Andris Nelsons to take the podium in Vienna for New Year's Day concert

Andris Nelsons is Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. Since 2010 Nelsons has been a musical partner of the Vienna Philharmonic. The New Year's Concert 2020 represents Nelsons' first time conducting this prestigious international concert event, following in the footsteps of his distinguished predecessor Mariss Jansons.

Born in Riga in 1978 into a family of musicians, Nelsons began his career as a trumpeter in the Latvian National Opera Orchestra before studying the art of conducting. He was Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2008-2015, Principal Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Herford, Germany 2006-2009 and Music Director of the Latvian National Opera 2003-2007.

Broadcast live from the ornate Musikverein concert hall in Vienna, the New Year’s Day Concert is one of the most popular international broadcasts, reaching over 40 million television viewers around the world, according to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 

The orchestra performs a different musical programme every year with works from the vast repertoire of the Johann Strauss family and its contemporaries under the baton of the world’s most prestigious conductors.

The 2020 New Year's Concert will be broadcast in over 90 countries.

There's more details about this year's event and all the participants here and the concert program is listed below. 

In Latvia the concert will be broadcast at 12:15 Rīga time on LTV, but it will be worth tuning in a little earlier at 11:40 as the concert will be preceded by a documentary about Andris Nelsons' musical life.

2020'S PROGRAM:

Carl Michael Ziehrer
Overture to "Die Landstreicher (The Vagabonds)"

Josef Strauss
Liebesgrüße (Greetings of Love) Waltz, op. 56
Liechtenstein March, op. 36

Johann Strauss Jr.
Blumenfest (Flower Festival) Polka. op. 111
Wo die Citronen blüh'n (Where the Lemons Blossom), Waltz, op. 364

Eduard Strauss
Knall und Fall (Without Delay), Fast Polka, op. 132

-- Pause --

Franz von Suppé
Light Cavalry Overture

Josef Strauss
Cupido, Polka française, op. 81

Johann Strauss Jr.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen (Be Embraced, You Millions), Waltz, op. 443

Eduard Strauss
Eisblume (Ice Flower), Polka mazurka, op. 55 (Arr. W. Dörner)

Josef Hellmesberger, Jr.
Gavotte

Hans Christian Lumbye
Postillon Galop, op. 16/2 (Arr. W. Dörner)

Ludwig van Beethoven
Twelve Contredanses, WoO 14 (Excerpts)

Johann Strauss Jr.
Freuet euch des Lebens (Enjoy Life), Waltz, op.340
Tritsch-Tratsch, Fast Polka, op. 214