Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Alan Gilbert’s inaugural season as music director of the New York Philharmonic will be full of firsts -- including a new-music festival, a concert in Hanoi, a commissioned work by Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg and an artist-in-residence, baritone Thomas Hampson.

The 2009-10 season begins on Sept. 16 with a world premiere of a yet-to-be-named work by the Helsinki-born Lindberg, who is known for his sweeping compositions and tonal complexity. It will be the orchestra’s first opening night world premiere of a work since Leonard Bernstein conducted Aaron Copland’s “Connotations” in 1962.

Soprano Renee Fleming will be on hand for the gala concert to sing Messiaen’s rarely performed “Poemes Pour Mi” and Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.”

“All composers represented -- Lindberg, Messiaen, Berlioz - - are renegades, revolutionary thinkers in music,” Gilbert said in a statement.

By appointing Gilbert, 41, as music director, the U.S.’s oldest symphony orchestra aims to add some spark and youth to the podium as well as new music to its repertoire. The Harvard University graduate succeeds Lorin Maazel, 78, who will retire at the end of the orchestra’s current season.

A new-music festival called Contact will feature commissioned works from different artists, including French composer Marc-Andre Dalbavie, Chinese-born U.S. composer Lei Liang, contemporary composer Nico Muhly, and Arlene Sierra.

Asia Tour

Gilbert will take the orchestra to Vietnam for the first time in October to perform Lindberg’s opening-night work at the Hanoi Opera House. The Asia tour, which begins in Tokyo, will also include the symphony’s debut in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Hampson will perform as a soloist in three concert programs and will participate in master classes as artist-in-residence, which is a one-year appointment.

Lindberg, 50, will serve as the orchestra’s seventh composer-in-residence, a two-year-stint. He rose to prominence in the 1980s with his large-scale work, “Action-Situation- Signification” (1982).

The orchestra, based at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, also will start an annual three-week festival featuring a prominent guest conductor. From April 21 to May 8, 2010, Valery Gergiev will headline the first festival, “The Russian Stravinsky,” which explores the Russian composer’s roots through his chamber and orchestral works.

To contact the writer on this story: Patrick Cole in New York at pcole3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 12, 2009 00:01 EST