“Music has the power to heal, to comfort, and to inspire. It is a leading force which is essential for preserving and restoring beauty, freedom and peace in the world.” – Serge Koussevitzky, Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1924 – 1949), 1943

Introduction

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has exemplified an inventive, rigorous spirit since its founding. In Fiscal Year 2024, our season was again filled with extraordinary artistry and hundreds of concerts in Boston, at Tanglewood, and beyond, reaching over one million people and inspiring ideas that both honored our long history and signaled a growing momentum. As the BSO charts its next era of innovation under the leadership of Eunice and Julian Cohen President and CEO Chad Smith, in partnership with our supporters and Board of Trustees, this new chapter marks a time of change and opportunity.  

Through unforgettable musical moments, energizing partnerships, and humanities programs that brought music into dialogue with other disciplines, we defined our commitment as a place of ideas and innovation - where creativity and conversation meet, and where music serves as a catalyst for civic engagement, education, and connection. With an eye on a bright and impactful future, our work continues to reshape what an orchestra is and can be. 

We celebrated a vital piece of this legacy during our 2023-24 season by marking the centennial of one of our great artistic mentors, Serge Koussevitzky. Maestro Koussevitzky’s influential era as Music Director reminds us that the BSO has always been a place, at Tanglewood and beyond, where tradition meets innovation, and where the great works of the past inspire bold new creations and cross-disciplinary collaborations. 

Building on this momentum, the BSO Executive Office and BSO Board Executive Committee took decisive action to outline the goals for the orchestra’s next era by taking foundational steps in 2024 to outline a new strategic planning process. The final stages of this work will be completed in 2025, exploring fundamental questions that will shape the BSO’s future as a world-class cultural institution and civic pillar.  

We look ahead with the profound knowledge that the strength of this institution comes from the extraordinary people who bring it to life: our brilliant conductors and musicians, our devoted Trustees and Advisors, our inventive and hard-working staff, and, above all, you, our supporters. Your belief in our mission makes everything we do possible. We are deeply grateful. 

Our legacy is long and rich, but our greatest impact lies ahead. Thank you for standing with us as we honor our past and boldly shape our future together. 

Music and the Human Experience

“Orchestras aren’t just about music. At its best, an orchestra is a meeting place for ideas, for democratic exchange, for creating the shared meaning that makes our communities strong. This belief — that music is service — is in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s founding DNA, and it’s a purpose that I see guiding the BSO today.” - Yo-Yo Ma, New York Times, 2024

Each year, our staff and orchestra strive to produce a vibrant, engaging season that offers audiences a rich tapestry of sound that encompasses both historical depth and contemporary creativity. And each time the musicians of the BSO take the stage in Boston, at Tanglewood, or across the globe, they extend an invitation to our audiences to join in the powerful expression of our shared humanity that is live music. 

In our 2023-24 fiscal year, the BSO’s music continued to play a vital role in bringing people together. Whether an audience member discovered the BSO through a local chamber concert, attended their very first orchestra performance with a school or community group at Symphony Hall, or embraced the beloved tradition of a Holiday Pops family matinee, your support helped us to build and strengthen communities through shared experiences.

Humanities at the BSO 

During the 2023-24 season, the BSO enriched time-tested offerings with a new humanities initiative, elevating the idea that music is not just a beautiful cultural experience, but an essential human experience. This critical work opens doors for dynamic, vibrant programming that engages people across many different backgrounds and generations.

With the support of our donors, these activities generated new energy for our artistic team, our orchestra, and our audiences, laying the groundwork for festival moments in 2024–25 celebrating the works of Beethoven and Shostakovich, and in the upcoming 2025-26 season, the E Pluribus Unum project, which celebrates a rich array of American compositional voices in conjunction with “America 250,” marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Humanities events and milestones included:

• Ligeti 100 Festival

   

  In November 2023, the BSO honored the centennial of the birth of composer György Ligeti with a weeklong Ligeti 100 Festival. The festival immersed audiences in Ligeti’s adventurous, otherworldly soundscapes, with performances spanning Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, and partner venues. 
   
  The celebration opened on November 12 at Saint Cecilia Church in Boston with the presentation of a free concert of Ligeti’s choral works, featuring the Lorelei Ensemble and organist Heinrich Christensen. Chamber and vocal programs at Symphony Hall and across Boston featured BSO Assistant Conductor Samy Rachid, Anna E. Finnerty chair, endowed in perpetuity, pianist Stephen Drury, and the Callithumpian Consort. On November 16-28, centerpiece concerts at Symphony Hall brought Thomas Adès to the podium to conduct Ligeti’s dazzling Piano Concerto with pianist Kirill Gerstein, framed by works by Liszt, Stravinsky, and Adès himself.

