Starting with the 2026–27 season, Gustavo Dudamel and the New York Philharmonic will embark on a five-year collaboration with Carnegie Hall devoted to annual opera-in-concert performances, marking one of the most substantial institutional partnerships announced ahead of Dudamel’s arrival as the orchestra’s next Music and Artistic Director.
The initiative will begin in November 2026, during Dudamel’s inaugural season at the Philharmonic, with two performances of Tosca in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. The cast brings together soprano Marina Rebeka in the title role, tenor Jonas Kaufmann as Cavaradossi, and baritone Ludovic Tézier as Scarpia, joined by the New York Philharmonic Chorus under Malcolm J. Merriweather.
While the Philharmonic has frequently appeared at Carnegie Hall since leaving it as its primary home in 1962, the new project represents a more formal and sustained return to the venue, anchored in a genre that has played an important role in Dudamel’s artistic profile. Opera titles for subsequent seasons will be announced year by year.
For Dudamel, who becomes the Philharmonic’s 27th music director in September 2026, the partnership reflects a broader emphasis on collaboration and visibility across New York City’s cultural landscape. In public remarks surrounding the announcement, he framed the Carnegie Hall project as part of a wider effort to position the orchestra beyond its home base at David Geffen Hall, engaging different spaces and audiences across the city.
Carnegie Hall’s leadership, meanwhile, has highlighted the historical resonance of the collaboration. The Philharmonic first appeared at the Hall in 1892 and maintained its residency there for seven decades. More recently, the two institutions have worked together on major projects such as the 2008 Leonard Bernstein festival and the Hall’s 125th anniversary season in 2015.
Dudamel’s own association with Carnegie Hall spans nearly two decades. He made his debut there in 2007 with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and has since returned regularly with ensembles including the Vienna Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2024, he featured prominently in two of the Hall’s major initiatives: World Orchestra Week and the Opening Night Gala of the Nuestros sonidos festival.
The first performances in the new opera-in-concert series are scheduled for November 13 and 15, 2026. Beyond Tosca, details of future repertoire remain open, suggesting that the project may evolve alongside Dudamel’s artistic priorities as his tenure in New York takes shape.
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