Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla leads the New York Philharmonic in her debut with the orchestra on Wednesday, October 11. Photo by Chris Lee.
At Wednesday evening’s New York Philharmonic concert at Lincoln Center, guest conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla read the following statement from the podium: “The New York Philharmonic dedicates this concert to those impacted by the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Israel and the Gaza Strip. We denounce acts of terror, mourn the loss of innocent life, and hold in our hearts and minds those in our community whose friends, family, and loved ones have been affected.”
The concert was Gražinytė-Tyla’s debut leading the New York Philharmonic. The program included Raminta Serksnytė’s 1998 “De Profundis,” Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto with soloist Daniil Trifonov, and excerpts from Sibelius’s “Lemminkainen Suite.”
Before the start of the Metropolitan Opera’s October 11 performance of Verdi’s Nabucco, it has been reported that General Manager Peter Gelb spoke briefly about the conflict in Gaza, and that the Met Chorus sang “Va, pensiero,” sometimes known as the “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves,” from Nabucco.
