EXO’s season begins on November 2, 2025 with Toward the Sea: A Concert for Climate Change Awareness co-curated by James Blachly and EXO Creative Partner flutist Catherine Gregory, at All Souls Unitarian Church (1157 Lexington Ave., NYC). From February 19-21, 2026, EXO presents Silence and Sound: Arvo Pärt’s Music for Strings in partnership with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in the intimate St. James Chapel (1047 Amsterdam Ave., NYC). On April 10 and 11, 2026, also in partnership with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, EXO presents Music in the Crypt: Out of the Shadows in the rarely accessible Crypt at the Cathedral (1047 Amsterdam Ave., NYC), featuring music chosen especially for this mysterious and shadowy space.

“This season is a celebration of all that led us to the creation of this ensemble, from our first concerts in New York City to our continuation of our exploration of the music of Arvo Pärt, which has become a specialty of the ensemble,” says James Blachly. “I am honored to present two programs in February and April at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where so much of my own artistic life has its origins, and to be performing each program three times, as we explore two stunning and intimate spaces within the vast expansive space of the Cathedral. And we continue to celebrate our tradition of creative collaboration with our wonderful Creative Partner this year, flutist Catherine Gregory, who has curated our program Toward the Sea: A Concert for Climate Change Awareness in November.”

EXO’s season opening concert on November 2, Toward the Sea: A Concert for Climate Change Awareness, reflects on the urgency for environmental protection of the ocean and features music inspired by the sea. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Oceana, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the world's oceans.This immersive performance is designed for the unique acoustics of All Souls Unitarian Church – the same church that Herman Melville attended in the 19th century. Co-curated by James Blachly and EXO Creative Partner Catherine Gregory, the concert includes Blachly’s songs Delight and Insular Tahiti, commissioned for All Souls Unitarian Church with texts drawn from Moby Dick; frequent EXO collaborator, violinist and composer Michelle Ross’s meditative composition The Whale Song; a reimagined version of Maurice Ravel’s Une barque sur l’ocean performed by pianist David Kaplan with strings surrounding the audience; Toru Takemitsu’s Toward the Sea II with Catherine Gregory and virtuoso harpist Bridget Kibbey (a piece commissioned by Greenpeace and inspired by Moby Dick); and a performance of Welsh composer Grace Williams’s energetic Sea Sketches, a little known tour-de-force for string orchestra and a reflection of the sea’s power. The concert concludes with George Crumb’s landmark work Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) for Three Masked Players (Electric Flute, Electric Cello and Amplified Piano) featuring Catherine Gregory, flute; Mihai Marica, cello; and David Kaplan, piano. 

In three performances from February 19-21, 2026, EXO and James Blachly present Silence and Sound: Arvo Pärt’s Music for Strings at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in St. James Chapel, joining the worldwide celebration of the iconic Estonian composer’s 90th birthday season. Blachly and EXO bring their deep connection to the music of Pärt, building on their capacity concerts of his music at The Metropolitan Museum’s Temple of Dendur in 2021 and at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in 2023. This season, EXO invites listeners to explore the unique acoustics of the largest chapel of the Cathedral, where each note will reflect and reverberate – a meditation in stone, wood, and silence, as well as sound and space. Blachly has carefully curated this program of music for strings and percussion, which includes some of Pärt’s most beloved works – Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten and Vater Unser – as well as the US premieres of his Pärt’s Sequentia and Orient & Occident. Pärt composed Sequentia in 2014 for the production Adam’s Passion and dedicated the work to Robert Wilson. Orient & Occident was composed in 2000, and is based on the text of Credo, the Nicene Creed in the Church Slavonic language – one of the few religious texts that are the same in the Western and Eastern Church. The program will also include Pärt’s Für Lennart in memoriam, Psalom, Silouan’s Song, and Da pacem Domine.

Blachly says, “I chose Sequentia for this program because of the extraordinarily delicate way the percussion interacts with both the strings and silence, and how those sonorities will ring in this space. Orient & Occident is particularly well suited to these concerts because of the ongoing interfaith and ecumenical tradition of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Pärt composed the piece as a way to bridge the Catholic and Orthodox traditions.” 

On April 10 and 11, 2026, EXO presents three performances of Music in the Crypt: Out of the Shadows in the seldomly seen Crypt at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. During these concerts, EXO and Blachly invite audiences to listen deeply in a profound and mysterious setting. Blachly selected the works to be performed on these concerts especially for the unique acoustics and atmosphere of the Crypt. The program features Franz Schreker’s Intermezzo, Caroline Shaw’s Punctum for string orchestra, Jessie Montgomery’s Source Code, Blachly’s Work for Strings, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 132 Mvt 3, Heiliger Dankgesang, arranged by Blachly for string orchestra. With these concerts, EXO continues its ongoing exploration of the relationship between sound and architecture throughout the Cathedral. The performances are also a homecoming for Blachly – more than 20 years ago, he recorded his first string quartet in this very space.

