strauss’s seldom heard pastoral opera Daphne. With its lush orchestral palette, endlessly shifting harmonic motion, sumptuous melodies, combined with a diaphanous serenity typical of Strauss’s later style, Daphne reveals to us a composer arguably at the peak of his powers, supremely confident in his abilities as both composer and dramatist. In…

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Organ + Orchestra

The ASO and St. Bartholomew’s Church share a connection rooted deep in the history of both institutions. ASO founder Leopold Stokowski began his American career as organist and choirmaster of St. Bartholomew’s before founding the orchestra in 1962. We return to this National Historic Landmark for a program of works honoring the king of instruments…

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Celebrating New York

Continuing a partnership forged between the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bryant Park Corporation in the wake of COVID-19, the ASO will present a free concert to celebrate its 60th Anniversary. The program celebrates composers who have influenced the artistic landscape of New York and works that were inspired by our city. The program opens…

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A Salute to America’s Jazz Royalty: The Count, The Duke and The King

A truly American genre, the ASO presented this jazz ensemble as a salute to America’s jazz royalty: New Jersey-native jazz pianist, organist, and composer Count Basie, considered one of the all-time greatest bandleaders; singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole, the first Black American to host a TV variety show; and Duke Ellington, whose totally…

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United We Play

United We Play is a short film inspired by the current turbulent times, and the belief that strength comes through adversity—where there is divide, there is also community. The project combines the talents of Marcus Roberts, The Modern Jazz Generation, and the ASO’s string section in a musical, visual, and narrative digital experience that speaks…

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The Miracle of Heliane

Set in an unnamed totalitarian state, The Miracle of Heliane (Das Wunder der Heliane) features an intricate, erotic triangle between a ruthless despot, The Ruler; his beautiful and neglected wife, Heliane; and a young, messianic Stranger. An allegorical tale, about the destruction of a dictatorship by a woman, Heliane premiered to great acclaim in Hamburg in 1927, and remains…

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