Viennese New Year's Day Concert
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The Viennese New Year's Concert Tradition
Where the Alps give way to the rolling fields of Central Europe – and where the Europe of wine and song meets the Europe of beer and dance – stands the city of Vienna. It’s a crossroads, and in its Imperial golden age it was the heart of an empire that stretched from Alpine glaciers to the Ukrainian steppes; from the lemon-groves of Italy to the bear-infested forests of Bohemia. And when its people met, they danced: to racy operettas, polkas that fizzed like champagne, and of course, to waltzes.
No-one knows exactly when the waltz came to Vienna. But come it did, and its whirling rhythm – always leaning forward into the arms of the next bar – seemed at first scandalously sexy, and then deliciously escapist. In the hands of the “waltz kings” Josef Lanner and Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) it escaped from the wine-gardens of suburban Vienna to intoxicate first the city, and then the world. Strauss was the stepson of an innkeeper; but by the 1830s, leading his dance orchestra from the violin, he was more like a rock star. When he died in 1849, the crown of the “waltz king” passed – rather more easily than the crown of Austria had done the previous year – to his son Johann II (known to his family as Schani).
For the next half century, the Strauss dance orchestra became a family business and a global brand. The tours continued, the orchestra doubled in size, and in Imperial Russia, special trains were laid on to carry the crowds. Johann’s brothers Josef and Eduard stepped up as composers too, and the titles of the brothers’ dances summed up a whole civilisation: Roses from the South, Emperor Waltz, Morning Papers, Tales from the Vienna Woods, and of course The Blue Danube (piano copies of the score sold over a million copies within their first few years).
Vienna lost its empire in 1918, though the waltz went on in the hands of Johann II’s successors, the operetta masters Franz Lehár and Emmerich Kálmán. And in the darkest years of the 20th century, the music of the Strauss family came to symbolise a happier and more hopeful age. That’s when the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra launched its annual New Year’s Day concert of music by the Strausses: an annual tradition that has spread (once again) from Vienna to the whole world. Anywhere, in fact, where people like to celebrate with beautiful melodies and irresistible dance.
Naomi Woo
Canadian conductor Naomi Woo is gaining worldwide attention for her spirited dynamism and infectious musicality both on and off the podium. A widely sought-after symphonic and operatic conductor, Woo is currently in her second season as Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
In the 2025/26 season, Woo makes debuts with the New York Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden. She also returns to Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain, where she was artistic partner from 2023 to 2025, as well as to the Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and City of London Sinfonia. A renowned advocate for contemporary music she conducts the world premiere of Oliver Leith’s Garland at Bold Tendencies in London and leads a workshop for Huang Ruo’s upcoming opera The Wedding Banquet at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In previous seasons, Woo has appeared with Toronto Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Montreal Symphony, and National Arts Centre Orchestra in North America and elsewhere with London’s Philharmonia, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg, and at LSO St. Luke’s in London with the ensemble Tangram Sound, an ensemble devoted to celebrating the vitality of Chinese cultures, and creating new music by transnational Chinese creators.
Woo holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She has also studied mathematics, philosophy, and music at Yale College, the Yale School of Music, and Université de Montréal. The 2022 winner of the Canada Council’s prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, Woo is a member of Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership programme, and was chosen by her mentor Yannick Nézet-Séguin as a member of the Orchestre Métropolitain’s inaugural orchestral conducting academy. She acknowledges generous support over the years from the Manitoba Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Help Musicians UK, and the BC Arts Council.
Rebecca Bottone
Rebecca Bottone was born in Bedfordshire and is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music. Recent and future engagements include Roshanna Wing and Jude Lofte on the world premiere Jonathan Dove’s Itch (Opera Holland Park), Marina Litvinenko in the world premiere of The Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko (Grange Park Opera); Queen Tye Akhnaten (English National Opera), Ilia Idomeneo and Giunia Lucio Silla (Buxton Festival)‚ Despina Cosi fan Tutte, Bauci Bauci e Filemone‚ Amore Orfeo ed Euridice and Weltgeist Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots (Classical Opera)‚ Tussi Marx Marx in London, Yum Yum The Mikado‚ Clorinda La Cenerentola and Mabel The Pirates of Penzance (Scottish Opera)‚ Haydn’s Creation (Zurich Opera), Amor Orfeo (La Nuova Musica)‚ Apolle e Dafne (Karlsruhe Handel Festival)‚ Yniold (Hong Kong Arts Festival)‚ Sophie The Mother and Mozart vs Machine (Mahogany Opera Project)‚ Constance The Sorcerer (National Gilbert & Sullivan Company)‚ Magdalena La Resurrezione (Lyon), Dalila in Handel’s Samson, Judas Maccabeus and Fight for a Song with Capella Cracoviensis, Messiah (Bridgewater Hall with Raymond Gubbay), Petite Messe Solenelle (Nico and the Navigators), Viennese New Year’s Concerts with The Royal Northern Sinfonia and Last Night of the Proms with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Rebecca has worked with many of the world’s leading orchestras‚ including the SCO‚ the RSNO‚ the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Gabrieli Consort and Players under Paul McCreesh; she has sung Charmeuse in Thais under Eschenbach with Renee Fleming and also performed with the AAM and the RAI Turin under Christopher Hogwood; the CBSO‚ the Halle and the Manchester Camerata under Stephen Bell; St John Passion with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan; the Philharmonia Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras; and the Tonhalle Zürich under Sir Mark Elder.
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Internationally renowned, calling Gateshead home.
37 musicians at the top of their game. Electrifying music, old and new. All the talent, determination, and creativity of the North East on a worldwide stage. From their home at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Royal Northern Sinfonia share the joy and wonder of orchestral music with thousands of people across the North of England – and beyond – every year.
From symphonies to string quartets, film soundtracks to choral masses, and original performances with awesome artists from Sheku Kanneh-Mason to Self Esteem, the orchestra’s members have got one of the most varied jobs there is. They’re always looking for fresh new sounds from up-and-coming composers, inviting local communities to share a stage, and doing everything they can to inspire and prepare the musicians of tomorrow to one day take their place.
They’re also working hard to smash the barriers that can stop brilliant people getting into classical music. They’ve teamed up with national partners to support women conductors to develop their careers, to help global majority musicians get vital experience in the orchestra world, and to celebrate disabled and non-disabled musicians breaking new ground together in inclusive ensemble RNS Moves. And they bring new musical opportunities to the region, headlining the first-ever BBC Proms weekend outside London.
Because they whole-heartedly believe orchestral music is for anyone – big cities and rural villages, tiny babies and life-long listeners, die-hard fans and curious minds – they travel far and wide to make sure there’s top-notch classical music on offer for anyone ready to say “I’ll give that a go”. You’ll find them in churches, castles, and community venues across the North, as well as leading the charge in Carlisle, Kendal, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.
With 65 years of success to build on, they’ve signed a dynamic artistic leadership – Music Director Dinis Sousa, Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska, Principal Guest Conductor Nil Venditti and Associate Conductor Ellie Slorach – to lead the way into a bold, bright future.
