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Handel’s Messiah Handel’s Messiah

THE JOHN F. K EN N EDY C EN TER FO R TH E P ER FORMI N G ART S DECEM BER 18, 2 0 2 5 AT 7 P. M . ; D EC EM BER 1 9 , 2 0 2 5 AT 8 P. M. ; DECE M BER 20, 2025 AT 8 P. M . ; D EC EM BER 2 1 , 2 0 2 5 AT 1 P. M. | CON C E RT HAL L

Ton Koopman, conductor Amanda Forsythe, soprano Maarten Engeltjes, counter tenor Kieran White, tenor John Taylor Ward, bass-baritone University of Maryland Concert Choir Jason Max Ferdinand, Director of Choral Activities GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Messiah, HWV 56 (1741) (1685–1759) i. Sinfony ii. Accompagnato: Comfort ye my people (tenor) iii. Air: Ev'ry valley shall be exalted (tenor) iv. Chorus: And the glory of the Lord v. Accompagnato: Thus saith the Lord of hosts (bass) vi(c). Air: But who may abide the day of His coming? (alto) vii. Chorus: And he shall purify Recitativo: Behold, a virgin shall conceive (alto) viii. Air & Chorus: O thou that tellest (alto and chorus) ix. Accompagnato: For behold, darkness shall cover (bass) x. Air: The people that walked in darkness (bass) xi. Chorus: For unto us a child is born xii. Pifa (Pastoral Symphony) Recitativo: There were shepherds (soprano) xiii(b). Arioso: But lo, the angel of the Lord (soprano) Recitativo: And the angel said unto them (soprano) xiv. Accompagnato: And suddenly (soprano) xv. Chorus: Glory to God in the highest xvi(b). Air: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (soprano) xix. Chorus: Behold the Lamb of God xx. Air: He was despised (alto) xxiii. Chorus: All we, like sheep have gone astray INTERMISSION xxiv. Accompagnato: All they that see him (tenor) xxv. Chorus: He trusted in God that he would deliver him xxix. Air: But thou didst not leave his soul in hell (tenor) xxx. Chorus: Lift up your heads Recitativo: Unto which of the angels (tenor) xxxi. Chorus: Let all the angels of God xxxiii. Chorus: The Lord gave the word xxxiv(a). Air: How beautiful are the feet of Him (soprano) xxxvi(b). Air: Why do the nations (bass) xxxvii. Chorus: Let us break their bonds Recitativo: He that dwelleth in heaven (tenor) xxxviii(b). Recitativo: Thou shalt break them (tenor) xxxix. Chorus: Hallelujah xl. Air: I know that my redeemer liveth (soprano) xli. Chorus: Since by man came death xliii. Air: The trumpet shall sound (bass) Recitativo: Then shall be brought to pass (alto) xliv(b). Duet: O death, where is thy sting? (alto, tenor) xlv. Chorus: But thanks be to God xlvi(a). Air: If God be for us (soprano) xlvii. Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain xlviii. Chorus: Amen THANK YOU TO OUR SEASON SPONSORS

The NSO Music Director Chair is generously endowed by Roger Sant and Congresswoman Doris Matsui Noseda Era Fund Supporters

The Amici di Gianandrea

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Welcome Dear Friends, As we open the National Symphony Orchestra’s 95th season, I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt thanks to you—our devoted patrons, supporters, and friends. Your presence this evening, and your unwavering support throughout the year, mean more than words can convey. It is your love of music, your generosity, and your steadfast belief in the arts that delight this remarkable orchestra. In 1931, Hans Kindler founded the NSO with a bold vision: to build a world-class symphony orchestra in the heart of our nation’s capital. Nearly a century later, that vision continues to be our driving force. Today, under the dynamic artistic leadership of Gianandrea Noseda, we are more inspired than ever to share powerful performances with our audiences. The NSO is not simply an orchestra; it is a family of artists joined together through a shared love of music, unity of purpose, and commitment to something greater than us. The NSO is more than what you see on stage—it is a living, breathing institution devoted to enriching lives. Our robust education and community engagement programs reach thousands of students, educators, and families each year. Between our Youth Fellowship Program and Summer Music Institute, to Young People’s Concerts, we strive to make music accessible to everyone—especially the next generation. This commitment to connect with broader audiences is also seen through our vibrant, genre-defying series, led by the remarkable Steven Reineke, our Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor. Steven brings a wide-reaching musical vision to the NSO, bridging genres and generations. His programming has opened the door for new audiences to discover a love for orchestral music, while continuing to captivate longtime fans with the highest levels of artistry. As we embark on this milestone season, we are reminded that our journey would not be possible without you. Thank you for being an essential part of this vibrant and enduring musical community. With deepest gratitude and warmest regards,

Jean Davidson Executive Director National Symphony Orchestra

From the Music Director Stefano Pasqualetti

Cari amici,

It is with immense joy and anticipation that I welcome you to the National Symphony Orchestra’s 95th anniversary season. This moment is more than a milestone—it is a celebration of our deep musical legacy and a renewed commitment to bringing powerful, moving performances to our community and beyond. This is only the beginning. The 95th season is filled with musical discovery, celebrated artists, and unforgettable experiences.

This season features iconic works that have stood the test of time, from classic It is with immense joy and anticipation that I welcome you to the National Symphony masterpieces to thrilling contemporary music. The NSO also has the opportunity to Orchestra’s 95th anniversary season. This moment is more than a milestone—it is a share the stage with an exceptional lineup of guest artists and conductors—beloved celebration of our deep musical legacy and a renewed commitment to bringing powerful, icons and rising stars alike. Performing new music is something the NSO truly believes moving performances to our community and beyond. This is only the beginning. The in. Make history with us as we present innovative new works, including five world 95th season is filled with musical discovery, celebrated artists, and unforgettable premieres. experiences. I am deeply grateful to share this journey with you. Your presence in the Concert Hall is I am deeply grateful to share this journey with you. Your presence in the Concert Hall what brings our music fully to life. Thank you for being a part of the NSO family—for is what brings our music fully to life. Thank you for being a part of the NSO family—for your passion, your applause, and your unwavering support. your passion, your applause, and your unwavering support. Con tutto il cuore, Con tutto il cuore, Gianandrea Noseda Gianandrea Noseda Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra Music Director, National Symphony Orchestra Che la musica vi porti gioia e ispirazione—may music bring you joy and inspiration. Che la musica vi porti gioia e ispirazione—may music bring you joy and inspiration.

