Alan Gilbert is on holiday for most of August (his next performances are with Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra on tour in northern Germany and Denmark August 28 – September 1), but you can hear him talk about a number of interesting subjects today as he joins the impressive roster of experts who have contributed to the website BIG THINK. You can listen to the interview in its entirety (it's just over a half-hour long) or in short, topical segments – such as the anatomy of a performance – at bigthink.com/alangilbert

Before heading off for their annual summer residency in Vail, Colorado, the New York Philharmonic will perform an all-Varèse concert at Avery Fisher Hall on Tuesday, July 20, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. Alan Gilbert will conduct the program, which is Part II of a two-day presentation of the complete works of the French-born composer, Edgard Varèse, whose experiments with new instruments, complex rhythms and electronic sounds made him one of the 20th century's greatest musical pioneers. Additional information about Varèse: (R)evolution can be found at the Lincoln Center website.

For the final concerts of his inaugural season as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert leads the orchestra, the New York Choral Artists and a quartet of vocal soloists in Beethoven's monumental Missa Solemnis. Also on the program is the world premiere of Al largo, a new work by Magnus Lindberg — the orchestra's Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence — commissioned by the New York Philharmonic (June 23, 24, and 26 at Avery Fisher Hall; June 25 at Newark's NJPAC). Gilbert and others discuss Beethoven's epic choral masterpiece in this New York Times feature.

Following a trio of triumphant sold-out performances of Ligeti's opera, Le Grand Macabre, Alan Gilbert turns to the final concerts of his inaugural season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. The first of his three June programs (June 10 – 12 and 15) pairs music by two Finns – Sibelius and Lindberg – along with Brahms's ebullient Symphony No. 2. Lisa Batiashvili will be the soloist in Sibelius's Violin Concerto, and Gilbert will also conduct Lindberg's 1995 work Arena, described by Gilbert as "an amazing tour-de-force for the orchestra."

From the beginning of his first season as music director of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert – and many industry observers – has seen his performances with the orchestra of György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre as a milestone in his collaboration with the Philharmonic. Now, the time for that landmark occasion has come, with a fully-staged production of this strange and strangely moving surrealist opera opening this Thursday (three performances May 27 – 29, with an open rehearsal on May 26). The Philharmonic's production will feature designs and direction by Doug Fitch, who has collaborated with Gilbert in the past at the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera and Los Angeles Opera. You can learn more about the production at the Philharmonic's website, and at two recent features in the New York Times available here, and here.

In his continuing commitment to education and to encouraging young people to experience music, Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic's six School Day Concerts May 19-21. Gilbert becomes the first Philharmonic Music Director to lead these concerts — exclusively for school children in grades 3 through 12 — in almost 20 years.

Alan Gilbert is featured in the June 2010 issue of VANITY FAIR, which hits the stands today. Writer Damian Fowler provides a concise, thoughtful review of Alan's first season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, and Jonas Karlsson provides a beautiful portrait of Alan at home in Stockholm, Sweden.

Director Douglas Fitch and Producer Edouard Getaz discuss the New York Philharmonic's fully-staged production of Gyorgy Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre, which Alan Gilbert will conduct in its New York premiere May 27 – 29. The video also provides a glimpse into the fantastical world of Douglas Fitch's studio, where preparations for the "live animation" production are being prepared. View the video on YouTube.

The New York Philharmonic's performances of Ligeti's surrealist opera, Le Grand Macabre, will be a milestone for a number of reasons. A major highlight of Alan Gilbert's first season as the orchestra's music director, the performances May 27 – 29 (with an open rehearsal on May 26) will mark the first time Ligeti's landmark opera will be performed in New York City. The Philharmonic's production will feature designs and direction by Douglas Fitch, who has collaborated with Gilbert in the past at the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera and Los Angeles Opera. Gilbert discusses this remarkable work in the May issue of Opera News. "There is something disturbing about the humor," Gilbert tells writer William R. Bruan. "There's a bit of violence in a lot of comedy — slapstick, like watching the Three Stooges hit each other, or Buster Keaton. Is it funny, or is it horrible? I think that's a tradition." The complete article is available here.

