Stories of Land, Memory, and Belonging

Featuring Jerod Tate's American Indian Symphony, five world premieres, and a season celebrating Indigenous voices, living composers, and America's evolving musical story.

BOSTON, MA — The New England Philharmonic (NEP), led by Music Director Tianhui Ng, proudly announces its 2026–27 season, Stories of Land, Memory, and Belonging, a landmark 50th Anniversary celebration that celebrates Indigenous voices, living composers, and the many stories that shape American music through four ambitious orchestral programs. 

For fifty years, the New England Philharmonic has distinguished itself through adventurous programming that pairs the great works of the orchestral repertoire with commissions, premieres, and music by living composers. The anniversary season continues that tradition, inviting audiences to consider how music preserves memory, reflects identity, and deepens our understanding of place and belonging.

Spanning music from Revolutionary-era Boston to newly commissioned works, the season brings together composers whose lives and music have shaped New England and the nation. Familiar American classics appear alongside Indigenous voices, contemporary masterworks, and world premieres, revealing a richer and more expansive story of America's musical heritage. 

"For our fiftieth season, I wanted to create programs that place familiar American music in conversation with voices that audiences may be hearing for the first time," said Music Director Tianhui Ng. "Together these works reveal that our musical heritage is richer, more diverse, and more interconnected than we often imagine. Every concert invites audiences to discover new perspectives while celebrating the enduring power of the orchestra." 

Music Director Tianhui Ng has shaped a season that unfolds as a connected artistic journey. The opening concert, Foundations and Fault Lines: New England Histories, marks the year of America's 250th anniversary by exploring the stories New England has inherited, and those too often left untold. Featuring the Middlesex County Volunteer Fifes & Drums, violinist Danielle Maddon, and a world premiere by Composer-in-Residence Carlos Carrillo, the program pairs Revolutionary-era music with iconic American masterworks and powerful contemporary voices. 

The orchestra's annual Family Concert: Stories Passed Forward celebrates the ways traditions and artistic voices are carried from one generation to the next. GRAMMY® Award-nominated pianist Han Chen joins the orchestra for the East Coast premiere of Indiana Concerto, a three-movement work by Dr. Louis W. Ballard (Quapaw/Cherokee) and Brent Michael Davids (Mohican/Munsee-Lenape). The concerto includes Ballard's final incomplete composition as its first movement, with Davids completing the movement and adding two movements in tribute to his friend and colleague. The program also features music by Carlos Carrillo, Leilehua Lanzilotti, and 2026 Call for Scores winner Aaron Israel Levin, alongside performances by the orchestra's Young Artist Competition winners, in an afternoon designed to welcome families and first-time concertgoers while exploring cultural memory and imagination.  

NEP's signature New Music New England concert continues the orchestra's longstanding commitment to living composers, featuring three world premieres and two Boston premieres highlighting Massachusetts composers Curt Cacioppo and Stella Gitelman Willoughby, MIT Senior Lecturer Charles Shadle, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon (Diné), and a new flute concerto by Composer-in-Residence Carlos Carrillo, featuring Latin GRAMMY® Award Nominated and 10-time DownBeat® Award and Global Music® Award Winner, Giovanni Perez. Together, these composers demonstrate the vitality and diversity of today's orchestral music and reaffirm the orchestra’s role as a champion of new artistic voices.

The season concludes with the East Coast premiere of Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate's (Chickasaw) American Indian Symphony, presented in collaboration with the Metropolitan Chorale and featuring Native vocal soloists. The program also includes premieres of works by Carlos Carrillo and Danielle Jagelski (Oneida/Ojibwe), culminating a season that celebrates Indigenous creativity, resilience, and living tradition through music of extraordinary power and scope.

Since its founding in 1976, the New England Philharmonic has become one of the nation's leading volunteer orchestras devoted to contemporary classical music. Through its Composer-in-Residence program, annual Call for Scores competition, commissions, and premieres, the orchestra has created meaningful opportunities for hundreds of composers while presenting adventurous programming that engages audiences throughout Greater Boston. The orchestra’s pay-as-you-wish ticket pricing reflects its belief that live orchestral music should be welcoming and accessible to everyone.

Pay as you Wish Tickets will be available for purchase at www.nephilharmonic.org starting in July 2026.