Notes on the Program

Messiah, HWV 56 GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Born February 23, 1685, in Halle, Brandenburg Died April 14, 1759, in London, England

It was Gay and Pepusch’s satirical romp of 1729, The Beggar’s Opera, that first soured the fashionable London taste for what Samuel Johnson described in his 1755 Dictionary of the English Language as “an exotic and irrational entertainment”—Italian opera. As both composer and impresario, Handel was London’s most important producer of opera, and he toiled doggedly for the entire decade of the 1730s to keep his theatrical ventures solvent, but the tide of fashion (and the virulent cabals of his competitors) brought him to the edge of bankruptcy by 1739. As early as 1732, with the oratorio Esther, he had begun casting about for a musical genre that would appeal to the changing fancy of the English public. Neither that work nor the oratorio Alexander’s Feast of 1736 had the success that he had hoped, however, and the strain of his situation resulted in the collapse of his health in 1737, reported variously as a stroke or as acute rheumatism and depression. Much to the surprise and chagrin of his enemies, he recovered and resumed work. The oratorios Israel in Egypt and Saul appeared in 1739, but created little public stir. Determined to have one last try at saving Italian opera in London, Handel spent the summer of 1740 arranging production details and searching for singers on the Continent for his upcoming winter season. After returning to England in early autumn, he completed what proved to be his last two operas, both of which failed ignominiously on the stage: Imeneo, premiered on November 22, closed after only two performances; Deidamia (January 10, 1741) after three. Handel’s publisher, Walsh, despite having good success selling the recent Op. 6 Concerti Grossi, could not find enough subscribers to warrant printing the score of Deidamia. In February, Handel largely withdrew from public life and seldom left his house in Brook Street, near Grosvenor Square. His rivals rejoiced. Rumors began to circulate that Handel was finished in London. Some held that his health had given way for good; others, that he had died. The story given greatest credence, one fueled by Handel’s composition of some Italian duets—pieces nearly useless in London—was that he planned to return to the Continent. However, in the summer he suddenly sprang back to creative life, inspired by a small book of Biblical texts that had been compiled by Charles Jennens, a moneyed gentleman of artistic pretensions and a sincere admirer of the composer who had earlier supplied the words for the oratorio L’Allegro, il Penseroso e il Moderato, based on Milton’s poem. Handel’s imagination was fired, and he began composing on August 22. The stories have it that he shut himself in his room, eschewing sleep and leaving food untouched, while he frantically penned his new work. Twenty-four days later, on September 14, he emerged with the completed score of Messiah. “I did think I did see Heaven before me and the great God Himself!” he muttered to a servant. It was long thought that Handel, a devout Christian and Bible scholar, composed Messiah out of sheer religious fervor, with no thought of an immediate performance. In his book on the composer, the distinguished scholar of 18thcentury music H.C. Robbins Landon contended that the work was written at the request of William, Duke of Devonshire, Lord Lieutenant of Dublin, who visited 6

London early in 1741. William, who knew Handel largely through his sacred vocal music, apparently asked him to provide a new work for performance at a series of concerts in Dublin that would aid various local charities. Handel’s newly regained creative enthusiasm, stirred by William’s request continued to percolate, and he began Samson immediately upon finishing Messiah, completing all but two numbers of that score within six weeks. Handel was undoubtedly glad to leave London and its bitter disappointments in November 1741 for the journey to Dublin to produce his new oratorio; he arrived in the Irish capital on November 18, being “universally known by his excellent Compositions in all Kinds of Musick,” trumpeted the city’s press. It was the beginning of one of the happiest periods of the composer’s life, when, as he wrote to Jennens, he passed his time during the ensuing nine months “with Honour, profit and pleasure.” Preparations for the presentation of Handel’s grand new oratorio went on throughout the winter of 1742. Choristers were assembled from Dublin’s cathedrals, the best available soloists and instrumentalists were enlisted, and the date of the premiere was set for April 13. The public rehearsal on April 9 aroused excitement to such a pitch that the following announcement had to be placed in Faulkner’s Dublin Journal concerning the official first performance: “The Stewards of the Charitable Musical Society request the Favour of the Ladies not to come with Hoops [i.e., hoop skirts] this Day to the Musick-Hall. The Gentlemen are desired to come with-out their Swords, as it will greatly encrease the Charity, by making Room for more company.” Through these sacrifices, the capacity of the hall was raised from 600 to 700 on April 13. An almost equal number, hoping for a ticket, are said to have milled about outside. Messiah was a triumph. “It gave universal Satisfaction to all present; and was allowed by the greatest Judges to be the finest Composition of Musick that ever was heard,” announced Faulkner’s Journal. Handel repeated Messiah on June 3, and lingered a while longer before leaving Dublin on August 13 with sincere but never-fulfilled promises to return. The Irish triumph of Messiah did not follow Handel back to London, at least not immediately. He wanted to present his new oratorio as soon as he returned, but he knew that there would be, in the words of Robbins Landon, “strong opposition to hearing the words of the New Testament in a theatre peopled by actors and actresses of loose morals and dubious sexual habits.” He chose instead to give the Old Testament-based Samson on February 18, 1743, and it proved to be the first of his oratorios that won unqualified acclaim in the British capital. Messiah was ready for its London premiere on March 23 at Covent Garden, though he chose not to bill the work under its true title but called it, simply, “A New Sacred Oratorio,” hoping to skirt some of the indignation of the more puritanical audience members and of Edmund Gibson, the Bishop of London. The ploy succeeded only in part. “Any work about the Omnipotent should never be performed in a playhouse,” fumed one clergyman. Some of his colleagues tried to shut down the theater. Messiah, still known only as “Handel’s New Oratorio,” was given twice more in 1743, and twice again in 1745, then put aside. Not until the death of Bishop Gibson and his succession by the more liberal Thomas Sherlock in 1748 did Handel again mount Messiah, at last under its original title, for a single performance at Covent Garden on March 3, 1749.

Notes on the Program It was, finally, the following year that Handel’s surpassing masterpiece began to receive its due. After the April 13, 1750, Covent Garden performance, Handel presented it again, on May 1, for the benefit of the London Foundling Hospital, a charity that had been established in 1740 by Captain Thomas Coram for the “Maintenance & Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children.” The concert also commemorated the dedication of the Hospital’s Chapel and the organ therein that Handel had already contributed. (Handel’s other local charitable interest was the “Society for the Support of Decayed Musicians & Their Families,” later more sanitarily renamed the Royal Society of Musicians). Messiah, buoyed by a wave of public goodwill inspired by Handel giving its proceeds to a worthy cause, was a huge success. He presented it for the Hospital annually thereafter. It was the last work he directed, only eight days before he died on April 14, 1759. For all of its unparalleled popularity, Messiah is an aberration among Handel’s oratorios, the least typical of his two-dozen works in the form: it is his only oratorio, except Israel in Egypt, whose entire text is drawn from the Bible; it is his only oratorio without a continuous dramatic plot; it is his only oratorio based on the New Testament; it is his only oratorio presented in a consecrated space during his lifetime, a reflection of the sacred rather than dramatic nature of its content (“I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better,” he told one aristocratic admirer); it has more choruses than any of his oratorios except Israel; the soloists in Messiah are commentators on rather than participants or characters in the oratorio’s story. None of this, of course, detracts a whit from the emotional/artistic/(perhaps) religious experience of Messiah. (Handel and Jennens never appended the definite article to the title.) Its three parts—The Advent of the Messiah, The Passion of Christ, and His Resurrection—embody the most sacred events of the Christian calendar, yet its sincerity and loftiness of expression transcend any dogmatic boundaries. In the words of George P. Upton, the American musicologist and turn-of-the-20thcentury critic of the Chicago Tribune, “Other oratorios may be compared one with another; Messiah stands alone, a majestic monument to the memory of the composer, an imperishable record of the noblest sentiments of human nature and the highest aspirations of man.”

