NSO brings 13 concerts to Strathmore as Kennedy Center closes

The National Symphony Orchestra will play 13 classical concerts at the Music Center at Strathmore during its 2026-27 season, making the North Bethesda hall the orchestra's largest suburban venue as the Kennedy Center shuts down for a two-year renovation.

Music director Gianandrea Noseda will open the season with a gala concert at Strathmore on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m., conducting Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite, Carlos Simon's Monuments: A Suite for DC and Respighi's La boutique fantasque.

Tickets for fall concerts go on sale to the public Friday, Aug. 28, at 10 a.m. through Strathmore's box office. NSO members get early access starting Aug. 21, with patron access beginning Aug. 25.

The NSO announced the season Tuesday, Aug. 18, splitting 56 area concerts among six venues after the Kennedy Center's board announced plans to close the complex and add President Donald Trump's name to the facade. The announcement came five months later than last year's schedule release, a delay the orchestra attributed to budget and building uncertainty.

Strathmore's 1,925-seat concert hall will host the second-most NSO performances behind only Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University in D.C., which gets 24 concerts in its smaller 1,350-seat space. The Kennedy Center Concert Hall held up to 2,465 seats.

"I'd like to think of this year of the National Symphony Orchestra as a regional touring orchestra," Noseda told the Associated Press on Aug. 18. "So we will be on tour and we will take and bring the music where the people are instead of inviting them to where we perform."

Noseda, entering his 10th season as music director, will conduct 20 concerts at five venues during his 10 weeks in the D.C. area. He said he adjusted only two programs from his original plans to account for smaller stages.

The move comes as the NSO works to rebuild its audience. Ticket sales dropped from 72% of capacity in 2024 to 58% in 2025 to 41% during the 2025-26 season, according to The Washington Post.

The NSO did not confirm those figures.

But the orchestra's summer 2026 residency at Wolf Trap exceeded sales projections and drew packed houses, a sign that performing outside the Kennedy Center may help.

Beyond the Sept. 26 gala, Strathmore's NSO calendar includes Noseda conducting Scheherazade, Pictures at an Exhibition and Ravel's Boléro on Friday, Oct. 2; Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5 on Saturday, Oct. 10; and Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony with pianist Beatrice Rana on Sunday, April 18, 2027. Conductor Leonard Slatkin leads Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 3 on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Winter concert tickets go on sale Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 10 a.m., and spring dates on Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 10 a.m.

Upcoming NSO concerts at Strathmore