• The festival concluded on November 19 at Jordan Hall, with a program by the BSO Chamber Players, Adès, and Gerstein, juxtaposing Ligeti’s chamber music with Mozart and the American premiere of Adès’ Növények Songs. Together, these concerts offered audiences a vivid portrait of Ligeti’s radical imagination and his enduring impact on contemporary music.

   

• Music for the Senses Festival

   

  In March 2024, the BSO launched its Music for the Senses Festival, an innovative series that connected music with science and the humanities. Performances, panels, and interdisciplinary collaborations explored how we perceive and experience sound, blending art with voices from research in neuroscience, health, and technology. Highlights included Scriabin’s Prometheus, Poem of Fire with a color-organ lighting design, Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Symphonie introduced by live gamelan demonstrations by the MIT-based ensemble Gamelan Galak Tika, and chamber programs paired with discussions on music cognition and sensory perception. Free public panels brought together composers and neuroscientists to examine the role of music in medicine and well-being.

   

• Koussevitzky 150

   

  At Tanglewood during the summer of 2024, attention turned to a towering figure in the BSO’s history: Serge Koussevitzky. His transformative vision defined the BSO’s commitment to living composers for the modern era, and profoundly shaped its future by grounding the Tanglewood Festival in the work of the Tanglewood Music Center.
  
  Koussevitzky 150 marked the 150th anniversary of Serge Koussevitzky’s birth and the centennial of his first year as BSO Music Director. The anniversary celebration included the performance of works he championed, such as Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet under Andris Nelsons, Ray and Maria Stata Music Director, endowed in perpetuity, and Head of Conducting at Tanglewood. Newly commissioned works by Tania León and Elena Langer extended Koussevitzky’s legacy of supporting living composers. On July 26, the Tanglewood Learning Institute presented The Legacy of Serge Koussevitzky, exploring the visionary conductor’s role in shaping the orchestra and founding the Tanglewood Music Center, with moderator Harlow Robinson, Tom Godell, and Victor Yuzefovich. 

   

  In Boston, the Associates of the Boston Public Library partnered with the BSO for a special Pierce Performance Series, with three programs reflecting on Koussevitzky’s influence that brought the celebration of his legacy to Boston and bridged from the 2023-24 fiscal year, which concluded on August 31, through the fall of 2024. Three events – Koussevitzky, Innovator (October 15), Koussevitzky’s Legacy (October 29), and Koussevitzky, Musician (November 19) – were presented alongside archival exhibits from the BSO and BPL holdings. The series traced the legacy of a leader whose passion for new music and artistic excellence continues to define the orchestra’s identity a century later.

   

• In addition, in January 2024, Carlos Simon was appointed the BSO’s first Deborah and Philip Edmundson Composer Chair, launching a partnership defined by the creation of new works and introduction of new discussions on music, identity, and social justice. 

Welcoming In

“We have always been about breaking down the barriers that exist between cultures, musical cultures, and therefore, hopefully, the people who those cultures represent. To be able to do a concert that appeals to everyone is a bit of a balancing act, but what I try to do is provide things people want to come back to [and] things people want to touch again each year, which is what tradition is about, but always adding new musical experiences from across cultures. Everybody comes together in celebration and leaves with a feeling of community.” - Keith Lockhart, Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra 

In 2023-24, the BSO continued to redefine what it means to pursue true excellence in both performance and partnership. We are proud to share the following milestones: 

• Music provided a platform for social reflection. 

   

  In January 2024, Andris Nelsons and the BSO presented an acclaimed concert performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s powerful opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Though the opera was a worldwide sensation following its 1934 premiere, its exploration of gender, oppression, and power put Shostakovich in real danger amidst the Soviet regime. Through investigating Shostakovich’s artistic themes and lived experience, we continued a conversation that is still critically relevant to contemporary life. 

• We celebrated the evolving relationship between Classical and Jazz. 

   

  In March 2024, the BSO presented Celebrating the Symphonic Legacy of Wayne Shorter, a tribute concert honoring the life and legacy of the great jazz innovator, composer, bandleader, and saxophonist who passed away in March 2023. The program embraced Shorter’s profound influence on jazz and contemporary composition, as well as the intersection of jazz and orchestra. By exploring the connections between jazz, contemporary works, and classical masterpieces, the BSO created a musical experience that resonated with people of diverse backgrounds and interests. 