Meet the Artists Ton Koopman, conductor Born in Zwolle (The Netherlands), Ton Koopman had a classical education and studied organ, harpsichord, and musicology in Amsterdam, receiving the Prix d’Excellence for both instruments. Naturally attracted by historical instruments and fascinated by the philological performance style, Koopman focused his studies on baroque music, with particular attention to J.S. Bach and Dieterich Buxtehude, soon becoming a leading figure in the “historic informed performance” movement. As organist and harpsichordist, Koopman has appeared in the most prestigious concert halls around the world and played the most beautiful historical instruments of Europe. At the age of 25, he created his first baroque orchestra; in 1979, he founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, followed in 1992 by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir. Combined as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, the ensemble soon gained worldwide fame. With a repertoire ranging from the early baroque to the late Classics, they have performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Salle Pleyel in Paris; Barbican and Royal Albert Hall in London, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Philharmonie in Berlin, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, etc. Koopman has recorded over 400 CDs and LPs for Erato, Teldec, Sony, Deutsche Grammophon, and Philips. In 2003, he founded his label “Antoine Marchand,” a sub-label of Challenge Classics. Among his most ambitious projects has been the recording of the complete Bach cantatas, a massive undertaking for which he has been awarded the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis “Echo Klassik,” the BBC Award, the Hector Berlioz Prize, as well as nominations for the Grammy® Award (USA) and the Gramophone Award (UK). In addition to the works of Bach, Koopman has long been an advocate for the music of Bach’s predecessor Dieterich Buxtehude, and, following the completion of the Bach project, he embarked on the recording of the Buxtehude – Opera Omnia; the edition consists of 30 CDs. Koopman publishes regularly. Among many works, he has edited the complete Händel Organ Concertos for Breitkopf & Härtel and published a new edition of Handel’s Messiah and Buxtehude’s Das Jüngste Gericht for Carus Verlag.

Koopman is President of the International Dieterich Buxtehude Society. He was awarded the Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig (2006), the Buxtehude Prize of the city of Lübeck (2012), the Bach Prize of the Royal Academy of Music in London (2014), and the prestigious Edison Classical Award (2017). In 2024, he received the honorary medal of his hometown, Zwolle, along with the prestigious French title of Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2025, he was honored with the VSCD Oeuvre Award. Since 2019, he has been President of the Leipzig Bach Archive. Koopman is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Leiden and the Conservatory of Den Haag, an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, an Honorary Doctor in Linz and Lübeck, and artistic director of the Itinéraire Baroque Festival.

Amanda Forsythe, soprano American soprano Amanda Forsythe, warmly praised for her performances on both sides of the Atlantic, is a regular soloist with the highly acclaimed baroque ensembles Les Talens Lyriques, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Tafelmusik, Apollo’s Fire, Opera Prima, Pacific MusicWorks, Early Music Vancouver, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. The 2025–2026 season features performances of Handel’s Messiah with the New York Philharmonic (Dame Jane Glover), National Symphony Orchestra (Ton Koopman), and Boston Baroque. She sings Michal in Saul with the Handel and Haydn Society and conductor Jonathan Cohen, a program of Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War and Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Colorado Symphony; Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the North Carolina Symphony, Bach and Handel in a return to the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Ilia in Idomeneo with Washington Concert Opera. The season also includes ‘‘Hearing Her Voice,’’ a celebration of female perspective and talent, with Tafelmusik, and a program of Handel arias with Early Music Vancouver. Forsythe’s 2024–2025 season began with a return to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s “Coronation Mass,” under the baton of Nicholas Kraemer. The winter brought performances of Handel’s Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony (Stephen Stubbs) and the Royal Northern Sinfonia (Dinis Sousa), 9

Meet the Artists followed by Canada’s Victoria Symphony for Haydn’s The Creation. Other season highlights included Forsythe’s return to Orchestra of Saint Luke’s for a special 50th Anniversary Concert, Boston Baroque to perform Ginevra in Ariodante, an appearance at the Tucson Baroque Festival, and two engagements with Boston Early Music Festival—a European tour of works by Carissimi, and a staged production of Keiser’s Octavia. Equally at home on the concert platform and on the opera stage, in recent seasons Forsythe’s major concert engagements have included performances with the Boston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, the Academy of Ancient Music, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. She has performed under the baton of Giovanni Antonini, Jonathan Cohen, Laurence Cummings, Sir Colin Davis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniele Gatti, Matthew Halls, Thomas Hengelbrock, Nicholas Kraemer, Bernard Labadie, Susanna Mälkki, Nicholas McGegan, Christopher Moulds, Riccardo Muti, Andris Nelsons, Sir Antonio Pappano, Martin Pearlman, Christophe Rousset, Jeannette Sorrell, Stephen Stubbs, and Jaap van Zweden. She has premiered opera productions by Gilbert Blin, Robert Carsen, Tobias Kratzer, and Sir Graham Vick.

Maarten Engeltjes, counter tenor Maarten Engeltjes (1984) has been singing as a boy soprano since the age of four. He collaborated as a soprano soloist on several CD recordings, including Allegri’s Miserere in the Riga Cathedral. At the age of sixteen, Maarten made his debut as a countertenor in Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Many concerts at home and abroad soon followed. Then in 2007, he graduated cum laude from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Meanwhile, Engeltjes has been a much soughtafter countertenor for many years and works regularly with conductors such as Ton Koopman, Jonathan Cohen, Emmanuelle Haïm, Vladimir Jurowski, William Christie, Peter Dijkstra, Jordi Savall, Reinbert de Leeuw, Markus Stenz, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, and Laurence Cummings, 10

among others. This makes him a regular guest at the world’s most prestigious orchestras and venues such as Lincoln Center in New York, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Metropolitan Theatre in Tokyo, the Sydney Festival, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, Barbican Hall in London, Bourgie Hall in Montréal, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Kölner Philharmonie in Cologne, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Future engagements include a seven-year Bach cycle with Les Arts Florissants conducted by Paul Agnew, Bach Cantatas in Prague and Leipzig with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under Ton Koopman, Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the NDR Choir conducted by Klaas Stok, Bach’s St Matthew Passion under Eivind Gullberg Jensen, and Handel’s Messiah with the New York Philharmonic. In 2017, Engeltjes founded his own baroque orchestra, PRJCT Amsterdam. With the ensemble, he takes charge of conducting, as well as the programming and the business sides—a combination that gives him great satisfaction. Meanwhile, Engeltjes has recorded two solo albums with his ensemble for Sony Classical, both of which received high praise from the press. For the coming seasons, the ensemble has concerts planned at home and abroad in prestigious venues and festivals, such as the Muziekgebouw and Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Kölner Philharmonie, Bachfest Leipzig, and Paris’ Salle Gaveau. Engeltjes lives with his wife in Amsterdam and is a proud father of two sons.

Kieran White, tenor Acclaimed for his “extraordinary emotional clarity” (Opera Magazine) and “pure, luminous tenor voice” (The Guardian), Kieran White is a British tenor known for his expressive interpretations of baroque and early music. He has performed with many of Europe’s leading ensembles and orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Les Talens Lyriques, and Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, under conductors such as Ton Koopman and Christophe Rousset. Recent highlights include his New York debut in Handel’s Messiah at David Geffen Hall with the New York Philharmonic, his appearance in the critically praised recording of Lully’s

Atys with Les Talens Lyriques for Château de Versailles Spectacles, and a starring role in the Monteverdi Festival’s one-man show La musica e le ragioni dell’anima. Opera Magazine called his performance “a masterclass in Baroque affect, moving fluidly between recitative, song, and speech.” On the opera stage, Kieran has taken on major roles across Europe—including Castor in Rameau’s Castor et Pollux (Warsaw Chamber Opera), Hippolyte in Hippolyte et Aricie, and Damon in Acis and Galatea—and is frequently praised for his clarity of diction and poetic delivery. Upcoming engagements include The Fairy Queen with Vox Luminis at Teatro Real in Madrid, Mathan in Handel’s Athalia with Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. Whether on international stages or in intimate chamber settings, Kieran brings “refined musical intelligence and rare emotional immediacy” (Forum Opéra) to every performance—making him one of the most distinctive tenors of his generation.

