Speaking at a press conference today, Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall since July 2005, outlined the institution's plans, saying, "I believe it is essential to embrace Carnegie Hall's great traditions and fundamental belief in quality, education and innovation, and to use these as the platform for our future explorations and initiatives."

The season features an unusually high number of commissions, demonstrating "Carnegie's commitment to the future," said Gillinson. The works of ten established figures, such as John Adams, Kaija Saariaho, and Elliott Carter, and ten emerging composers in their 20s and 30s, will be premiered throughout the season. The younger composers will be mentored through the Weill Music Institute Professional Training Workshops.

Carnegie's annual artist-led Perspectives series will see Aimard explore music including Bach, Chopin, Stockhausen, and Ligeti with collaborators such as Pierre Boulez. David Byrne, the composer and performer who fronted the art-rock band Talking Heads, will curate the eclectic No Boundaries series; details have not yet been announced. The Emerson Quartet will perform the complete Beethoven string quartets alongside works by Mendelssohn, Ives, Bart‹k, and a new quartet by Saariaho. Thomas Quasthoff will explore American popular song and orchestral lieder.

Steve Reich@70, a month-long tribute presented in collaboration with BAM and Lincoln Center, will showcase Reich as composer, teacher, and performer. Concerts include a hands-on audience experience focusing on his Clapping Music.

Zankel Hall, which "has been utterly transformational and has made a tremendous impact on Carnegie Hall," according to Gillinson, again hosts a wide range of world-music concerts. "Zankel gives a fantastic opportunity to travel across different genres and music," he added. The World Views series features The Spirit of Fs, jazz trombonist Roswell Rudd and the Mongolian Buryat Band, and maskanda singer and guitarist Shiyani Ngcobo, among others.

Other highlights include a 60th-birthday tribute to Adams, including the New York premiere of his Doctor Atomic Symphony, and a Shostakovich Festival featuring pianist Larissa Gergieva. Solo recitalists include Daniel Barenboim performing Bach's complete Well-Tempered Clavier; H_lne Grimaud making her Carnegie recital debut; and the Carnegie debut of Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, who recently won the 2006 Gilmore Artist Award.

Visiting orchestras include the Cleveland Orchestra, which opens the season under music director Franz Welser-M‹st; the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Pierre Boulez; the MET Orchestra with James Levine; the Vienna Philharmonic led by Daniel Barenboim; and the Boston Symphony, also led by Levine.