Fleming and Fleck Announce Carnegie Hall Concert Following Kennedy Center Departure
Renowned soprano Renée Fleming and banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck are set to unite for a special performance at Carnegie Hall during the 2026-27 season. This joint concert comes after both artists recently withdrew from scheduled appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., following President Donald Trump's takeover of the venue.
Appalachian Folk Evening and Historic Wagner Cycle
Carnegie Hall announced on Thursday that Fleming and Fleck will present an evening of Appalachian folk music on December 3, 2026. Planning for this programme began in 2025, prior to their Kennedy Center withdrawal last month. The duo are also scheduled to perform the same programme on May 23 this year at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, with discussions underway for additional city performances.
The 2026-27 season will also feature Carnegie Hall's first complete performance of Wagner's monumental Ring Cycle. Gianandrea Noseda, music director of the Zurich Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra, will lead the Zurich Opera orchestra in concert performances of the four-opera "Der Ring des Nibelungen" from March 18-23. Previously, only "Das Rheingold" and "Die Walküre" had been presented in their entirety at the venue.
Philip Glass Symphony Finds New Home
Another significant addition to the season is Philip Glass's Symphony No. 15 "Lincoln," which will be performed by the Orchestra of St. Luke's on January 31, 2027. Originally commissioned by the National Symphony Orchestra, the work was scheduled for its world premiere at the Kennedy Center on June 12 before Glass withdrew it last month. The composer explained that "the values of the Kennedy Center today are in direct conflict with the message of the symphony." Carnegie Hall confirmed the work will premiere elsewhere before the New York performance.
Season Highlights and Venue Challenges
The Carnegie Hall season opens on October 8, 2026, with the Berlin Philharmonic under chief conductor Kirill Petrenko, featuring tenor Jonas Kaufmann. Yannick Nézet-Séguin will conduct all nine of Mahler's completed symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. Notably, Mahler's Symphony No. 8, known as "Symphony of a Thousand," will be performed three times from June 10-12, 2027, with a chorus of 350 and orchestra of 126 at the Met rather than Carnegie.
Noseda, whose National Symphony Orchestra has been displaced by Trump's abrupt decision to shutter the Kennedy Center for a two-year reconstruction, highlighted the ongoing search for alternative performance spaces. "We are working on it," he said regarding the NSO's temporary venue arrangements. Noseda previously conducted staged Ring Cycles at the Zurich Opera in 2024.