John Taylor Ward, bass-baritone John Taylor Ward performs with “stylish abandon” (The New Yorker), “intense clarity and color” (The New York Times), and “finely calibrated precision and heartrending expressivity” (The Washington Post). A native of Boone, North Carolina, Taylor grew up in a musical family—mostly bluegrass and Broadway. Before pursuing opera and early music studies at the Eastman and Yale Schools of Music, he spent his early years living a double life as both a sought-after musical theater actor and an Anglican boy treble. Taylor’s “lithe, louche, and admirably game” approach to the repertoire (Opera News) has yielded recent acclaimed debuts at Spoleto Festival USA in the premiere of Unholy Wars; Mexico’s Compañía Nacional de Teatro, starring in Iannis Xenakis’ Oresteia; and Vienna’s Musikverein as Jesus in Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Notable DVD releases include the role of Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress with Barbara Hannigan, Proteo in Orfeo Chaman with Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata, and an upcoming documentary series on the life and works of Claudio Monteverdi with the English Baroque Soloists. Taylor is the founding artistic

director of the Lakes Area Music Festival of Minnesota. He is a laureate of the Jardin des Voix and a member of the two-time Grammy®– winning ensemble, Roomful of Teeth.

University of Maryland Concert Choir The UMD Concert Choir is a distinguished 100-voice symphonic ensemble, recognized as the choir of choice for both the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO). The choir has collaborated with these esteemed institutions on major choral-orchestral repertoire, including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Britten’s War Requiem, Bernstein’s “Kaddish” Symphony, and Orff ’s Carmina Burana. The ensemble has performed under the baton of renowned conductors such as Marin Alsop, Helmuth Rilling, Donald Runnicles, Masaaki Suzuki, James Conlon, Markus Stenz, and Laurence Equilbey, among many others. In 2018, the UMD Concert Choir delivered acclaimed performances of John Adams’s The Gospel According to the Other Mary with Gianandrea Noseda and the NSO. The following year, in May 2019, the choir appeared at Carnegie Hall with Noseda and the NSO in a program featuring Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Liszt’s Dante Symphony. Critics praised the choir as “outstanding throughout, beautifully controlled and responsive,” noting its “full range of dynamics,” “perfectly tuned chromatic lines,” and “crisply unified staccato attacks.” Most recently, the ensemble performed with the BSO under the direction of Jonathon Heyward, receiving accolades for their skilled and expressive singing. Looking ahead to the 2025–2026 season, the UMD Concert Choir will prepare for engagements with both the NSO and the BSO. On campus at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, the choir has presented major works including Bach’s Magnificat and Weihnachtsoratorium, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri. This coming season, they will present Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Dett’s Chariot Jubilee in collaboration with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra.

Meet the Artists National Symphony Orchestra The 2025–2026 season is the National Symphony Orchestra’s 95th and Music Director Gianandrea Noseda’s ninth season. Gianandrea Noseda serves as the orchestra’s seventh music director, joining the NSO’s legacy of distinguished leaders: Christoph Eschenbach, Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Antal Doráti, Howard Mitchell, and Hans Kindler. Its artistic leadership also includes Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Steven Reineke. Since its founding in 1931, the NSO has been committed to performances that enrich the lives of its audience and community members. In 1986, the National Symphony became an artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where it has performed since the Center opened in 1971. The 96-member NSO participates in events of national and international importance, including the annual nationally televised concerts on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol,live-streamed performances on medici.tv, and local radio broadcasts on WETA Classical 90.9 FM. Since launching its eponymous recording label in 2020, the NSO has embarked on ambitious recording projects, including its first complete Beethoven Symphony cycle and the release of the first-ever cycle of George Walker’s Sinfonias, both led by Noseda. Recent projects include Four Symphonic Works by Kennedy Center Composerin-Residence Carlos Simon conducted by Noseda, and William Shatner’s So Fragile, So Blue, recorded live in the Concert Hall with the NSO under Steven Reineke. Forthcoming releases with Gianandrea Noseda include music by Gustav Mahler and William Grant Still, as well as Samuel Barber’s opera Vanessa. The NSO’s community engagement and education projects are nationally recognized, and career development opportunities for young musicians include the NSO Youth Fellowship Program and its acclaimed, tuition-free Summer Music Institute.

Loud and Clear Eight terms to know in the Concert Hall, loosely defined. Symphony An extended work with multiple sections—typically four movements. A “symphonic” piece is a long piece with multiple interpretations of a musical idea. A repeated, transformed musical idea is called a theme. Orchestra A group of musicians who play together. In the Western European tradition, an orchestra often includes the four major instrument families—brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. An especially large orchestra is called a symphony orchestra. A smaller orchestra is called a chamber orchestra. Movement A section of a musical work. Movements are often separated by silences, and they typically differ in tempo—speed. Oratorio An extended musical composition for chorus, soloists, and orchestra. Oratorios are often religious in nature. Though they may follow a narrative, oratorios are generally presented in concert form—without costumes, scenery, or props. Opera A musical play with singers who perform a staged version of the dramatic text—the libretto. Sonata Originally, a musical composition played on instruments. In modern usage, “sonata” can mean a piece for a soloist or an ensemble, often with two to four movements. If a work or a movement is written in sonata form, it is structured in three sections: exposition, development, and recapitulation. Concerto A piece pairing a technically advanced soloist with the support of an orchestra, usually in three movements. Though there may be multiple soloists, the contrast between a larger ensemble and a soloing group defines a concerto. Cantata A musical composition that is shorter than an oratorio with both a vocal and an instrumental part. Cantatas are often used in church services— church cantatas.

National Symphony Orchestra GIANANDREA NOSEDA, MUSIC DIRECTOR The Roger Sant and Congresswoman Doris Matsui Chair

STEVEN REINEKE, PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC ADVISOR VIOLINS Nurit Bar-Josef, Concertmaster Ying Fu, Associate Concertmaster, The Jeanne Weaver Ruesch Chair Ricardo Cyncynates, Assistant Concertmaster Xiaoxuan Shi, Second Assistant Concertmaster Jane Bowyer Stewart Heather LeDoux Green Lisa-Beth Lambert Jing Qiao Marina Aikawa Peiming Lin Derek Powell Regino Madrid** Meredith Riley** Marissa Regni, Principal Dayna Hepler, Assistant Principal Cynthia R. Finks Deanna Lee Bien Glenn Donnellan Natasha Bogachek Carole Tafoya Evans Jae-Yeon Kim Wanzhen Li Hanna Lee Benjamin Scott Malorie Blake Shin Angelia Cho Kei Sugiyama** VIOLAS Daniel Foster, Principal, The Mrs. John Dimick Chair Dana Kelley, Assistant Principal Denise Wilkinson Nancy Thomas Jennifer Mondie Tsuna Sakamoto Ruth Wicker Mahoko Eguchi Abigail Evans Kreuzer Rebecca Epperson Chiara Dieguez** Jacob Shack** CELLOS David Hardy, Principal, The Hans Kindler Chair, The Strong Family and the Hattie M. Strong Foundation Raymond Tsai, Assistant Principal David Teie James Lee

