The National Symphony Orchestra's
2024 European Tour!
1 INCOMPARABLE tour =
1.5 years of planning
9 cities | 10 concerts
180+ Musicians, Families, and Staff
1,700+ Hotel Rooms
2,000+ Plane & Train tickets
10,000+ lbs of Luggage
16,000+ lbs of Cargo
& UNLIMITED PRICELESS MEMORIES
The National Symphony Orchestra's European Tour dazzled audiences in some of Europe’s most important concert halls in
Barcelona, Zaragoza, Madrid, Berlin, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Milan, & Hamburg.
Directed by Gianandrea Noseda and Joined by pianist Seong-Jin Cho, violinist Hilary Hahn, and the Kennedy Center's Composer in Residence, Carlos Simon, the NSO's 33rd tour with Classical Movements was a tour truly like none other!
A Triumphant Start!
Kicking off with a spectacular concert at Carnegie Hall, the National Symphony orchestra began its journey with over 16,000 pounds of precious cargo and 140+ musicians and partners!
Glowing, Enthusiastic Reviews!
“Conductor Gianandrea Noseda made a triumphant return to Teatro alla Scala in an informal role as cultural ambassador, leading the U.S. National Symphony Orchestra that he has made more ‘luminous’ with his personal loan of centuries-old Italian-made instruments. Noseda’s energetic performance Monday evening marked the emotional highlight of the NSO’s nine-city European tour, its first in nearly a decade. It was both a homecoming for the 59-year-old and the orchestra’s debut to the famously exacting La Scala audience. The concert, which included an original composition by the Kennedy Center’s in-house composer Carlos Simon and Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho playing Beethoven, received a rare standing ovation.”
“…spirited brilliance takes center stage. Schubert's "Great" C major Symphony receives a brisk rejuvenation.”

“The orchestra showcases all its sound qualities here: radiant woodwinds, gleaming brass, and velvety strings. Above all, it unfolds a catchy melody with flowing tranquility."

"When a major American orchestra goes on tour, it is excellently prepared, has arranged to meet a famous soloist (among others), and a composer in residence also travels with it and has written music for both her, the soloist, and the orchestra. Carlos Simon is currently based at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., which is home to the National Symphony Orchestra. And even though he only contributed two encores in Frankfurt, the impression was of a lively music making process that naturally stretches out its feelers into the future."
"The orchestra's interpretation of Beethoven
is beautifully clear"
 "Under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda, who has been artistically responsible for the orchestra for seven years and is currently also General Music Director of the Zurich Opera, the orchestra's interpretation of Beethoven is beautifully clear, not unimpressed by historical performance practice and with a strong motor, often drawing its energy from strongly articulated opposing movements, such as the urge to push and hold in the first movement.“

-Axel Zibulski, FAZ Rhein-Main-Zeitung
“A stimulating evening in which boundaries dissolved
and worlds merged.”
The Final Stretch
"The performance was not so much a sprint to the finish line as a final, forceful push into every detail and color."

Certainly, a tour like this is intended to introduce the National Symphony Orchestra to a world of new listeners, to stake a claim in the larger musical landscape, to declare itself present. But the true magic of joining this trip, even for just a few days, was watching the NSO attain a fresh perspective on itself"

New Tours, Old Tours, Big & Small,
Classical Movements Does Them All!