Boston Landmarks Orchestra: 25th Anniversary Season

Boston Landmarks Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Christopher Wilkins, offers its 25th anniversary season of free summer concerts, bringing live orchestral music to some of the city’s most beloved outdoor and neighborhood spaces from June 14 to August 27, 2025. The concerts and events celebrate community and the joy of music-making with a lineup of performances at the DCR Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade and throughout Boston’s neighborhoods.

Highlights include a collaborative performance with the New England Aquarium, the third annual Juneteenth concert, works by great American composers such as John Williams and Amy Beach, iconic works such as Mahler’s First Symphony and Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, two guest ensembles, a free family community event, and more.

Everyone is welcome at Landmarks Orchestra concerts. On the Esplanade, audiences are encouraged to bring a picnic—and even dogs are invited. Join us to celebrate another summer of music-making under the stars!

A JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
Saturday, June 14 at 3pm
The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center | 650 Dudley Street, Boston
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-juneteenth-celebration-tickets-1374584953599

Our third annual Juneteenth celebration features flutist DeShaun Gordon-King, and centers around musical bridges between the old and new worlds. The program includes works by Ellington, Still, Gottschalk, Bologne, and Mouquet. Boston composer Karen Walwyn’s haunting Angels Nine pays tribute to those killed in the shooting at the Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, SC exactly 10 years ago.

*****

LANDMARKS MUSICAL KICKOFF PARTY
Sunday, July 13, 2-4pm | DCR Hatch Shell

Join Boston Landmarks Orchestra and community partners for a day of musical fun and games for the whole family! Explore instrument pettig zoos, enjoy face painting, and celebrate the joy of music together—completely free and open to all.

*****

SPECIAL GUEST: LONGWOOD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Wednesday, July 16 at 7pm | DCR Hatch Shell

Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra of Boston’s medical community, opens our 2025 concert series at the Hatch Shell, led by conductor Ronald Feldman. Program TBA

*****

THE BEST OF BOSTON
Wednesday, July 23 at 7pm | DCR Hatch Shell

In celebration of Landmarks Orchestra’s 25th season, Best of Boston showcases some of Boston’s most celebrated composers of the past and present, including familiar music by Leonard Bernstein and John Williams, gems by Florence Price and John Harbison, and featuring the Hatch Shell premiere of Amy Beach’s Piano Concerto, a rarely-heard masterpiece.

*****

PETER & THE WOLF AND MORE
Wednesday, July 30 at 7pm | DCR Hatch Shell

Prokofiev’s charming Peter and the Wolf has been enchanting audiences of all ages for almost a century, and is the centerpiece of this program of musical storytelling with additional selections to be announced.

*****

SPECIAL GUEST: MERCURY ORCHESTRA
Wednesday, August 6 at 7pm | DCR Hatch Shell

Mercury Orchestra, led by Music Director Channing Yu, performs Respighi’s majestic Pines of Rome, and Finzi’s poignant cantata Intimations of Immortality.

*****

DEBUSSY AND THE MUSIC OF THE SEA
In partnership with the New England Aquarium
Wednesday, August 13 at 7pm | DCR Hatch Shell

Debussy’s evocative La Mer and music depicting the sea and its creatures are featured in our latest collaboration with the New England Aquarium.

*****

EROICA SYMPHONY: BEETHOVEN AND REVOLUTION
Wednesday, August 20 at 7pm | DCR Hatch Shell
with repeat performances in Boston neighborhoods on August 21 and 22

Beethoven’s revolutionary “Eroica” Symphony was born of the social and political turbulence following the American and French Revolutions, while Boston-based composer and “Sound Chemist” Val Jeanty draws on the cultural heritage of her native Haiti to create revolutionary works of her own.

*****

MAHLER & RAVEL
Wednesday, August 27 at 7pm | DCR Hatch Shell

Our 2025 season concludes with two of the greatest works of the late Romantic period, the second suite from Ravel’s sensuous Daphnis and Chloe, and Mahler’s towering
Symphony No. 1, both heard for the first time at the Hatch Shell.