The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert

The Philadelphia Orchestra's 113th season may be over this weekend, but our broadcast year isn’t done!  We’ll be back with you Sunday, May 26th, at our usual 2 PM time, for more Brahms - as we’ll hear his radiant Second Symphony, written in a burst of creativity over a few short months.

Also on the program is Elgar's spirited Cockaigne Overture, ("In London Town"), drawing its character from the sometimes bawdy urban sounds of marching bands, church bells, and merry revelers.

For the first time in over 13 years, we're bringing you a LIVE remote broadcast of The Philadelphia Orchestra on WRTI, featuring Yannick Nezet-Seguin leading the Philadelphians in works by Schumann, Janacek, and Dvorak and highlighted by violinist Gil Shaham performing the famous Violin Concerto of Brahms. Hosted by Gregg Whiteside, live from the Kimmel Center on Friday, May 24th at 2 pm, with intermission interviews by Susan Lewis and Jim Cotter.

The renowned British conductor Donald Runnicles is the conductor for this Sunday’s Philadelphia Orchestra concert broadcast on WRTI. Scottish-born and raised, Runnicles left his native land very early in his career. And as WRTI’s Jim Cotter reports, he has happily “settled” wherever the muse has taken him.

Bach specialist Nicholas McGegan conducts The Philadelphia Orchestra this Sunday, May 19th, 2 to 4 pm, in an all-Bach concert - bringing a special touch to the Orchestra, and throwing the spotlight on several Philadelphia Orchestra soloists.

Concertmaster David Kim, Principal Oboist Richard Woodhams, Principal Horn Jennifer Montone, and Principal Flute Jeffrey Khaner are just some of the stellar players of the Orchestra who will play major roles in a program including:

The strings are the largest section of a symphony orchestra, and communicating among them to create a unified sound involves the conductor, the  concertmaster, and another pivotal player. WRTI’s Susan Lewis talks with The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Juliette Kang about her position as associate concertmaster, and the lure of her instrument. 

On WRTI's  broadcast of The Philadelphia Orchestra this Sunday, May 12th at 2 pm, Juliette Kang will lead the strings in a program featuring Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence, for string orchestra, and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5.

Join us Sunday at 1 pm (one hour earlier than usual) as Garrick Ohlsson plays Brahms, and Yannick returns to the podium to conduct a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and two lush orchestral works by Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, and a suite from his opera, Der Rosenkavalier!

You're in a for a treat this Sunday, April 28th at 2 pm! That's when our Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert Broadcast will feature a first for the ensemble:  It's the first time in the Orchestra's distinguished history that they performed the complete, uncut St. Matthew Passion, in two parts, with five soloists, the Westminster Symphonic Choir, and American Boychoir, all under the direction of Yannick Nezet-Seguin.  

This exciting, historical first was performed at the end of March, during the Easter period.

"Fate" is the unifying thread as guest conductor Andrey Boreyko conducts The Philadelphians in an exciting program beginning with the Entry of the Gods Into Valhalla ​from Wagner's Das Reingold, and culminating in the brilliant and brassy apotheosis of the "fate" motif that Tchaikovsky used in all four movements of his Symphony No. 5. 

In between, a spectacular display of drumming by soloist Colin Currie in Alberich Saved, a percussion concerto by the American composer Christopher Rouse.

One of the most recent instrumentalists to be added to the roster of soloists in orchestral performances is the percussionist. As WRTI’s Jim Cotter reports, it’s a role that makes unique demands.

In a program that also features works by Wagner and Tchaikovsky, Colin Currie performs Christopher Rouses' Der gerettete Alberich with The Philadelphia Orchestra here on WRTI on Sunday, April 21 at 2 pm.