Rachel Young Mark Evans Eugena Chang Riley Loewi Lin Britton Riley Noah Krauss BASSES Robert Oppelt, Principal Richard Barber, Assistant Principal Jeffrey Weisner Ira Gold Paul DeNola Charles Nilles Alexander Jacobsen Michael Marks HARP Adriana Horne, Principal FLUTES Aaron Goldman, Principal Leah Arsenault Barrick, Assistant Principal Matthew Ross Carole Bean, Piccolo OBOES Nicholas Stovall, Principal, The Volunteer Council Chair Jamie Roberts, Assistant Principal Harrison Linsey*** Kathryn Meany Wilson***, English Horn CLARINETS Lin Ma, Principal Eugene Mondie, Assistant Principal Paul Cigan Peter Cain, Bass Clarinet BASSOONS Sue Heineman, Principal David Young, Assistant Principal Steven Wilson Sean Gordon, Contrabassoon HORNS Abel Pereira, Principal, The National Trustees’ Chair James Nickel, Acting Associate Principal Markus Osterlund*** Scott Fearing Robert Rearden Geoffrey Pilkington**

TRUMPETS William Gerlach, Principal, The Howard Mitchell Chair, The Strong Family and the Hattie M. Strong Foundation Michael Harper, Assistant Principal Michail Thompson Tom Cupples TROMBONES Craig Mulcahy, Principal Evan Williams, Assistant Principal David Murray Matthew Guilford, Bass Trombone TUBA Stephen Dumaine, Principal, The James V. Kimsey Chair TIMPANI Jauvon Gilliam, Principal, The Marion E. Glover Chair Scott Christian, Assistant Principal PERCUSSION Eric Shin, Principal, The Hechinger Foundation Chair Erin Dowrey, Assistant Principal Scott Christian Jason Niehoff* KEYBOARD Lambert Orkis, Principal Lisa Emenheiser* ORGAN William Neil* LIBRARIANS Elizabeth Cusato Schnobrick, Principal Zen Stokdyk, Associate Karen Lee, Assistant PERSONNEL Karyn Garvin, Director Sufyan Naaman**, Coordinator STAGE MANAGERS David Langrell, Manager N. Christian Bottorff, Assistant Manager The National Symphony Orchestra uses a system of revolving strings. In each string section, untitled members are listed in order of length of service. *Regularly Engaged Extra Musician ** Temporary Position ***Leave of Absence

National Symphony Orchestra Staff ADMINISTRATION Jean Davidson, Executive Director Sabryn McDonald, Executive Assistant EXECUTIVE TEAM Kasama Apfelbaum, Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis Nigel Boon, Vice President, Artistic Planning John Roloff, Vice President, Orchestra Operations ARTISTIC PLANNING Justin Ellis, Senior Producing Director Emily Graham, Assistant Artistic Administrator Ana Vashakmadze, Assistant Artistic Administrator DEVELOPMENT Kate Baker, Assistant Manager, NSO Board and Leadership Campaigns Laney Pleasanton, Manager, NSO Individual Giving Pamela Wardell, Senior Director of Development EDUCATION Vanessa Thomas, Director of Education Activation & Engagements FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION Eric Rubio, Director of Finance & Administration

HUMAN RESOURCES Tony Amato, Director, Total Rewards Chanel Kemp, Talent Acquisition Manager Patrice McNeill, Director, HR Operations Lisa Motti, HRIS Coordinator Ericka Parham, Benefits Analyst John Sanford, Senior Business Partner MARKETING & ADVERTISING Scott Bushnell, Senior Director, Creative and Brand Strategy Lily Maroni, Senior Manager, Advertising Communications Elizabeth Stoltz, Advertising Production & Special Projects Assistant Manager Kaila Willard, Marketing Manager, Analytics and CRM Strategy Derek Younger, Director, Sales & Ticketing Service ORCHESTRA OPERATIONS & CONCERT PRODUCTION Brooke Bartolome, Assistant Manager, Orchestra Operations Joseph Benitez, Media & OPAS Support Coordinator N. Christian Bottorff, Assistant Stage Manager Cayley Carroll, Director, Production & Orchestra Operations Karyn Garvin, Director of Orchestra Personnel David Langrell, Stage Manager Sufyan Naaman, Personnel and Auditions Coordinator Ava Yap, Operations Assistant PUBLIC RELATIONS Amanda Fischer, Deputy Director of Public Relations

Kennedy Center Staff KENNEDY CENTER EXECUTIVE LEADER SHIP President, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts �� Ambassador Richard Grenell Chief Financial Officer ��Donna Arduin General Counsel �� Elliot Berke Senior Vice President, Development ��Lisa Dale Senior Vice President, Marketing ��Robin Osborne Senior Vice President, Special Events ��Bronagh Donlon Vice President, Human Resources�� Ta’Sha Bowens Vice President, Operations ��Matt Floca Vice President, Education��Jordan LaSalle Vice President, Public Relations ��Roma Daravi Chief Information Officer ��Bob Sellappan Executive Director, National Symphony Orchestra �� Jean Davidson General Director, Washington National Opera �� Timothy O’Leary

Concert Hall Staff Theater Manager ��Allen V. McCallum Jr. Box Office Treasurer �� Deborah Glover Head Usher ��Cathy Crocker Stage Crew �� Zach Boutilier, Michael Buchman, Paul Johannes, April King, John Ottaviano, and Arielle Qorb

*Represented by ATPAM, the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers.

The technicians at the Kennedy Center are represented by Local #22, Local #772, and Local #798 I.A.T.S.E. AFL-CIO-CLC, the professional union of theatrical technicians.

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Steinway Piano Gallery is the exclusive area representative of Steinway & Sons and Boston pianos, the official pianos of the Kennedy Center.

The American Guild of Musical Artists, the union of professional singers, dancers and production personnel in opera, ballet and concert, affiliated with the AFL-CIO, represents the Artists and Staging Staff for the purposes of collective bargaining.

The box office at the Kennedy Center is represented by I.A.T.S.E, Local #868.

National Symphony Orchestra musicians are represented by the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 161-710.

Orchestrated Lives Each month, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) spotlights a different musician in the Orchestra. For this program, Principal Second Violin Marissa Regni, the daughter of two professional musicians, discusses youth engagement, her unbridled gnome obsession, and the @NSO_Musicians Instagram page.

Name: Marissa Regni Hometown: Ridgewood, New Jersey Instrument: Violin Years with the NSO: 29 Do you have a favorite educational program that you’ve been a part of? I love doing the Young People’s Concerts. I’ve been hosting them for, gosh, probably 10 years or something. The show that we’re doing now is called Philharmonia Fantastique. It’s a really fun program because we introduce kids to the orchestra one section at a time. They get the sound of the instruments in their heads at a time when they’re probably picking an instrument in school. Would you say that the @NSO_Musicians Instagram page appeals to that same want for accessibility and friendliness in the Concert Hall? Absolutely. Audiences never get to talk to us. We seem sort of untouchable, and we’re very serious when we’re playing— they always see us dressed up in black. I want people to realize that we’re humans. We mow our lawns. It’s that famous line—we put our pants on one leg at a time. As soon as you say, ‘‘Oh I heard that principal trumpet talk, and he has a great sense of humor,’’ it totally changes your experience. You feel more connected with the whole product. You feel more invested, right? To turn that back on you: An audience member walks into the Concert Hall, they open the program, they’re reading this interview, and they come across an extremely humanizing fact about Marissa. What is it? I mean, I have a total gnome addiction. You know little gnomes with the nose and the hat that comes down? If there's one in front of me in a store, I have to buy it. It’s ridiculous; I have many for every holiday. Do you have a favorite onstage or offstage memory of your time at the NSO? We used to do residencies in different states every year. We stopped doing those ages ago because of funding, but that was one of my favorites. We would go to states that didn't have big symphony orchestras, and we would break into little groups, and everyone would do outreach. One of my favorites was when we were in Arizona, and a percussionist, a harpist, and I went to a school on a reservation and played. They had never seen our instruments before. We did a collaboration where the elders came and played some of their instruments, like a Native American harp— instruments that we had never seen before. That, to me, was more meaningful. What are you most excited about playing this December? Messiah is an amazing piece because no two conductors do it the same way. Honest to goodness, every year it's different—different interpretation, different approach, just a completely different beast. Ton Koopman did some concerts with us a few years ago, and I really enjoyed that week with him. The other thing that we do in December is the ugly Christmas sweater concert at The Anthem. I love that because everybody gets totally into it— people in the audience come up and have a costume contest. 17

