Tonight, Anthony Parnther conducts Philadelphia Orchestra in world premiere of new oratorio for America250 (June 17), before returning to Cleveland Orchestra (July 1)

(June 2026) — “A conductor for the future” with “a flourishing career” (The New York Times), Anthony Parnther celebrates America at 250 with The Philadelphia Orchestra, where his program showcases the world premiere of a new oratorio commissioned for the occasion from Peter Boyer and Mark Campbell (tonight, June 17), and California’s San Bernardino Symphony (June 20), where he is now concluding his seventh season as Music Director. The conductor’s summer highlights also include a return to The Cleveland Orchestra, for a program embracing composers from Copland and Dvořák to Gabriela Ortiz, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Carlos Simon (July 1), and evenings featuring star vocalist Cynthia Erivo with both the Boston Pops at Tanglewood (Aug 21) and the Vancouver Symphony (Aug 29). These engagements follow Parnther’s recent success at the Cincinnati Symphony’s May Festival.

America250 with Philadelphia Orchestra & San Bernardino Symphony

For his final appearance of 2025, Parnther joined The Philadelphia Orchestra for a program billed as “the most elegant New Year’s Eve celebration around.” Now, tonight, he returns to lead the world premiere of A Hundred Years On, a new oratorio about Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition by Grammy-nominated composer Peter Boyer and Pulitzer-winning librettist Mark Campbell. Commissioned to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this will feature vocal soloists Mary Dunleavy, Meredith Lustig, Eve Gigliotti, David Portillo, and Malcolm J. Merriweather with The Crossing chamber choir in a production by Emmy winner Tazewell Thompson. Parnther and the orchestra open their patriotic program with accounts of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by “March King” John Philip Sousa and Liberty Bell by Pulitzer Prize laureate Julia Wolfe (June 17).

The conductor continues honoring America at 250 three days later with California’s San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra. Held outside under the stars, their family-friendly celebration of “America the Beautiful” concludes with Tchaikovsky’s beloved 1812 Overture, complete with a fireworks finale (June 20). Having signed a new three-year contract with the orchestra at the close of last season, Parnther also recently helped ensure the organization’s sustainability with a generous personal gift of $100,000.

Return to Cleveland Orchestra

Under Parnther’s leadership, The Cleveland Orchestra’s Cain Park Community Concert was selected as a highlight of the ensemble’s 2024–25 season by the editor of Classical Source. At the start of next month, Parnther returns to helm this season’s edition of the same annual open-air concert. Primarily focused on music of the Americas, his characteristically creative program juxtaposes recent and seldom-heard works by women and composers of color with more familiar fare. Thus, Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No. 1, and an excerpt from John Williams’s Oscar, Golden Globe, Grammy, and BAFTA-winning score for E.T. rub shoulders with music by George Walker, William Levi Dawson, and contemporary composers Gabriela Ortiz, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Carlos Simon (July 1).

Cynthia Erivo with Boston Pops & Vancouver Symphony; more

Following their sold-out collaboration with the San Diego Symphony last summer, hailed as “a night of pure transcendence” (SanDiegoVille), Parnther reunites with British-Nigerian vocalist Cynthia Erivo for evenings of favorite showtunes with both the Boston Pops at Tanglewood (Aug 21) and the Vancouver Symphony (Aug 29). An Emmy, Tony, and two-time Grammy winner, as well as an Oscar, Golden Globe, and SAG nominee, Erivo is a stalwart of the West End and Broadway stages. She received Golden Globe, SAG, Critics’ Choice, NAACP, BAFTA, and Academy Award nominations for her starring role as Elphaba in Universal’s record-breaking film adaptation of the hit musical Wicked, before becoming the first Black woman to earn multiple Golden Globe nominations in the Lead Actress (Comedy) category when she reprised the role in Wicked: For Good.

“The quintessential L.A. musician of our day” (Los Angeles Times), Parnther is “Hollywood’s go-to conductor for epic projects” (Billboard). As one of today’s foremost film conductors, he has helmed a host of blockbuster film scores and is regularly invited to lead high-profile live-to-film events. At Ottowa’s National Arts Centre this summer, he conducts the NAC Orchestra in three performances of Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer’s score for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (July 9–11).

Recent success at Cincinnati Symphony’s May Festival

Parnther’s summer engagements follow his recent debut at the Cincinnati May Festival, the oldest choral music festival in the Western Hemisphere, where he conducted Festival Director Julia Bullock and bass-baritone Alfred Walker with the Cincinnati Symphony, May Festival Chorus, May Festival Youth Chorus, and Classical Roots Community Choir in a salute to iconic American music. This featured almost an hour of selections from the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, in which Parnther “painted Gershwin’s vibrant score with vivid strokes, favoring the brass, but never overpowering the choral forces” (Cincinnati Business Courier). As The New York Times noted, “Parnther kept rhythms tight.”

Anthony Parnther: summer engagements

June 17
Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia Orchestra
SOUSA: “The Stars and Stripes Forever”
Julia WOLFE: Liberty Bell
Peter BOYER / Mark CAMPBELL: A Hundred Years On (world premiere; with Mary Dunleavy, soprano; Meredith Lustig, soprano; Eve Gigliotti, mezzo-soprano; David Portillo, tenor; Malcolm J. Merriweather, baritone; The Crossing)

June 20
San Bernardino, CA
San Bernardino Symphony
“America the Beautiful”
Program to include TCHAIKOVSKY: The Year 1812, Solemn Overture

July 1
Cleveland Heights, OH
The Cleveland Orchestra
Cain Park Community Concert
COPLAND: Fanfare for the Common Man
Gabriela ORTIZ: Kauyumari
Gabriela LENA FRANK: “The Mestizo Waltz” from The Three Latin American Dances
DVOŘÁK: Slavonic Dance No. 1
WALKER: Lyric for Strings
Carlos SIMON: Hellfighters’ Blues
DAWSON: “O Le’ Me Shine, Shine Like a Morning Star!” from Negro Folk Symphony
John WILLIAMS: “Adventures on Earth” from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

July 9–11
Ottawa, ON
National Arts Centre
NAC Orchestra
Klaus BADELT & Hans ZIMMER: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in concert, live to film

Aug 21
Lenox/Stockbridge, MA
Tanglewood
Boston Pops
Various (with Cynthia Erivo, vocals)

Aug 29
Vancouver, BC
Vancouver Symphony
Various (with Cynthia Erivo, vocals)