The Mostly Mozart Festival was an American

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

festival based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Venues

The festival presented concerts with its resident ensemble, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, principally at

David Geffen Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...

of the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. Other festival concerts occurred at such venues as: *

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and Philanthropy, philanthropist whose donations assis ...

* Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse * Rose Theater (

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...

) * Merkin Concert Hall * Gerald W. Lynch Theater * David Rubenstein Atrium * Walter Reade Theater

History

Jay K. Hoffman, William W. Lockwood Jr., Schuyler G. Chapin and George F. Schutz jointly founded the initial version of the festival in 1966. The festival's first season occurred under the title 'Midsummer Serenades – A Mozart Festival', on August 1, 1966. As advised by the then-president of Lincoln Center,

William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...

, the festival assisted in providing summer employment for freelance classical musicians in New York City. The Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the resident orchestra of the festival, is a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

orchestra with a roster of tenured players who return each season. It features musicians from diverse American orchestras, including the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

Orchestra,

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

Orchestra,

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (founded in 1972) is a classical music chamber orchestra based in New York City. They have won several Grammy Awards, and are known for their collaborative leadership style in which the musicians, not a conductor, i ...

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra is resident at Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Since 2008, the orchestra's music director is Manfred Ho ...

St. Louis Symphony The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1880 by Joseph Otten as the St. Louis Choral Society, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is the second-oldest professional symphony o ...

, and

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is an American chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Its principal concert venue is the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. In collaboration with five artistic partners, the orchestra's musi ...

, among others.

Gerard Schwarz Gerard Schwarz (born August 19, 1947), also known as Gerry Schwarz or Jerry Schwarz, is an American symphony conductor and trumpeter. As of 2019, Schwarz serves as the Artistic and Music Director of Palm Beach Symphony and the Director of Orc ...

became the festival's music director in 1984. During his tenure, visiting ensembles joined the festival roster, and the repertoire widened beyond

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

to other composers of the classical era, as well as neoclassical works from later eras. A

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

series was initiated during that period. Schwarz concluded his music directorship of the festival in August 2001. In July 2002, last-minute

industrial action Industrial action (British English) or job action (American English) is a temporary show of dissatisfaction by employees—especially a strike or slowdown or working to rule—to protest against bad working conditions or low pay and to increas ...

just before the start of that summer's festival by the festival orchestra musicians led to the cancellation of 20 concerts, over a dispute regarding the authority of the festival's music director over personnel. In December 2002, Louis Langrée was named the festival's next music director, and formally took up the post in the summer of 2003. In March 2005, his initial contract with Mostly Mozart was extended to 2008. His contract was further extended in April 2014 through 2017. In April 2017, the festival further extended Langrée's contract through 2020. Langrée concluded his tenure as music director of the Mostly Mozart Festival at the close of the summer of 2023. Effective with the summer of 2023, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts subsumed the Mostly Mozart Festival into its 'Summer for the City' festival. In May 2023, Lincoln Center announced the appointment of

Jonathon Heyward Jonathon Heyward (born 1992 in Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.) is an American conductor and cellist. He is music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. Biography Heyward w ...

as the next music director of the orchestra affiliated with the Mostly Mozart Festival, which was scheduled to undergo a name change from 2024 onwards. In January 2024, Lincoln Center announced the new name of the orchestra as the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center.

Music directors

(1984–2001) *

Louis Langrée Louis Langrée (born 11 January 1961) is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée. Biography Early years Langrée studied at the Strasbourg Conservatory, but had no formal academic training in conducting. He ...

(2003–2023)

References

{{Authority control Music festivals in New York City Classical music festivals in the United States Mozart festivals Music festivals established in 1966