Celebrate Beethoven!: Turning the Key

The American Classical Orchestra (ACO) begins its 42nd season with a concert led by Founder and Artistic Director Thomas Crawford on September 17 at Alice Tully Hall. New York City’s leading period instrument orchestra provides a rare opportunity for audiences to hear masterworks on such original instruments as valveless horns, gut strings, and wooden flutes. The opening program presents Haydn’s "Lord Nelson" Mass in D minor with award-winning soprano Shelén Hughes Camacho in her ACO debut, along with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1—the first of three Alice Tully Hall Celebrate Beethoven! concerts during 2026-27, continuing the Orchestra’s performance cycle of all nine symphonies begun last season to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death.