Philharmonic Announces 2008–09 Season

The New York Philharmonic's 2008–09 season will celebrate the final year of music director Lorin Maazel's tenure at the orchestra with performances of Benjamin Britten's large-scale "War Requiem," Mahler's rarely performed Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand," and two of Mr. Maazel's own compositions, the orchestra announced today.

Mr. Maazel, who will have led the orchestra for seven years when he departs, will also conduct three of the four new works commissioned by the Philharmonic, including works by Steven Stucky, Bernard Rands, and Aaron Jay Kernis. A fourth piece making its world premiere, Peter Lieberson's "The World in Flower," was originally scheduled for presentation during the 2005–06 season. The work was written for Mr. Lieberson's wife, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, a celebrated soprano who made frequent appearances at the Metropolitan Opera and who died of breast cancer in 2006.

The Philharmonic will also celebrate its laureate conductor, Leonard Bernstein, with "Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds," a previously announced citywide festival, hosted in collaboration with Carnegie Hall. The festival begins on November 14.

The Philharmonic's season will also include guest appearances by conductors Alan Gilbert, Riccardo Muti, and David Robertson, and by musicians Emanuel Ax, Alisa Weilerstein, and Sir James Galway.

The season begins on September 17.