Support your

ORCHESTRA

The mission of the National Symphony Orchestra, an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, is to engage audiences locally, across the country, and around the world through excellence in performance and education. Each year, the NSO offers approximately 150 concerts as well as some of the country’s most extensive community and educational programming. It regularly participates in events of national and international importance, including performances for state occasions, high-level government events, and regularly televised holiday appearances for Capitol Concerts and local radio broadcasts on WETA, making the NSO one of the most-heard orchestras in the country.

Give your support in this 95th season by becoming a Member, joining the NSO Circles, or pledging a Legacy Gift. Visit tkc.co/SupportNSO or scan the QR code. 18

Thank You to Kennedy Center Supporters The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees National Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors Washington National Opera Board of Trustees The Kennedy Center President’s Council The Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts National Committee for the Performing Arts National Symphony Orchestra National Trustees The Kennedy Center Circles Board The Kennedy Center Community Advisory Board The Kennedy Center Corporate Fund Board The Kennedy Center 50th Anniversary Committee Corporate Donors Individual and Foundation Donors Endowment Gifts, Bequests, and Legacy Donors Building the Future Campaign Donors

Andrew Geraci

Visit tkc.co/Support for a full listing of donors and to learn how you can join us by becoming a Member.

National Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors Officers Joan Bialek, Chair Ashley Davis, Vice Chair

Stanley Pierre-Louis, Treasurer Brian Boyle, Secretary

Executive Committee Carl Bergeron, Chair, Pension Committee Brian Boyle, Co-Chair, Development Committee Ashley Davis, Chair, Nominating and Governance Committee Shannon McCormick Davis, Co-Chair, Development Committee Ronald D. Abramson Anne K. Altman Michael F. Brewer Jean Davidson, ex officio Barbara H. Franklin

Thomas C. Green Kathryn Jones Christina Co Mather Michael Mayton Richard Moxley

Michael Salzberg Roger W. Sant Susan Silverstein Scott Tina B. Small

Cindy Green Dana Hearn Helen Jackson Sydney McNiff Johnson Ann D. Jordan, Lifetime Dir. Vlad Khomenko Gerald L. Kohlenberger, ex officio Michael Lipsitz Jan M. Lodal Timothy R. Lowery

Heidi Narang David B. Novy Cathy McCulloch Sarah Mills Jeanne Weaver Ruesch Sheryl Schwartz Jeffrey M. Senger Jeff Shockey Raghu Srinivasan Courtney Straus Stuart Winston

Directors Ernest Abbott Martin K. Alloy Andrita J. Andreas Jane Lipton Cafritz Ronya Corey Pierre de Lucy Debbie Driesman Larry Driver William Finnerty Brian L. Gevry David Ginsberg

National Symphony Orchestra National Trustees Officers

Ex-Officio Positions

Gerald L. Kohlenberger, Chairman Jeri Crawford, President Jeannette J. Segel, Special Events and Meetings Theresa Thompson, Vice President Membership

Michael Mayton, Past Chairman Jessine Monaghan, Past Chairman Mary K. Abercrombie, Past Chairman

Members Mary Abercrombie Ross Ain Susan Ain Purvi Patel Albers Ralph Baxter Nancy Davis Gail Charnley Elliott

Glenn Finch Mary Galvin Larry Kellogg Laura Kerr Ken Leibowitz Tom Mims Michael Mayton

Jessine Monaghan Tammy Tran Nguyen James Ward John Wohlstetter Steve Young

Noseda Era Supporters AARP Joan Bialek and Louis Levitt, MD Brian and Sheila Boyle Ms. Ashley Davis Ms. Thelma Duggin The Galena-Yorktown Foundation Tom and Pamela Green Dana A. Hearn and Kevin J. McCloskey

Daniel Heider Mr. Frank F. Islam and Ms. Debbie Driesman Janet and Jerry Kohlenberger Cynthia Krus and George S. Corey The Honorable Jan M. Lodal Dr. Gary Mather† and Ms. Christina Co Mather Kathe and Bill McDaniels Patricia Bennett Sagon†

Michael and Deborah Salzberg The Honorable† and Mrs.† Leonard L. Silverstein The Leonard and Elaine Silverstein Family Foundation Theresa Thompson

Thank You to Our Donors Individual and Foundation donors contributing $1,800 or more to the National Symphony Orchestra annually are recognized in the following lists. For a full list of Kennedy Center supporters, please visit: tkc.co/Support

$500,000+

Anonymous The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Dr. Gary Mather† and Ms. Christina Co Mather Mellon Foundation Roger Sant and Doris Matsui

$100,000-499,999 Mr. Martin K. Alloy and Mrs. Daris M. Clifton-Alloy Andreas Family Foundation Paul M. Angell Family Foundation

The Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation The Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts The Galena-Yorktown Foundation

Dana A. Hearn and Kevin J. McCloskey Thelma Z. Lenkin Jacqueline Badger Mars Eric Shin The Volgenau Foundation

Tom and Pamela Green Janet and Jerry Kohlenberger The Honorable Jan M. Lodal Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Catherine and Michael Mayton, Trustees The Moxley Family Foundation

Jeanne Weaver Ruesch Jeffrey Shockey Tina and Albert Small, Jr. Drs. Robert and Gail† Wilensky

Cindy and Andy Green Daniel Heider Ms. Judy Honig and Mr. Stephen Robb Mr. Frank F. Islam and Ms. Debbie Driesman Helen Jackson and Joseph Sassoon Admiral Jay L. Johnson and Sydney McNiff Johnson Kathryn and J. Stephen Jones MD Michael and Terri Lipsitz Cathy and Scot McCulloch Kathe and Bill McDaniels Mr. Devon McFadden and Ms. Ronya Corey Sarah and Christopher Mills Jessine A. Monaghan RJ and Heidi Narang

Melanie and Larry† Nussdorf Stanley Pierre-Louis and Natalie Williams Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation Steven Portnoy and Ryan Manning Michael and Deborah Salzberg Brad and Sheryl Schwartz Susan Silverstein Scott Jeffrey and Leigh Senger Dr. Heather Turnbow and Mr. Raghu Srinivasan John and Eunice Thomas Nina Totenberg and David Reines Jerry and Carol Trautschold Mr. John C. Wohlstetter

Josh Harris Frederic Harwood and Nedda di Montezemolo Joe and Lynne Horning Irene and Louis Katz Sarosh Khan The Kiplinger Foundation Ken Leibowitz Mr. Georges Markow-Totevy

