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The Orchestra of St. Luke’s returns to close out the summer season led by the dynamic Xian Zhang. This program reunites the orchestra with world-renowned violinist Gil Shaham, a long-time Caramoor favorite whose numerous appearances here dates back to 1994. The afternoon features Shaham’s definitive interpretation of Barber’s Violin Concerto, a work of inherent sweetness and playfulness. Framed by the wit of Rossini’s L'italiana in Algeri Overture and the majestic architecture of Mozart’s ("Jupiter") Symphony, the concert offers a masterclass in both lyrical intimacy and orchestral grandeur.
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Xian Zhang, conductor
Gil Shaham, violin
GIOACHINO ROSSINI: Overture to L'italiana in Algeri
SAMUEL BARBER: Violin Concerto, Op. 14
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551, "Jupiter"

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Craft your experience to make the most of your visit.
About the Artists
One of the foremost violinists of our time; Gil Shaham’s flawless technique combined with his generosity of spirit has solidified his renown as an American master. He is sought after throughout the world for concerto appearances with leading orchestras and conductors, and regularly gives recitals and appears with ensembles on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.
Highlights of recent years include a recording and performances of J.S. Bach’s complete sonatas and partitas for solo violin and recitals with his long-time duo partner, pianist Akira Eguchi. He regularly appears with the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphonies, the Israel Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, and in multi-year residencies with the Orchestras of Montreal, Stuttgart and Singapore.
Mr. Shaham has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, earning multiple GRAMMYs, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Many of these recordings appear on Canary Classics, the label he founded in 2004. His 2016 recording 1930s Violin Concertos Vol. 2 as well as his 2021 recording of Beethoven and Brahms Concertos with The Knights were nominated for GRAMMY Awards.
Mr. Shaham was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, in 1971. He moved with his parents to Israel, where he began violin studies at the Rubin Academy of Music. In 1981, he made debuts with the Jerusalem Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic, and the following year, took the first prize in Israel’s Claremont Competition. He then studied at Juilliard and Columbia University.
Gil Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008 he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. In 2012, he was named “Instrumentalist of the Year” by Musical America. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius and performs on an Antonio Stradivari violin, Cremona c1719, with the assistance of Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative. He lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.
2025/26 marks the GRAMMY® and Emmy Award-winning conductor Xian Zhang’s tenth season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Under her artistic leadership, NJ Symphony won two awards at the mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards in 2022 for their concert films, including “EMERGE”. As of 2025/26, she also becomes the Music Director of Seattle Symphony with whom she has been a long-term collaborator since her debut in 2008, as well as Principal Guest Conductor of the China NCPA Orchestra in Beijing. Following her tenure as Music Director of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano between 2009-16, she continues as their Conductor Emeritus.
As a guest conductor, Zhang appears regularly with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra. Her Deutsche Grammophon recording with the latter (Letters for The Future with Time for Three, released 2022) won GRAMMY® awards for Best Contemporary Classical Composition (Kevin Puts’ Contact) and Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
2025/26 highlights include returns to Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, St Louis Symphony, and National Arts Centre Ottawa. In Europe, she returns to Netherlands Radio Philharmonic with a performance at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and makes her debut at Finnish National Opera conducting Tosca. This follows her huge success at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she recently conducted Madama Butterfly (2023/24) and Tosca (2024/25) to great acclaim:
“The success of Kurzak’s performance was due in no small part to Xian Zhang’s sensitivity as a conductor. Zhang has an exceptional ear for balance, as well as the ability to draw the softest, most transparent tones imaginable from the orchestra. […] With such skills and obvious audience appeal, Zhang should prove a valuable addition to the Met’s conducting staff.” – New York Classical Review
Other recent highlights include subscription programmes with Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Houston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Orchestra of St Luke’s (including Brahms Requiem at Carnegie Hall), and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.
Zhang previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. In 2002, she won first prize in the Maazel-Vilar Conductor's Competition. She was appointed New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.
Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) —“a mainstay of New York’s classical scene” (The New Yorker) — features the city’s most talented concert musicians and makes its artistic home at Carnegie Hall, where it has performed more than any other orchestra since its debut there in 1983. OSL’s annual season features curated concert series in each of Carnegie Hall’s three venues, along with the Visionary Sounds and DeGaetano Composition Institute programs focused on contemporary composers at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, the rehearsal, recording, and performance facility OSL built in 2011 and continues to operate in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards neighborhood. OSL proudly collaborates with Paul Taylor Dance Company for their Lincoln Center season each year, performs at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts each summer, and performs with a variety of artistic partners at venues throughout the city and beyond. Founded in 1974 when a group of virtuoso chamber musicians began performing together in Greenwich Village at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, the ensemble later expanded into an orchestra before catching fire on New York’s classical music scene. OSL has participated in 120 recordings, four of which have won Grammy Awards, has commissioned more than 75 new works, and has given more than 200 world, U.S., and New York City premieres. OSL champions composers from historically underrepresented groups in classical music. In recent seasons, it has presented works by Kinan Azmeh, Margaret Bonds, Harry T. Burleigh, Valerie Coleman, Julius Eastman, Florence Price, and Chen Yi, among others. Central to OSL’s mission, the Education and Community Engagement program presents free concerts for thousands of New York City public school students each year; offers the 150-student-strong Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s (YOSL), the city’s only youth orchestra under the umbrella of a professional group; and provides a mentorship program for pre-professional musicians. To learn more, visit OSLmusic.org or follow @OSLmusic on YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, or TiKTok.

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