BSO Presents a Free Concert for the City on Saturday, Sept. 21

The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) will hold a free Concert for the City on Saturday, September 21, with performances by community groups beginning outdoors at 12 p.m., and culminating with a 3 p.m. concert in Symphony Hall with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, vocalist Renese King, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus as featured guest artists.  

Veronica Robles and her Mariachi Ensemble, the Boston Children’s Chorus, and the Boston Festival Orchestra Ensemble also will perform on the Symphony Hall stage, and Boston Youth Poet Laureate Parker Vincent-Alves will offer an invocation. 

This September’s Concert for the City is part of the BSO’s Opening Weekend events to kick off its 2024-25 season in Boston. On the preceding evenings, the BSO will hold a gala concert to celebrate the start of Music Director Andris Nelsons’ tenth anniversary season (Thurs., Sept. 19) and a circus-themed Boston Pops concert with Keith Lockhart conducting film music while Cirque de la Symphonie acrobats, aerialists, dancers, and jugglers perform on stage (Fri., Sept. 20). Nelsons and Lockhart will conduct portions of the Concert for the City program (Sat., Sept. 21) and will be joined by Thomas Wilkins, who conducts the BSO’s annual Youth and Family Concerts, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, conducted by James Burton.  

With all four of the BSO’s named conductors participating and a diverse array of guest artists from the community, this fall’s Concert for the City offers a full afternoon of free music that celebrates and showcases the talent and traditions of Boston’s multicultural communities alongside performances by the world-renowned musicians of the BSO and Boston Pops and the extraordinary voices of the all-volunteer Tanglewood Festival Chorus (TFC). 

For more information, download the complete release.