Wayne Nguyen and Tammy Tran Nguyen Jeannette J. Segel The Rabbitt Whalen Family Foundation Fredda S. Sparks The Linda and Isaac Stern Charitable Foundation Theresa Thompson Mr. and Mrs. Francis M. Wells, Jr. Steve and Jena Young

Dr. Leonard Goldman and Dr. Lisa DeMarco Paul and Carol Hill Anne B. Keiser and Douglas M. Lapp Erna and Michael Kerst Jane Mary Kwass Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation

Mr. James E. Miller and Ms. Fynnette Eaton Ralph and Gwen Nash Dr. and Mrs. Ronald A. Paul Dr. Mary Carolyn Thies Ziva and Aaron Tomares Dr. Jean Vike Mr. and Mrs. Mallory Walker

$50,000-99,999 Anonymous (2) Mrs. Byrle M. Abbin The Andreas Family Foundation Eve E. Bachrach Joan Bialek and Louis Levitt, MD Larry Driver

$25,000-49,999 Anonymous Ernest and Catherine Abbott Ms. Anne K. Altman Bender Foundation, Inc. Brian and Sheila Boyle Michael Brewer and Janet Brown Greg Burgess Shannon and Jim Davis Pierre de Lucy and Jodie McLean Ms. Kirby Heller and Mr. Stephen Dennett Dr. Christine A. Dingivan The Honorable Barbara H. Franklin Ann and Tom Friedman Mary B. Galvin Brian and Kendra Gevry David and Ellen Ginsberg

$15,000-24,999 Anonymous (2) Mary K. Abercrombie Ross and Judy Ain Mr. and Mrs. Michael Baly, III Ralph H. Baxter, Jr. Dr. Maria L. Dufau Catt Mr. and Mrs. Richard T. Crawford Gail Charnley and E. Donald Elliott Betsy and Robert Feinberg Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Finch

$10,000-14,999 Anonymous (3) Jeffrey S. Abramson In Honor of Joan Bialek Ms. Nadine Cohodas Dimick Foundation John C. Driscoll Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences

Thank You to Our Donors $6,000-9,999 Janice and Larry Clark Phil and Joan Currie Mr. and Mrs. Dennis de Tray Mr. Edward A. Farquhar Drs. Jorge R. Gallardo-García and Viviana Vélez-Grajales Mr. Woolf P. Gross Greg and Stephanie Guyett Dr. Elaine S. Jaffe and Mr. Michael Evan Jaffe

Glen M. Johnson Helen and David Kenney Sharon and Alan Levy Heidi and Bill Maloni RADM Dan and Jackie March, USN Ret Joan and John McAvoy Mr. and Mrs. Alan Melvin Leah Chang and Ryan Naftulin David Novy Mr. Robert K. Oaks

Mr. Joseph A. Page and Ms. Martha Gil-Montero Ashley Rose and Jerry Horak Justin A. Shirk Annelise and Robert H. Smith Peter Threadgill Claire and Jack Tozier Michael and Alice Weinreb Dr. and Mrs. Peter L. Willson

Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Kampschroer Isabelle Katzer Henry B. & Jessie W. Keiser Foundation, Inc. SooJung Kim Edward Lenkin and Roselin Atzwanger John and Jaime Martinez Catherine McGuire Sis and Jim McKay In Honor of Jenny Mondie Beret and Homer Moyer Ronald Mueller and Larry Anthony Ms. Madeline C. Nelson Elise and Dennis Reeder Jane† and David Reese Admiral William Roberts and Patricia Roberts

Ellen and Roy Rosenthal MG (Ret) and Mrs. Alan B. Salisbury Steven and Donna Shriver Christine J. Steiner Dr. Barbara S. and Dr. Howard D. Stowe Ms. Mary K. Sturtevant and Mr. Alan V. Asay Paul and Chandler Tagliabue Mr. Rick Trevino and Mr. W. Larz Pearson Mr. and Mrs. James G. Vaughter Dr. Linda E. Wetzel Kathleen G. Wicks Mr. Christopher Wolf and Mr. James L. Beller, Jr. David Worby

Catherine French Richard L. Gaiani Carol Galaty and Kenneth Shuck Ms. Pamela J. Garvie Professor Joseph L. Gastwirth Laura Genero, in memory of Elizabeth H. Genero Brenda A. Pommerenke and Dr. Larry George Karyn C. Gill and George M. Gill, MD Dr. and Mrs. Michael Gold Mr. Barry D. Goldberg Jesse Goodman and Nicole Lurie Thomas Graves and Jennifer Eubanks Marianne Gustafson Brian and Kaitlin Haggerty Ms. Susan Z. Haller Dr. and Mrs. H. Keith Hellems Lenese C. Herbert Mr. and Mrs. J. Paul Horne Christiane B. Huff Brian Hunter Dr. Brian M. Ilfeld Ms. Nancy E. Johnson Ann L. Jones Dr. Rachel Kaiser and Dr. Yves Konigshofer Dr. Martha Kanter Peter and Carol Kaplan Diane and Brian Keller Stephanie Smith Kinney Mr. and Mrs. William H. Kirchhoff Jennifer Knoops Mr. Michael and Young Hee Kreps

Janet Platt Lambert Dr. and Mrs. Keith M. Lindgren Michael Long Judge and Mrs. Alan D. Lourie Dr. Joyce S. Lowenstein Mr. and Mrs. Frank Maddox Hon. and Mrs. Kenneth L. Marcus Dan and Karen Mayers Ms. Kathleen T. McCollom Mary Kay and Dorn McGrath Susan McGrath Catherine Michaels Mr. Jim Miller Mr. Joseph J. Minarik Arthur Mitchell Clara Montanez Susan and Fred Morhart James Morris Ms. Sakura Namioka Mr. Omar Nashashibi Bruce and Son Young Nelson Anna Nichols Rich Oakley David O'Connor David and Marina Ottaway Michael Pasich Michael and Barbara Phillips Mr. and Mrs. James J. Pohlman George and Virginia Potts Ms. Shannon Quill and Mr. Brian Miller Jane Evans Ramsay Mrs. Barbara Rapaport William Reed In Memory of Jane Reese

$4,000-5,999 Anonymous (2) Pennie and Gary Abramson Ken and Liz Babby David M. Bachman, M.D. Dr. Mark Cinnamon and Ms. Doreen Kelly George and Phyllis† Cohen Helen Darling and Brad Gray Gretchen and Douglas Davies Tom Ehrgood Robert Fahs Jack Firestone Alma Gildenhorn Maggie Givens Mr. and Mrs. Jurgen O. Gobien Mr. and Mrs. Rolf Graage Richard and Pamela Hinds

$1,800-3,999 Anonymous (4) Anja Allen Mrs. Aida Armaly Mr. John Ausink and Ms. Elaine S. Simmons Ann and Russel Bantham Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell J. Bassman Herschel V. Beazley John and Priscilla Becker Elaine and Richard Binder Mr. Gerard Blais Mary Breiner Ms. Linda Bunce Mr. Vincent Careatti Frank and Victoria Chang Helen Chason Susan Christie Donna Christy Robin Rowan Clarke Robert M. Coffelt, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony C. Collins Col. and Mrs. James Dandridge II, Ret Justin W. Danowski Mr. Michael J. Dean The Charles Delmar Foundation Dr. Darrin and Mrs. April DeReus Peter and Sally DiGiovanni Dr. Earl W. Donaldson Aaron and Jackie Epstein John Evans Anita Fendrock Ms. Nina M. Fite Charles and Mita Forsyth Dr. Stanley and Ronna Foster

