The Boston Symphony Orchestra will give the world premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s oratorio “Creation” at Symphony Hall on Nov. 12-14, 2026, the orchestra said in its concert listing. Eric Jacobsen will conduct the work, a co-commission of the BSO and the Edinburgh International Festival, according to the listing.
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The work and its creators
The book is by David Henry Hwang and the lyrics are by Leah Hager Cohen, the BSO said. The orchestra said the work responds to Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation,” which it scheduled for the previous week, Nov. 5-7.
The piece explores “the gloriously indifferent cosmos alongside humanity’s bewildering capacity for cruelty and infinite tenderness,” the BSO’s listing said.
The orchestra said the work is on a scale that recalls Golijov’s “La Pasión según San Marcos,” which had its American premiere at Symphony Hall in 2001. Hwang also wrote the libretto for Golijov’s opera “Ainadamar,” a BSO commission for the Tanglewood Music Center, premiered at Tanglewood in 2003, the listing said.
The performers
The featured soloists are vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, bass-baritone Davóne Tines, percussionist Cyro Baptista and kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor, the BSO said. The Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the BSO x NEC Honors Children’s Choir will also perform, according to the orchestra.
Alex Sopp created original artwork and animation, and Camilla Tassi is the projection designer, the listing said.
What the composer has said
In a feature sponsored by the BSO and published by New England.com in September, Golijov said the piece rejects Haydn’s biblical frame. “There’s no ‘In the beginning’ here,” he said. “In fact, there’s no beginning.”
Golijov described the work in the same feature as a story told in turns by the oldest tree in the world, the first child born to a woman, and Vincent van Gogh, among others.
The composer lives in Brookline, and he said in the sponsored feature that he was grateful to have the work “brought to life first at home.”
How to see it
Performances are scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m., the BSO’s listing showed. A pre-concert conversation with Golijov and Alan Lightman is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 14 in the Cabot-Cahners Room, according to the orchestra.
For more local arts coverage, see the Music and Entertainment sections.
Sources
- Boston Symphony Orchestra: Creation by Osvaldo Golijov
- New England.com (sponsored by the Boston Symphony Orchestra): Where Music Meets the Moment
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