**Note: This interview was recorded before yesterday’s announcement that Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin to withdraw from tonight and tomorrow’s orchestra performances at SPAC. The performances will go on with Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Kensho Watanabe stepping in.**
The Philadelphia Orchestra's three-week residency is underway at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York. The season is and has been highlighted by premieres ranging from classical masterpieces to innovative contemporary compositions, marking a record number of pieces that have never before been performed on SPAC’s stage. Performances run through August 17.
Beginning tonight, the season showcases two weeks under the baton of Yannick Ne?zet-Se?guin, Music Director of both The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Metropolitan Opera. Ne?zet-Se?guin will conduct the closing night performance of Mozart’s Requiem. The remainder of the Orchestra’s season also features a line-up of acclaimed and emerging artists appearing at SPAC for the first time including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and classical pianist Christian Blackshaw; making their SPAC debuts in 2019 are Jan Lisiecki and Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.
Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center joins us.