• Our programming embraced a welcoming approach.

   

  On June 1, 2024, Symphony Hall was home to our very first Pride Night. Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops kicked off Pride Month with a critically acclaimed evening featuring Drag superstar Thorgy Thor – the first event of its kind for the Pops, warmly received by a full house. 

• The Tanglewood Learning Institute welcomed families and fostered conversation.

   

  In summer 2024, Tanglewood’s TLI for Families series offered three events: Join the Dance with Boston University Tanglewood Institute musicians (July 14), a collaborative program with the Norman Rockwell Museum (August 4), and a live session of Circle Round with Rebecca Sheir (August 18). The TLI Spotlight Series brought leading voices in the humanities and culture to the Tanglewood campus, featuring Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Tracy K. Smith (July 20), historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (August 10), and journalist David Pogue (August 17), who explored the impact of AI on the future of music. Together, these programs furthered Tanglewood’s commitment to engaging families, expanding perspectives, and connecting music with broader cultural conversations. 

Seiji Ozawa, the BSO’s longest-serving Music Director (1973–2002), passed away on February 6, 2024 at age 88. A celebrated conductor who rose to international prominence after winning the 1959 Besançon Competition, Ozawa led the BSO into a new global era through groundbreaking tours, more than 140 acclaimed recordings, and 44 commissions, including Pulitzer Prize–winning works. His tenure saw highlights such as the 1979 China tour, the opening of Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, and a worldwide simultaneous performance of Beethoven’s beloved Ode to Joy as part of the opening ceremonies for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan that featured the BSO’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus as the North American representative.  
 
Renowned for his championing of contemporary composers and collaborations with major artists, Ozawa was also deeply devoted to music education, founding academies and festivals in Japan and Europe that nurtured young musicians. He also made deep connections at Tanglewood and with the Fellows of the Tanglewood Music Center. Remembered worldwide as a visionary leader, humanitarian, and passionate mentor, his legacy endures in his artistry, recordings, and the generations of musicians he inspired. 
 
In the summer of 2024, the annual Tanglewood on Parade in the Berkshires was dedicated to the memory of Maestro Ozawa. The evening performance by the BSO, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra opened with Ken-David Masur conducting John Williams’ For Seiji!, composed in 1999 to honor Ozawa’s 25th anniversary with the BSO, and continued with performances led by Keith Lockhart, Alan Gilbert, Anna Rakitina, and others, featuring artists such as soprano Christine Goerke and the Marcus Roberts Trio.  

New Works and New Orchestra Experiences

“Now, I will say, we are charged with reimagining [the repertoire] every single time that we play it. And we do that for audiences each time they experience it. Many of our players have played this, but each time they play it, they will say, ‘I discovered something new this time, or I felt something new this time.’ And that’s because we’re humans and we exist within a world. We have to explore that repertoire, and we have to reimagine it for every generation. And we have to expand the repertoire, and we have to make sure that the repertoire that we’re performing also represents the artistic ideas and the artistic impulses of contemporary artists.” - Chad Smith, Eunice and Julian Cohen President and Chief Executive Officer, endowed in perpetuity (via WCRB) 

In the 2023–24 season, the BSO continued its tradition of championing new music with several important premieres. Highlights included world premieres of works by Tania León and Elena Langeras, as well as Roberto Sierra’s Symphony No. 6. The BSO also gave the U.S. premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Prologue for Orchestra, all part of the Koussevitzky 150 commissioning initiative. 

In the 2024 Spring Pops season (May 10–June 8), the Pops presented inventive thematic programs including The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE-Day, a multimedia musical narrative with original arrangements commemorating WWII that offered a stirring blend of live orchestral performance, visual storytelling, narration, and history. True to a long tradition of innovation in form, the Pops also offered immersive experiences: “live to film” orchestral accompaniment to Encanto and Jurassic Park, a medley of Queen hits with vocal powerhouse Marc Martel, and Broadway Now!: Broadway’s Modern Masters with an ensemble of Tony-winning stars, including Victoria Clark, Mandy Gonzalez, Joshua Henry, and other special guests. 

These performances spanned genres, showcased the Pops’ versatility, invigorated our players, and offered fresh experiences to the community. 

Community Impact

Thanks to your generous support and philanthropic vision, the BSO continues to be a dynamic force that fosters community engagement through accessible concerts, collaborations with diverse artists, and programming that investigates and celebrates the intersection of multiple genres. 

