We hope you’re ready for some fireworks, because tonight marks the return of the New York Philharmonic’s popular series, Concerts in the Parks. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the free multi-borough classical music affair finds the Philharmonic performing five free outdoor concerts in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx, with an additional (also free) indoor concert in Staten Island. All of the outdoor performances are followed by a rousing fireworks display.

This year’s series opens at the Great Lawn in Central Park with Music Director Albert Gilbert conducting an all-American program featuring music from Bernstein’s West Side Story, as well as Gershwin’s Lullaby, Barber’s The School for Scandal Overture and more. The next two evenings, Charles Dutoit steps in to conduct Franco-Russian concerts with music by Ravel, Berlioz and Stravinsky. Gilbert then returns with a modified all-American set for the concerts in Queens and the Bronx. The indoor concert at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center will enchant with music by Mozart, Greig and Spohr.

Special for this year, the Philharmonic presents Share the Stage, a program that invites local musicians to be the evening’s opening act for the concerts in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. Taking part will be the Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir in Prospect Park, jazz percussionist Steve Kroon in Queens, Afro-Puerto Rican drummers BombaYo in the Bronx, and folk musicians Bob Conroy and Norm Pederson with Bill Doerge in Staten Island.

See below for the full schedule and a taste of what to expect. You can also find out more information at the New York Philharmonic’s website.

Wednesday, June 17
Great Lawn, Central Park, Manhattan
8pm
Albert Gilbert, Conductor
Joshua Bell, violin
Program:
Barber’s The School for Scandal Overture
Gershwin’s Lullaby
Bernstein’s West Side Story Suite for Violin and Orchestra
Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite
Anderson’s Fiddle-Faddle
Rodgers’s The Carousel Waltz
Sousa’s The Washington Post

Thursday, June 18
Great Lawn, Central Park
8pm
Charles Dutoit, conductor
Renaud Capuçon, violin
Program:
Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture
Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3
Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1911 version)
Ravel’s La Valse

Friday, June 19
Prospect Park, Brooklyn
8pm
Charles Dutoit, conductor
Renaud Capuçon, violin
Program:
Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture
Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3
Stravinsky’s Petrushka (1911 version)
Ravel’s La Valse

Monday, June 22
Cunningham Park, Queens
8pm
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Julia Bullock, soprano
Ben Bliss, tenor
Program:
Barber’s The School for Scandal Overture
Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite
Anderson’s Fiddle-Faddle
Rodgers’s The Carousel Waltz
Bernstein’s West Side Story Concert Suite No. 1
Gershwin’s Lullaby
Sousa’s The Washington Post

Tuesday, June 23
Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx
8pm
Alan Gilbert, conductor
Julia Bullock, soprano
Ben Bliss, tenor
Program:
Barber’s The School for Scandal Overture
Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite
Anderson’s Fiddle-Faddle
Rodgers’s The Carousel Waltz
Bernstein’s West Side Story Concert Suite No. 1
Gershwin’s Lullaby
Sousa’s The Washington Post

Wednesday, June 24
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, Staten Island
8pm
Mozart’s Serenade in G major, Eine kleine Nachtmusik
Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
Spohr’s Nonet