The New York Times reported today, "The New York Philharmonic's sold-out concert in its new-music series 'Contact!' at Symphony Space on Friday evening had an air of excitement and a refreshing informality." Reviewer Vivien Schweitzer had good things to say about each of the the three works that received their world premieres: Sean Shepherd's These Particular Circumstances, Nico Muhly's Detailed Instructions and Matthias Pintscher's songs from Solomon's garden, the last of these Philharmonic-commissioned works with the orchestra's artist-in-residence, Thomas Hampson. If you missed the concert, or were there and want to hear it again, you can listen to it on-line at WQXR's Q2 channel on Thursday, April 22 at 7 p.m. or Saturday, April 24 at 4 p.m

Alan Gilbert returns to New York City this month to conduct a concert with the Juilliard Orchestra (April 12 at Alice Tully Hall) and two concerts with the New York Philharmonic that will feature three world-premiere works – all Philharmonic commissions – by composers Sean Shepherd, Nico Muhly and Matthias Pintscher. The Philharmonic concerts at Symphony Space (April 16) and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (April 17) are part of the orchestra's inaugural season of CONTACT!, The New Music Series, and will feature guest soloist Thomas Hampson in Pintscher's songs from Solomon's garden.

Alan Gilbert spends the remainder of March in Germany, where he will lead Hamburg's NDR Symphony in two programs that feature works he has performed earlier this season with the New York Philharmonic (including Webern's Im Sommerwind and Schoenberg's Pelléas et Mélisande), as well as works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Nielsen. Next month, he will be back in New York to lead the Juilliard Orchestra in a program of Ligeti, Beethoven, Mozart and Schoenberg (April 12).

Before heading to Germany this month for performances with the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg, Alan Gilbert conducts a Rush Hour concert on Wednesday, March 3 with the New York Philharmonic that will encore two Mozart works he recently conducted with the orchestra: Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter," and the Sinfonia concertante for Winds featuring Philharmonic principals Liang Wang (oboe), Mark Nuccio (clarinet), Judith LeClair (bassoon) and Philip Myers (horn).

Yesterday, the New York Philharmonic announced its 2010-2011 season, Alan Gilbert's second season as Music Director, in a press conference held in the glass-walled lobby of Alice Tully Hall. Highlights discussed included an opening night gala performance of a new work by Wynton Marsalis, multiple programs from the Philharmonic's new Artist-in-Residence, Anne Sophie Mutter, a festival of Hungarian (and Hungarian-inspired) music conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, and a staged production of Janácek's fairy-tale opera, The Cunning Little Vixen, conducted by Gilbert and directed by Douglas Fitch. Details can be found at the Philharmonic's website.

This Saturday's New York Philharmonic concert will take place at Carnegie Hall, where Alan Gilbert will lead the orchestra in a program featuring Sibelius's Symphony No. 2, Wagner's Overture to Rienzi and the U.S. premiere of Magnus Lindberg's Clarinet Concerto. Then, on Tuesday, February 16, the New York Philharmonic will host a press conference to announce its 2010/2011 season, Alan Gilbert's second as Music Director.

This week, Alan Gilbert leads the New York Philharmonic in the final two concerts of their first tour of Europe together with back-to-back performances at London's Barbican on Wednesday, February 3 and Thursday, February 4. The Philharmonic's EUROPE/WINTER 2010 tour, which spans 13 performances in nine cities, has been enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. Following performances in Germany, the DPA (German Newswire) described their performance of Sibelius's Second Symphony as "powerful in sound, but elegant, young and fresh." The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung added, "Not since Bernstein's times has the New York Philharmonic sounded that brilliant, virtuoso, powerful and well-balanced."

From January 14 - 16, Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic give their last subscription concerts at Avery Fisher Hall before heading to Europe for a tour that will feature 13 concerts in nine cities. EUROPE/WINTER 2010 is Gilbert's first tour of Europe with the New York Philharmonic, and the repertoire featured on this week's new program, including artist-in-residence Thomas Hampson singing John Adams's The Wound-Dresser, will figure prominently on the tour, which includes concerts in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, France and England.