In 2023–24: 

• The BSO brought music directly into neighborhoods through its Community Chamber Concerts, a free series of sixteen performances that spanned October 2023 to April 2024. With programs ranging from solo works to ensembles of six players, BSO musicians offered one-hour concerts in community centers, churches, and other welcoming spaces across Greater Boston. The series balanced beloved classics with fresh voices, from Mozart’s divertimenti and Mendelssohn quartets to contemporary works by Kaija Saariaho, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Pulitzer Prize-winner Tania León. By placing chamber music in familiar local settings and weaving together tradition with the vitality of living composers, these concerts created intimate, immersive experiences that strengthened community connections while broadening access to the artistry of the BSO.
• The BSO presented three Youth & Family Concerts during the 2023–24 season led by Thomas Wilkins, the orchestra’s Artistic Partner of Education and Community Engagement and Germeshausen Youth and Family Concerts Conductor, endowed in perpetuity. These concerts offered thematic experiences designed to engage young listeners and families, such as May I Have Your Attention, Please?, which explored the concept of listening through music (October 24–28). The performances provided family-friendly access to Symphony Hall and the BSO, weaving together narrative, orchestral storytelling, and live entertainment to spark curiosity and foster early connections with classical music.
• The BSO offered two Sensory-Friendly concerts designed for individuals on the autism spectrum or with sensory sensitivities and their families. On October 28, 2023, Thomas Wilkins led a Sensory-Friendly version of May I Have Your Attention, Please?, introducing young listeners to the joy of orchestral sound in a welcoming and supportive environment. On December 2, 2023, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops presented a Sensory-Friendly Holiday Pops Concert, bringing festive music and special accommodations to ensure an inclusive experience. Together, these performances underscored the BSO’s commitment to creating meaningful, accessible opportunities for all audiences to enjoy live music.
• During the Holiday Pops season, the Boston Pops presented seven Kids’ Matinees as well as three live-to-film performances of the beloved holiday classic Home Alone.
• The 2024 Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular marked the 50th anniversary of fireworks being part of the Pops’ Independence Day tradition at the Hatch Shell. The concert, led by conductor Keith Lockhart, featured Tony Award–winner Kelli O’Hara, pop icons The Mavericks, singer Darlene Love, and the Singing Sergeants of the U.S. Air Force Band. This beloved free event continues to be a cornerstone of Boston’s civic celebration of the July 4th holiday, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees and reinforcing the Pops’ role as a community convener. 

Our Musicians

The BSO’s 2023–24 season showcased the extraordinary artistry of its musicians and was a testament to their talent, discipline, and excellence. 

Highlights included: 

• Ligeti 100: Ligeti’s Hamburg Concerto by the Boston Symphony Orchestra Chamber Players featured former Principal Horn James Sommerville, and the recently-appointed BSO Concertmaster Nathan Cole, Charles Munch chair, endowed in perpetuity.  
• Koussevitzky 150: Principal Bassist Edwin Barker performed Koussevitzky’s Double Bass Concerto in celebration of the maestro’s 150th birthday. 
• Pops principals also shone in programs that celebrated the orchestra’s breadth across genres. 
• Beyond Symphony Hall, new recordings—including Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand—continued the BSO’s legacy of producing world-class releases with Deutsche Grammophon. 
• Principal Flutist Elizabeth Rowe gave her final performances at Tanglewood after 20 years with the orchestra. 
• BSO players devoted countless hours to chamber concerts and mentorship at the Tanglewood Music Center. 

Looking Ahead

“Internally, change is hard, but change happens by making change. It’s going to take investment, and a lot of listening and experimenting. But now is when we have to take the big swings.” – Chad Smith, Eunice and Julian Cohen President and Chief Executive Officer, endowed in perpetuity, New York Times, 2024

We hope to continue to partner with you as the BSO begins its next chapter. By renewing your investment, you help us to sustain our commitment to being a world-class orchestra and civic pillar in Boston and the Berkshires; to advance the orchestral art form in service to audiences, artists, and students; and to provide artistic programs that comfort, inspire, and challenge individuals while fostering belonging and strengthening the ties that connect us to community.

The BSO is dedicated to a mission of service through music and strives to be an exemplar among non-profit arts institutions in making concerts accessible and affordable. By design, ticket sales cover only a portion of the actual cost of presenting hundreds of world-class performances each season to an audience of 1 million. Philanthropic support enables the BSO to deliver artistry of the highest caliber, attract and retain the most talented musicians, and welcome audiences of every background through a range of accessible ticket programs.

We invite you to explore our current season below. We'll see you at Symphony Hall!