Henry & Anne Reich Family Foundation, Lee G. Rubenstein, Co-President Thomas Richardson and Kyra Cheremeteff Gerd and Duncan Ritchie Mr. and Mrs. James P. Roach Mr. and Mrs. William Ronsaville Mr. and Mrs. Harry Rosen Dr. Shirley Ross and Mr. Joseph Pinciaro Robert and Fran Rubin Mr. Charles A. Rubio, Jr. Enric Sala Ms. Patricia A. Sarcone Mr. Ronald J. and Mrs. Rise F. Schlesinger The Honorable Carol L. Schwartz

Cheryl L. Sharp Byron and Elva Siliezar Patricia L. Sims, Esq. and David M. Sims, Esq. Douglas Struck Evelyn A. Sweet Kathy Szot Marilyn and David H.† Taylor Kathleen M. Thies Pauline Labbé Thompson Steven and Prudence Traut Raya Bakalov Treiser and Max Johnson Capt. and Mrs. Eric Vanderpoel II, USN, Ret. Laura and Kirk Wade Pearl Y. Wang

Judy Ann and Richard Webster Ms. Rebecca Welch Ms. Carla Wheeler and Mr. Jeffrey P. Naimon Lawrence Wilkerson Leslie-Ann Williams Al Wilson Dr. Ursula R. Wolfman Robert Woodward and Elsa Walsh Clinton B. Wright Daniel Zak

The NSO thanks the Sacred Spaces Foundation, which supports the promotion of sacred art, architecture, and literary and other cultural works, for their major support of Handel’s Messiah.

As of December 1, 2025

More Concerts this Season! The Rite of Spring | Trifonov plays Brahms Gianandrea Noseda and Daniil Trifonov reunite! From the stormy grandeur of Brahms’ First Piano Concerto to the raw power of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, this program is a force of nature.

January 15, 2026 at 7 p.m. January 16 & 17, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Songs of Destiny and Fate The Washington Chorus joins the NSO for three choral masterpieces by Brahms. These mesmeric works set the stage for Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, a testament to humanity’s resilience.

January 22, 2026 at 7 p.m. January 23 & 24, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Le Poème Divin | Brahms’ Double Concerto Noseda conducts a program that moves from the rich interplay of Brahms’ Double Concerto— featuring Concertmaster Nurit Bar-Josef and Principal Cello David Hardy—to the cosmic vision of Scriabin’s Symphony No. 3.

January 29, 2026 at 7 p.m. January 30, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. January 31, 2026 at 8 p.m.

To purchase tickets, visit nationalsymphony.org or call 202-467-4600

2025–2026 CLASSICAL SEASON PERFORMANCE CALENDAR Handel’s Messiah

Thu., Dec. 18, 2025 at 7 p.m. Fri., Dec. 19, 2025 at 8 p.m. Sat., Dec. 20, 2025 at 8 p.m. Sun., Dec. 21, 2025 at 1 p.m.

The Rite of Spring Trifonov plays Brahms

Thu., Jan. 15, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Jan. 16, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sat., Jan. 17, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Songs of Destiny & Fate

Thu., Jan. 22, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Jan. 23, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sat., Jan. 24, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Le Poème Divin Brahms’ Double Concerto

Thu., Jan. 29, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Jan. 30, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. Sat., Jan. 31, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Shostakovich’s Eighth Abduraimov plays Tchaikovsky

Thu., Feb. 5, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. Sat., Feb. 7, 2026 at 8 p.m.

American Mosaic

Thu., Feb. 19, 2026 at 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 21, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sun., Feb. 22, 2026 at 3 p.m.

Winter Daydreams: Noseda conducts Tchaikovsky’s First Trpčeski plays Saint-Saëns Fri., Mar. 6 at 11:30 a.m. Sat., Mar. 7 at 8 p.m.

Hahn & Woods play Carlos Simon Brahms’ Third

Thu., Mar. 12, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Mar. 13, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sat., Mar. 14, 2026 at 8 p.m. NSO Presents*

Alexandra Dovgan

Sat., Mar. 14, 2026 at 3 p.m.

Death and Transfiguration Khachatryan plays Sibelius

Thu., Apr. 2, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Apr. 3, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. Sat., Apr. 4, 2026 at 8 p.m.

NSO Presents*

Khatia Buniatishvili

Fri., Apr. 24, 2026 at 8 p.m. Opera in Concert

Puccini’s Il trittico

Wed., Apr. 29, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., May 1, 2026 at 7 p.m.

Renée Fleming’s Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene Fri., May 29, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sat., May 30, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Cann plays Coleman

Fri., June 5, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sat., June 6, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Philip Glass’ “Lincoln” Dalene plays Barber

Fri., June 12, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sat., June 13, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Bruckner’s Seventh Gerlach plays Haydn

Fri., Apr. 10, 2026 at 8 p.m. Sat., Apr. 11, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Mozart’s “Jupiter” & Bach’s Brandenburg No. 1

Wed., Apr. 15, 2026 at 7 p.m. Thu., Apr. 16, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Apr. 17, 2026 at 8 p.m.

Shaham & Shaham play Reena Esmail Robertson conducts Sibelius’ Fifth

Thu., Feb. 26, 2026 at 7 p.m. Fri., Feb. 27, 2026 at 11:30 a.m. Sat., Feb. 28, 2026 at 8 p.m.

*Please note: The National Symphony Orchestra does not perform in these concerts.

G I A N A ND R E A NOS EDA

L ISTE N N OW!

FOU R SYMPHO NIC WOR KS

NOW AVA ILA B L E O N A L L ST R E A M I N G PLATFORM S

Take home... a musical memory.

NSO Cap and T-shirt

Our new National Symphony Orchestra cap and tee let you show your pride in our world-class symphony. $30 each

Mozart Magic Flute Earrings These exquisite earrings bring Mozart’s masterpiece to life with fluteinspired details that create a visual symphony. $42

Make Your Own Music Mug

No better way to start your day than with a coffee mug imprinted with blank sheet music and sticker notes so you can compose your own melody. $20

Visit our two gift shops on Level A and in the Hall of States. Shop online 24/7 at tkc.co/shop

Kennedy Center Chamber Players:

WINTER CONCERT Comprising titled musicians of the NSO, this acclaimed ensemble presents classics from four centuries of chamber music.

David Hardy, cello Lambert Orkis, piano Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 5 for cello and piano in D major Op. 102 No. 2 Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for cello and piano in C major Op. 119 Edvard Grieg: Sonata for cello and piano in A minor Op. 36

SUN., JAN. 18, 2026 | TERRACE THEATER THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS The NSO Music Director Chair is generously endowed by Roger Sant and Congresswoman Doris Matsui Noseda Era Fund Supporters The Amici di Gianandrea

Most enjoyed by ages 5+

NSO Music for Young Audiences

Musical Tails Featuring a piano quintet from the National Symphony Orchestra

Jae-Yeon Kim, violin; Andrew Eng, viola; Eugena Chang Riley, cello; Charles Nilles, double bass; and Natalia Kazaryan, piano The young and young-at-heart are invited to listen and experience the timeless tales of the Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel and the magical world of Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals, narrated in English and Spanish and performed through chamber music.

Jan. 24 & 25, 2026 Family Theater

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS The Dr. Gary Mather and Christina Co Mather Fund for Under-Resourced Youth

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