In its annual year-end wrap up of classical music in New York City, Time Out New York music editor Steve Smith and contributing editor Olivia Giovetti give tribute to several performances and recordings featuring Alan Gilbert. His arrival as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic was lauded as one of the year's best performances and Steve Smith proclaimed that "the Phil's new music director has created a welcome buzz with his vitality, openness to fresh ideas and earnest intent to reassert the orchestra's prime position in New York's artistic conversation." In "Best Albums" Alan Gilbert and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic's recording for BIS of music by Christopher Rouse was included in Steve Smith's top ten of 2009. Lastly, in the final report card of the great year that was in classical music, they cleverly end it with a simple proclamation: "Oh—and Alan Motherflipping Gilbert. We rest our case." The entire article can be found at the Time Out website.

Veteran critic John von Rhein chose Alan Gilbert's Mahler 9 recording with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra as the top classical music recording of the year. Von Rhein writes in the Chicago Tribune that his ten picks "testify to the fact that certain segments of the industry haven't broken faith with a thing called artistic integrity," and describes his choice for number one this way: "With Gilbert at the helm, the New York Philharmonic could be in for an exciting new era. His final concerts as chief conductor of the Stockholm orchestra inspired a studio recording of Mahler's sublime valedictory that strikes a wonderful balance between desolation and acceptance, with luminous sonics to match." The full list can be seen here.

The opening concert of Alan Gilbert's tenure as the new Music Director of the New York Philharmonic was named one of the Ten Memorable Performances of 2009 by Alex Ross in his music blog for the New Yorker. About that concert on September 16, Ross observes, "Alan Gilbert sets a smart new tone at the New York Philharmonic, accompanying Renée Fleming through the exotic landscape of Messiaen's 'Poèmes pour Mi.'" Ross's complete review of the opening weeks of Gilbert's tenure was featured in the October 19 issue of the magazine and can be read here.

In celebration of Alan Gilbert's first season as Music Director, the New York Philharmonic has announced the world's first subscription series of live orchestral recordings for download, available exclusively from iTunes. Alan Gilbert, The Inaugural Season will feature more than 50 works performed and recorded live during the New York Philharmonic's 2009-10 season, delivered directly to pass subscribers' iTunes accounts throughout the season. The iTunes Pass subscription also features bonus content including Alan Gilbert's onstage commentaries, additional performances, lectures, and liner notes. More information from the New York Philharmonic is available here.

Alan Gilbert's recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is an "Editor's Choice" selection in the November 2009 issue of Gramophone. "On a technical level," writes reviewer Peter Quantrill, "this must, I think, be the finest recording the work has received. Every note is audible – and the achievement of the orchestra (still more extraordinary than that of the engineers) is to play them and show how they all matter...It is as exhausting and purifying an experience as any 80 minutes spent in your listening room has the right to be."

Just back from his enormously successful Asia Horizons tour with the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert will lead the orchestra in three weekend performances at Avery Fisher Hall. On Friday and Saturday night, (October 30 and October 31), Alan will conduct a program of Bernstein (Symphonic Dances from West Side Story), Beethoven (Egmont Overture; Piano Concerto No. 3 with Emanuel Ax, piano) and de Falla (Suite No. 2 from The Three-Cornered Hat). And on Saturday afternoon at 2pm, Alan will both conduct (the two Beethoven works on the evening programs) and perform chamber music – the second violin part in Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat major. For the Schumann masterpiece, Alan will be joined by Emanuel Ax (piano), Glenn Dicterow (violin), Cynthia Phelps (viola) and Carter Brey (cello).

Alan Gilbert's new recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra will be broadcast in its entirety on Friday, October 23 at 8 PM as part of 105.9 WQXR's "Symphony Hall" series. Listeners worldwide can hear the broadcast online at the station's website, wqxr.org. The album has just received a top rating, 10/10 for Artistic/Sound Quality, from the website ClassicsToday, which calls it "a stunning recording... a prime choice among available Ninths." The complete review is available here.

On the fourth program of Alan Gilbert's tenure as the new Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the season-opening new work by Magnus Lindberg, EXPO, returns to open a program that brings together works by Ives and Beethoven. Along with Ives's exuberant and quintessentially American Second Symphony, Gilbert conducts the composer's "Unanswered Question," which Gilbert calls, "One of the greatest masterpieces of the 20th Century – mystical and inexplicable." Emanuel Ax, one of Gilbert's favorite collaborators, plays Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, which will begin, without pause, as the last notes of the "Unanswered Question" fade away. (Wed, Sep 30, Thu, Oct 1 and Sat, Oct 3; Avery Fisher Hall).

