Mayor Michelle Wu will return to Symphony Hall as a guest soloist

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is sharing details about a free concert that will see Mayor Michelle Wu return to the stage as the featured guest soloist on Sept. 21.

For last year's Concert for the City, Wu played the second movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C led by BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons. This year, an iconic George Gershwin composition is on the program, which the mayor will perform with the Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart.

“To have a politician in charge of a city the size of Boston, who is passionate enough about music to do this — and has the skill sets necessary to do this — I think is really extraordinary,” Lockhart said in an interview about the announcement. “And it's the two of us doing ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ in honor of the 100th year of that piece.”

The BSO has been celebrating the anniversary of Gershwin’s 1924 work throughout this year. Lockhart has known and loved it since he was a kid, and said he played “Rhapsody in Blue" for his own orchestral debut nearly 50 years ago. “It's always been a favorite piece of hers too,” he said of Wu.

In Tuesday’s announcement, Wu said, “The BSO’s annual Concert for the City is a beautiful tradition that connects communities across our neighborhoods with the joy and beauty of making music together. I am so grateful for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and partners for investing in our community and bringing generations together year after year.”

The Concert for the City will help kick off the BSO's 2024-25 season that also marks Nelson’s 10th anniversary with the orchestra. He will conduct parts of the community concert along with Lockhart, youth and family concert conductor Thomas Wilkins, and the all-volunteer Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

“It was an honor to conduct Mayor Wu in 2023, and we look forward to her return to our stage this month,” Nelsons said. “I am also excited to conduct a newly commissioned work by our composer chair Carlos Simon and a movement from Tchaikovsky’s beloved Symphony No. 6.” Simon’s new piece, titled “Festive Overture and Fanfare,” was written to honor Nelsons’ decade with the BSO.

The Concert for the City celebration begins at noon outside Symphony Hall, where local groups including Juan Nieves Trio, OrigiNation dance group and the Arnie Williams Steel Drum Band will perform on Saint Stephen Street. Taneshia Laird, CEO of the Greater Roxbury Arts & Cultural Center will emcee the event.

Symphony Hall’s doors will open at 1 p.m. and additional Boston area groups like Project STEP, members of the Boston Pops Gospel Choir, and the Spiritual Ensemble of the Boston Arts Academy will fill the hall with their music until the main program that begins at 3 p.m. That's when other locals will take the stage — including gospel artist Renese King, the Boston Children’s Chorus, and Veronica Robles with her Mariachi Ensemble.

“We're excited to welcome our friends and neighbors back to Symphony Hall for what will be our fifth Concert for the City since the first event in February 2020,” BSO president and CEO Chad Smith said. “This fall’s concert is the most ambitious and inclusive program yet, with more than a dozen community groups participating in pre-concert and main stage performances. We are thrilled to welcome Mayor Wu back to the stage for her performance of Gershwin’s 'Rhapsody in Blue.'"

Lockhart looks forward to performing with the mayor for the first time, and added she has the piano chops to do it. “We're not talking Bill Clinton blowing a couple sax chords here,” he said, “we’re talking about thousands of hours of practice that make anybody good enough to be able to sit on stage with an orchestra like the Boston Pops or the BSO.”

Tickets for Concert for the City are free but do need to be reserved. They’ll be available beginning Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. through BSO.org, by calling 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Symphony Hall Box Office.