The ASO presents a free concert as part of the Picnic Performance series at Bryant Park with a program of music sourced from dance salons, opera houses, cabaret, and the silver screen.

For our third consecutive year debuting our season at Bryant Park, the American Symphony Orchestra is pleased to present, Beyond the Hall, a program exploring music that draws its inspiration from outside the traditional concert setting. From the dance salon (Florence Price’s Suite of Dances) and the theater (Weill’s Threepenny Opera and Bernstein’s On the Town), and from the opera stage (Joplin’s Treemonisha), to the silver screen (Herrmann’s film score for Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960s film), the selections included here examine the complex and dramatic role that music has played across venues, genres, and modes of expression.

Bryant Park staff lends out hundreds of free picnic blankets, provides ample bistro chairs, and offers a curated selection of food and drink to purchase from local vendors. No tickets are required and there are no lines to enter: it’s as easy as a walk in the park.

This program will repeat on September 7, 2024 at Kupferberg Center for the Arts.

This performance is funded in part by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc., New York, NY

The ASO’s Vanguard Series is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.