For 500 attendees at the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) upcoming concert at the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall, New York, a ticket will cost just $5. Thanks to the generosity of a syndicate of donors, ASMF can offer this strictly limited allocation of subsidised tickets to under-40s and to members of local organizations serving the New York City community. This major initiative is designed to ensure that cost is never the reason someone misses an extraordinary night of classical music.
The concert, on Tuesday, March 3, 2027, also marks the start of a new chapter in one of ASMF’s significant artistic partnerships: pianist and composer Conrad Tao has been named ASMF’s first-ever Spotlight Artist, a title he will hold until 2027 in recognition of a relationship spanning multiple concerts across three countries. The partnership began unexpectedly when Tao stepped in at short notice for a scheduled ASMF performance in Strathmore Center for Music, North Besthesda, 2025, after the original soloist was unable to perform due to illness. What began as a one-off substitution immediately had the potential to grow into a far more significant artistic relationship.
At Rose Hall, Tao, a New Yorker performing is his home city, joins ASMF for a program centered on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, paired with the American premiere of a new work he has written specifically for ASMF and closing with Copland’s Appalachian Spring.
The concert forms as part of ASMF’s major US tour with Conrad Tao, running from February 23 to March 14 across 10 cities.
“Performing at home in New York is the best. This is the city where I grew up, it’s the city where I live, and nothing makes me happier than playing for my local community. I’m thrilled to be performing in the city next year with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and to also be writing a brand new composition for them. I’ve admired this ensemble for many years and am so happy to be collaborating with them. Music is for the people. I hope that the hundreds of $5 tickets for this concert opens the doors for audiences from all across the city, especially those who might be coming to an orchestral show for the first time. Sharing a concert hall, listening together, being and breathing together — being able to facilitate this experience is one of the great joys of my life. Come join us!" said Tao.
Tickets available HERE.
Program
The concert opens with Ruth Crawford Seeger’s Music for Small Orchestra, a work of striking originality from a pioneer of American modernism whose music deserves far wider hearing. At its centre, Tao joins ASMF for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, repertoire with which the orchestra has long been most closely associated, and a rare opportunity to hear one of the world’s great Mozart orchestras paired with a soloist of Tao’s calibre. After the interval, Tao gives the American premiere of a new commission, bringing his dual perspective as composer and performer to the fore, before the evening closes with Copland’s Appalachian Spring in the original version he wrote for Martha Graham’s landmark 1944 ballet. Lean, luminous, rooted in American folk tradition and one of the most enduring works in the orchestral repertoire.
Full programme:
• Ruth Crawford Seeger – Music for Small Orchestra
• Mozart – Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K488
• Conrad Tao – New Commission (American premiere)
• Copland – Appalachian Spring (suite, original version)
