As part of its cultural promotions, New York City has announced the dates for its free Philharmonic concerts to be held in the upcoming summer season.

The schedule for a week-long series of free music concerts to be held in various key spots in New York has been announced. According to a press statement, as part of its annual promotion of culture and music in the city, the 2024 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the parks will be held this year from June 11–14 and an indoor concert will be held at Staten Island on June 16.

Giving details of the schedule, the statement adds that conductor Thomas Wilkins leads four free outdoor concerts at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx on June 11, at the Great Lawn in Central Park, Manhattan on June 12, at the Cunningham Park, Queens on June 13 and at Prospect Park, Brooklyn on June 14.

The statement adds that the programme includes Beethoven’s Egmont Overture; Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, featuring Randall Goosby, who made his NY Phil debut on a Young People’s Concert at age 13, as soloist, Elgar’s Wand of Youth Overture, the New York Premiere of Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol and works by New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Dalya Shaman and David Wright.

The statement adds that all four outdoor performances begin at 20:00 everyday and conclude with fireworks by Santore’s World Famous Fireworks. According to the statement, though this marks Wilkins’s first time conducting the Concerts in the Parks, he made his NY Phil debut in 2015, when he led a subscription programme titled Great African American Singers and Their Legacy. Wilkins has since conducted and hosted numerous Young People’s Concerts, and returns in October 2024 for the Philharmonic’s exploration of Afromodernism on a program that features a New York Premiere by Nathalie Joachim and a reprise of Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances.

The statement adds that following the Concerts in the Parks, Musicians from the New York Philharmonic perform a Free Indoor Concert, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, on June 16, at 16:00 at St George Theatre in Staten Island. The programme includes Clarke’s Prelude, Allegro, and Pastorale for clarinet and viola, Mozart’s Oboe Quartet; and Prokofiev’s Quintet.

“The New York Philharmonic’s annual Concerts in the Parks, presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, are always a highlight of our year. It is a joy to see tens of thousands of New Yorkers turn out to enjoy free concerts under the stars, creating a sense of community and shared experience that is rare and vital. We are deeply grateful to Didi and Oscar, the visionary and generous couple whose love of music and of New York City’s parks is essential to making possible the ambitious tour of our hometown,” says NY Phil President & CEO Gary Ginstling.

The New York Philharmonic’s free parks concerts have become an iconic New York summer experience since they began in 1965, transforming parks throughout the boroughs into a patchwork of picnickers and music lovers, providing the city an opportunity to hear classical music for free. More than 15 million listeners have attended the performances since their inception. The statement adds that tickets admission to the Concerts in the Parks is free and tickets are not required. Admission to the Free Indoor Concert in Staten Island is freen, but tickets are required and are available on the website of the organisation.