The Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Concert is an ever-popular part of the holiday season for classical listeners, and not just at WRTI. The broadcast — in the resplendent Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria — reaches more than 150 countries on television and online, with a global audience of some 50 million viewers.
For our purposes, it's an audio broadcast, which you can hear as usual on New Year's Day: Thursday, Jan. 1, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET. What's new this year should be of particular interest to WRTI listeners: for the first time, the Vienna Philharmonic will be led during its New Year's Concert by our hometown maestro, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
In addition to serving as music director for three entities — The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Metropolitan Opera, and Orchestre Métropolitain in Montréal — Yannick is an honorary member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and an honorary conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in 2010, at Mozart Week in Salzburg, and has since conducted that orchestra a number of times, in Salzburg and Vienna. Here below is his full program for New Year's Day.
New Year's Concert 2026 with Yannick Nézet-Séguin: The Program
Johann Strauss II, Overture to the operetta Indigo and the Forty Thieves
Carl Michael Ziehrer, Donausagen. Walzer, op. 446
Joseph Lanner, Malapou-Galoppe, op. 148
Eduard Strauss, Brausteufelchen. Polka schnell, op. 154
Johann Strauss II, Fledermaus-Quadrille, op. 363
Johann Strauss I, Der Karneval in Paris. Galopp, op. 100
Franz von Suppè, Overture to the operetta Die schöne Galathée
Josefine Weinlich, Sirenen Lieder. Polka mazur, op. 13 [Arr. W. Dörner]
Josef Strauss, Frauenwürde. Walzer, op. 277
Johann Strauss II, Diplomaten-Polka. Polka francaise, op. 448
Florence Price, Rainbow Waltz [Arr. W. Dörner]
Hans Christian Lumbye, Københavns Jernbane-Damp-Galop
Johann Strauss II, Rosen aus dem Süden (Roses from the South), Waltz, op. 388
Johann Strauss II, Egyptischer Marsch (Egyptian March), op. 335
Josef Strauss, Olive Branch Waltz, op. 207
To learn more about the Vienna Phil New Year's Day Concert, visit their website.