Music

Enjoy a free Boston Symphony Orchestra concert at Symphony Hall

There will be a special guest performance by Mayor Michelle Wu.

BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Marco Borggreve

2 minutes to read

The Boston Symphony Orchestra will play a free “Concert for the City” on May 7 at Symphony Hall.

Led by BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons and Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, the “Boston-inspired” program will feature music that celebrates the city.

“We want everyone in this great city to be able to experience the beauty of the Boston Symphony Orchestra inside one of the world’s great concert halls and one of Boston’s greatest architectural landmarks,” the BSO’s interim president and CEO Jeffrey D. Dunn said in a statement.

Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. Pre-concert activities begin at 12:50 p.m. and include touching and exploring instruments on the Instrument Playground and performances by local music and dance groups including the Berklee Chinese Traditional Music Club, DEAFinitely, and OrigiNation.

The concert will begin at 2 p.m. and run for about 75 minutes without an intermission. It will open with former longtime Boston Pops Conductor John Williams’ “Fanfare for Fenway” and close with the Dropkick Murphys’ “Shipping Up to Boston.” There will also be a guest performance by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

“The musical items selected for inclusion in ‘Concert for the City’ represent just a sampling of the incredible artistic life of our community and of the creative talent that has been nurtured in Boston,” said Anthony Fogg, the BSO’s vice president of artistic planning, in a statement.

“The program includes music by two pioneering figures in Boston’s musical history, George Chadwick and Florence Price, as well as important voices of our time: Valerie Coleman and Roberto Sierra,” Fogg said. “And the performances of Duke Ellington’s moving ‘Come Sunday,’ as well as music by the Dropkick Murphys, remind us how the Boston Pops has for nearly 140 years embraced and championed the widest range of musical genres. We are also honored that Mayor Michelle Wu has agreed to play the beautiful slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, with the Boston Symphony and Andris Nelsons.”

BSO’s last free “Concert for the City” took place in 2021 to celebrate the return of in-person performances following Symphony Hall’s pandemic closure.

General admission seating will be offered free of charge and tickets may be reserved online, by calling 888-266-1200, or in person through the BSO Box Office starting on Thursday, April 20 at 10 a.m.

Kristi Palma

Travel writer

Kristi Palma is the travel writer for Boston.com, focusing on the six New England states. She covers airlines, hotels, and things to do across Boston and New England. She is the author of the award-winning Scenic Six, a weekly travel newsletter.