As critics begin chiming in about Alan Gilbert's debut concert as Music Director last night, NPR's "Morning Edition" looked ahead to the upcoming season with a feature today that includes excerpts of composer-in-residence Magnus Lindberg's EXPO, the new work that opened last night's program. Listen at npr.org.

As Alan Gilbert gets ready to open his tenure as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, the buzz continues to build inside and outside the media. TIME magazine has recently picked Alan's season-opening concert on September 16 as one of the Top 50 Things To See, Hear and Do this Fall, and on Sunday, September 13 he will lead members of the Philharmonic brass section in the national anthem at Yankee Stadium.

For his farewell concerts as Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Alan Gilbert chose Mahler's monumental Ninth Symphony. Those performances, which received glowing reviews, have been captured on a recording released by Swedish label BIS. The disc, a Hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both standard and SACD players, is available for purchase from ArkivMusic beginning September 1 and elsewhere later this month.

The Philharmonic's homegrown leader will launch his tenure as music director by challenging traditionalists and making nice at the same time. Yes, we'll get Berlioz's familiar Symphonie fantastique, and, yes, Renée Fleming will provide some gala glitter—but instead of performing the usual set piece, she'll sing the reverent, iridescent Poèmes Pour Mi, by the twentieth-century Frenchman Olivier Messiaen. Could be the start of something interesting. Sept. 16 at Avery Fisher Hall, and on WNET.

New Yorkers with Time Warner Cable service should tune in this evening at 8:30 PM for a ten-minute interview that will air on NY-1 (Channel 1). In a far-ranging conversation, "One on 1" host Budd Mishkin asks Alan Gilbert about his musical inspirations, his life growing up in New York City, his upcoming plans as the new Music Director of the New York Philharmonic and more. People who do not have Time Warner Cable can watch the interview online soon after it airs at the following link: http://ny1.com/content/features/one_on_1/

Alan Gilbert will give ten concerts this month with the New York Philharmonic both at home and at the orchestra's summer home in Vail, Colorado. The summer fun starts with free concerts in New York City, beginning on Tuesday, July 14 in Manhattan's Central Park with a program featuring two unstoppably energetic works: Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony and Beethoven's Seventh Symphony (the program repeats in Prospect Park, Brooklyn on July 15). Additional concerts follow in the Bronx's Van Cortlandt Park (July 16), a second program in Manhattan's Central Park (July 17), the College of Staten Island (July 18) and Queens College (July 20). Gilbert and the orchestra head west after that for four concerts in Vail, Colorado (July 24, 25, 30 and 31). Program details available in the calendar section.

"Alan Gilbert Takes New York" is the headline for the cover story of the North American edition of Gramophone magazine's July 2009 issue, which hits the stands in Europe this week and will be published in the States next week. The four-page feature by Gramophone's editor James Inverne covers a wide range of topics. Among the highlights: Gilbert reminisces about his childhood experiences with the orchestra; he suggests that orchestras might learn from the success museums have had in engaging the public; and he looks ahead to some of the key initiatives he will undertake in his first season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. "The challenge for orchestras," Gilbert explains to Inverne, "is to be flexible in adapting to new ways of presenting and even of conceiving what art is, while remaining true to the idea of what an orchestra is."

New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini seemed to enjoy Alan Gilbert's performance of Mahler's First Symphony with the New York Philharmonic as much as the enthusiastic audience on opening night did. "It was a thrill," writes Tommasini, "to hear the work performed with such precision and daring by the Philharmonic under Mr. Gilbert, conducting from memory. During the blazing episodes in the finale, he drove the orchestra to frenzied outbursts, all the more terrifying for being executed with such cool command. The tremendous ovation bodes well for his coming tenure as the orchestra's music director."

Mahler fans should be happy to note that there's more Mahler in Gilbert's near future. This summer, BIS will release a new recording of Mahler's Ninth, which was recorded as Gilbert ended his eight-season tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. In September, Mahler's Third Symphony will be the program for Gilbert's first subscription week with the New York Philharmonic as its new Music Director (9/17, 18 and 22).