‍

Finally, in spring 2026, EXO will again present Brad Balliet’s A Field Guide to Imaginary Birds, to be held once again outdoors in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park in spring 2026 (details TBA).This is an immersive, experiential program designed with families and bird-lovers in mind, in which participants will discover the songs of seven remarkable imaginary birds. More information to be announced.

About Experiential Orchestra:

The GRAMMY®️-winning Experiential Orchestra (EXO) brings audiences close to the music by engaging listeners through imaginative, immersive, and interactive concert experiences. Founded by Music Director James Blachly in 2009, EXO’s performances and recordings have been described as “strikingly persuasive” by the San Francisco Chronicle and “immaculate” by Musical America, and have been praised for having “luscious tone and poise” by Classics Today.

EXO was founded on collaboration and co-creation, and each curated performance is imbued with a generous spirit of celebration, facilitating the exploration of what Blachly calls, “a new experience of sound” by audiences. The orchestra’s performances take place in and outside the concert hall with audiences invited to participate in unorthodox ways. EXO has performed the music of Arvo Pärt in the Temple of Dendur at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, invited audiences to dance during Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker at National Sawdust, enveloped the audience in concerts at Lincoln Center with audience and orchestra members sitting together, and presented  Symphonie fantastique and Petrushka with circus choreography at The Muse in Brooklyn.  

Recent highlights have included a subscription concert at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, an immersive performance of Strauss’s Four Last Songs with cellist Andrew Yee and soprano Sarah Brailey, and the New York premiere of Julia Perry’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with soloist Curtis Stewart. In January 2024, EXO performed Pärt’s masterwork Passio at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, offering audiences the opportunity to experience the concert while reclining on yoga mats. In March 2024, the orchestra co-presented a four-day Julia Perry Centenary Celebration and Festival in New York, coinciding with Perry’s 100th birthday that month.

EXO is known for imaginative and groundbreaking programming that frequently advocates for under-celebrated masterpieces and composers. The orchestra’s world premiere recording of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison (1930) was released on Chandos Records in 2020 to international critical acclaim in The New York Times, Gramophone, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and many other publications. The album won the GRAMMY for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album in 2021 – the first GRAMMY ever awarded for Smyth’s music. EXO’s world premiere recording of Julia Perry’s Violin Concerto, with soloist Curtis Stewart, was released on the Bright Shiny Things label in March 2024 and earned two GRAMMY nominations.

EXO is led by Founder and Music Director James Blachly, General Manager Sandy Choi, Creative Partner Catherine Gregory, Concertmasters Alex Fortes and Henry Wang, Personnel Manager Arthur Sato, and Artistic Advisors Patrick Castillo, Brad Balliett, and Doug Balliett. Leila Amineddoleh serves as Board Chair.

About Founding Music Director James Blachly:

James Blachly is a GRAMMY®-winning conductor dedicated to enriching the concert experience by connecting with audiences in memorable and meaningful ways. James Blachly serves as Music Director of Experiential Orchestra and Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. He is a versatile guest conductor in diverse repertoire for orchestras including New York Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and WDR Funkhausorchester. A strong supporter of composers of our time, Blachly has commissioned and premiered more than 40 works by composers including Jessie Montgomery, Courtney Bryan, Viet Cuong, Michi Wiancko, Kate Copeland Ettinger, Tommy Daugherty, Patrick Castillo, Brad and Doug Balliett, and many others. In recent seasons, he has collaborated with soloists Daniel Hope, Paul Jacobs, Julia Bullock, Dashon Burton, Michelle Cann, Andrew Yee, Curtis Stewart, Simone Porter, and more. In addition to his work with Experiential Orchestra, with the Johnstown Symphony, Blachly has conducted the orchestra at the Flight 93 Memorial for the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, in a former steel mill in a concert that was featured on Katie Couric’s America Inside Out, at the First Summit Arena at the War Memorial, and in eight seasons the orchestra has increased season ticket sales and annual giving each by more than 50%. In 2021, he received a commendation by the City of Johnstown and the Johnstown chapter of the NAACP. In recent seasons, Blachly has introduced an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, and youth concert. For more information, visit www.jamesblachly.com.