Young People's Concerts

The Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic are the longest-running series of family concerts of classical music in the world.

Symphony concerts for young people in New York City (before 1924)
On November 26, 1898, conductor Frank Damrosch and the New York Symphony Orchestra, presented one of the first orchestra concerts in New York City directed at a younger audience, entitled "Symphony Concert for Young People". A year prior, in 1897, Damrosch was named the head of music education for New York City's public schools because of his social mission to teach music to impoverished New Yorkers.

Decades later, between 1914–16, the New York Philharmonic's music director Josef Stránský began leading concerts for young people.

Founding of an annual concert series (1924–1939)
The New York Philharmonic's annual "Young People's Concerts" series was founded in 1924 by conductor "Uncle" Ernest Schelling and Mary Williamson Harriman and Elizabeth "Bessie" Mitchell, co-chairs of the Philharmonic's Educational and Children's Concerts Committee. Schelling designed the concerts to encourage a love of music in children, augmenting the music with demonstrations and talks featuring picture slideshows about composers, instruments, history, and other educational topics. Schelling created over 4,000 magic lantern glass slides to showcase a variety of subjects.

Beginning in 1930, the Young People's Concerts were broadcast as a parallel feature with the Philharmonic's Sunday concerts on CBS Radio to homes across the United States and in Europe. Schelling and the Philharmonic also went directly into New York City's public schools, presenting "School Day" concerts to young students.

The Young People's Concerts became very popular with children and their parents, as well as music lovers of all ages. In his first ten years, Schelling led two series of five to six concerts each season. In addition to presenting concerts for children in New York, Schelling also presented concerts on the road in cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Rotterdam, and London. Schelling conducted the Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic from 1924 until his death in 1939.

After Schelling (1940 to 1958)
Following Schelling's death in 1939, the Young People's Concerts were taken over by Swiss conductor Rudolph Ganz, from 1940 to 1947. Ganz had initially planned six concerts each season at Carnegie Hall, plus a series of three "Elementary", or "Introductory", concerts at New York City's Town Hall for "children with little or no musical training" under the age of nine. However, the Elementary concerts were suspended in 1942 due to World War II and did not resume again until 1947.

In 1947, the Young People's Concert Committee held interviews for the series' next conductor. The Committee voted American conductor Walter Hendl, who went on to lead four concerts. Other conductors were vying for the position, including a young Leonard Bernstein, who had only debuted with the Philharmonic four years prior. Bernstein received only three votes and would not conduct a Young People's Concert until he became music director in 1958.

In 1950, American conductor Igor Buketoff was placed at the helm of all the Philharmonic's children's concerts, following his first guest appearance in the role just two years prior.

In 1953, Canadian conductor Wilfrid Pelletier was appointed conductor of the Young People's Concerts. In Pelletier's final season, 1956-17, the elementary series for younger children was dissolved yet again.

Leonard Bernstein on CBS (1958–72)
Leonard Bernstein brought the Young People's Concerts to a new level of popular attention as music director of the New York Philharmonic, beginning in 1958. Bernstein wrote, conducted, and narrated a total of 53 episodes from 1958 to 1972, all of which were telecast on CBS and syndicated in over 40 countries. Reaching millions of families across the United States and around the world, these concerts inspired entire generations of musicians and music lovers. Bernstein's first concert as music director and Conductor, on January 18, 1958, at Carnegie Hall in New York, was the first of these programs to be televised, "What Does Music Mean?" In 1962, the Young People's Concerts became the first series of concerts broadcast live from Lincoln Center. Initially broadcast on Saturdays (episodes 1–7) and Sundays (episodes 8–15), the concerts eventually moved to primetime (episodes 16–40) before returning to Sunday afternoons (episodes 41–53).

Although Bernstein left the position of music director in 1969, he continued to lead the Young People's Concerts as Conductor Emeritus until 1972, concluding in March 1972 with a television series finale devoted to Gustav Holst's The Planets.

The series won five Emmy Awards between 1962 and 1966.

Kultur International Films released Volume I on DVD in 2004 and Volume II on DVD in 2013. Each volume contains more than twenty hours of concerts.

International stage (1972–present)
Following their international rise to fame in the Bernstein era, the Young People's Concerts were subsequently presented by the New York Philharmonic on tour in concert halls throughout the world. The series began to expand its artistic leadership to develop a collective vision for its future.

Following Bernstein's final Young People's Concert in 1972, Michael Tilson Thomas regularly led the series (1971–77), in addition to conductors such as Erich Leinsdorf, Pierre Boulez, Igor Buketoff, Zubin Mehta, Aaron Copland, Kurt Masur, Leonard Slatkin, André Previn, Thomas Wilkins, and Jaap van Zweden.

In 2008, the New York Philharmonic was presenting four Young People's Concerts each season, in addition to concerts on tour to cities like Hong Kong. American conductor Delta David Gier hosted and led the programs and playwright Tom Dulack scripted them, which were themed as a unit and, as Schelling pioneered decades earlier, the live performances were complemented by live images projected on a large screen.

As of 2024, the New York Philharmonic continues to present four Young People's Concerts each season. The contemporary concerts are thematically programmed, focusing 21st century issues like climate change, immigration, and social justice. The performances are complemented by live image and video projections, guest actors, dancers, singers, and community partners, with an interdisciplinary approach that brings elements like science, fantasy, and hip hop into the orchestra. These concerts have been streamed online for international audiences.

Legacy and other educational programs
In 2005, the New York Philharmonic revived their "Elementary" series, renamed the Very Young People's Concerts, which is designed for younger children ages 3 to 6. The 30-minute concerts, hosted by the Philharmonic's Associate Principal Violist Rebecca Young, introduce children to music through games, stories, and musical performances of chamber music, as well as give children the opportunity to play musical instruments.