New York Philharmonic visits San Diego

The august New York Philharmonic will be at Symphony Hall on Wednesday, May 4, at 8 p.m. This is the final concert of the year’s La Jolla Music Society Celebrity Orchestra Series.

The New Yorkers are conducted by music director Alan Gilbert. Maestro Gilbert has been with New York since 2009. Next season, 2016-'17, will be Gilbert’s last as music director as he moves toward conducting more opera and spending time with European orchestras. He was the first native New Yorker to be musical director and both his parents were members of the orchestra.

Gilbert has made his mark in New York by knocking some of the dust off the standard concert experience and by creating a composer-in-residence position. Every orchestra should have a composer in residence — even if said composer is still a grad student.

The program on Wednesday is a symmetrical meeting of seventh symphonies and program overtures. Beethoven’s Egmont Overture and Symphony No. 7 will be followed by Sibelius’s Symphony No. 7 and Finlandia.

The New York Philharmonic’s last visit to San Diego was in 2012. Tickets and information available at the La Jolla Music Society website or through the San Diego Symphony website.