Soon after he conducted Martinu's Fourth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert conducted the same work to equally strong acclaim with the New York Philharmonic. Critic Anthony Tommasini concluded his New York Times review with the observation that "Mr. Gilbert seemed determined to overcome any reservations among listeners to the symphony through his impassioned, committed and commanding performance."

For his next program with the New York Philharmonic (three concerts, May 7–9), Gilbert conducts works by Gustav Mahler and Peter Lieberson. Mahler's First will be the first of the composer's symphonies that he has led with the orchestra, and as a bonus he will also conduct Mahler's dreamy "Blumine" (flowers), a movement originally written for the First Symphony but ultimately removed from it. Gilbert will also lead the world premiere of Lieberson's cantata The World in Flower – a New York Philharmonic commission – with Joyce DiDonato, Russell Braun, and the New York Choral Artists. Lieberson was Gilbert's composition and theory teacher at Harvard, but this will be the first time that Gilbert has conducted his music.

Berlin's Morgenpost called Alan Gilbert's return last week to the Berlin Philharmonic, "a triumph." Klaus Geitel, the dean of Germany's music critics, gave special praise to Gilbert for his revelatory performance of Martinu's Fourth Symphony, reporting that Gilbert "ripped Bohuslav Martinu from the perpetual twilight that has been so negligently inflicted upon him, and with an enlightened performance of the Fourth Symphony demonstrated the gravitas, greatness and originality of this master."

Luckily, music lovers around the world will – for the price of a ticket to a movie – be able to hear the performance on-line, where it is available in the Berlin Philharmonic's new Digital Concert Hall. A trailer is available now and the full concert – including a pre-recorded intermission segment featuring Gilbert discussing the program with BPO flutist Emmanuel Pahud – will be posted shortly.

Over the past few weeks, Alan Gilbert has led performances of Mahler's massive and transcendent Third Symphony with both the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Hamburg's NDR Symphony Orchestra. The Stockholm performances were the first subscription concerts Gilbert led there since June 2008, when he finished his eight-season tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the orchestra. Both audiences and critics alike treated Gilbert to a hero's welcome on his return. Thomas Anderberg reported for the Dagens Nyheter, "Alan Gilbert made on Thursday a grand triumphal return before a packed concert hall. And it strikes you, that his initially quite discrete period with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in the long term might look like a golden era." Anderberg continued at length:

"In most orchestras there exists shadows of the past that determines the assessment of future efforts. In the case of the New York Philharmonic, the orchestra that Gilbert is now to take over, it is mainly two. One is Gustav Mahler, whose controversial actions as an orchestra leader in New York is depicted in the recent - 1700 pages long! - final part of Henry-Louis de La Grange's Mahler biography. The other is Leonard Bernstein, who during his sojourn with the orchestra in the sixties, not least made himself famous for his Mahler interpretations. It is against these the RSPO's former Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert is to be measured. Recently he conducted in New York a program of Bernstein works, and later this spring he will lead a performance of Mahler's First Symphony. Against this background it is reassuring that Alan Gilbert has proven to be a great Mahler interpreter."

Stefan Forsberg, Executive and Artistic Director of the Stockholm Concert Hall Foundation and RSPO, commented on the occasion: "Alan's return to Stockholm as Conductor Laureate was one of the most memorable moments in the history of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. With this unforgettable performance of Mahler's Third Symphony, Alan's interpretative brilliance and artistry once again totally amazed us all."

Thankfully, New Yorkers eager to hear Gilbert's take on Mahler's Third can look forward to his plans to conduct the work in his first subscription week as the new Music Director of the New York Philharmonic (September 17, 18 and 22).

More than 100 journalists, music industry luminaries and cultural tastemakers attended a press conference yesterday, held on the stage of Avery Fisher Hall, where the New York Philharmonic gave a multimedia presentation detailing the plans for Alan Gilbert's first season as the orchestra's new Music Director. A webcast video of the entire press conference is available for viewing on the New York Philharmonic's website, as is a special section with slide shows and additional videos. Detailed information about programs, and bios for some of the key new players who will be special partners in Gilbert's first season, can be found in the Philharmonic newsroom.

A concise summary of the press conference—including news that actor Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" fame will be the new voice of the weekly Philharmonic radio broadcasts—can be found in Daniel J. Wakin's latest report for the New York Times.