Pianist Conrad Tao wowed and delighted Celebrity Series audiences earlier this year in the joyfully exhilarating Counterpoint, alongside tap dancer Caleb Teicher.

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Conrad Tao, piano

New England Conservatory of Music

Conrad Tao is a pianist and composer celebrated for his boundary-defying artistry as well as his powerful performances of traditional repertoire. Described by New York Magazine as “the kind of musician who is shaping the future of classical music,” and praised by The New York Times for his “probing intellect and open-hearted vision,” Tao appears regularly as a soloist with leading orchestras and at major venues across the world.

560 Music Center

A rare opportunity awaits to experience French composer Gérard Grisey's stunningly dark and disorienting Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil, presented by the London Sinfonietta. This masterpiece offers a journey through intricate collisions of fragmented melody and harmony.  

Quatre chants pour franchir le seuil, which roughly translates to Four Songs for Crossing the Threshold, explores the boundary between life and death – a significance that is elevated by Grisey's passing soon after its completion, preventing his attendance at the world premiere of the piece by the London Sinfonietta and George Benjamin in 1999. 

Grisey: Quatre Chants

Southbank Centre

In September, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt) returns to the Berlin Music Festival after a long hiatus. The program includes Rebecca Saunders' Piano Concerto "to an utterance," Gustav Mahler's posthumously composed Adagio from his 10th Symphony, and Helmut Lachenmann's "My Melodies – Music for Eight Horns and Orchestra." The pianist Tamara Stefanovich and the entire horn section of the hr-Sinfonieorchester will perform as soloists at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Berlin Music Festival

Berliner Philharmonie

Matthias Hermann

Munich Residence

The Symposion project takes up the theme of intoxication culture, going back to antiquity. The ancient social practice (cf. Plato’s Symposion) inspired an evening with music of our time, perceived in the slowly changing conditions of collective, relaxed inebriation...

Agrigento 2025 – La Cultura Dell’ Ascolto – Symposion

Teatro dell'Efebo, Agrigento

Kidane is paired with Berlin-based British composer Rebecca Saunders in a programme that includes Winged for electric guitar and string quartet and Pulsing, based on a poem by Zodwa Nyoni.

Daniel Kidane composer; Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Gabriella Teychenné conductor; Elgan Llŷr Thomas tenor; Pétur Jónasson guitar

Wigmore Hall

### Event Description: Daniel Kidane Day at Wigmore Hall

**Event:** Daniel Kidane Day  
**Date:** Saturday, 30 November 2024  
**Time:** 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM  
**Location:** Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP

**Description:**
Join the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) for an afternoon concert at Wigmore Hall's Daniel Kidane Focus Day. Experience the music of Daniel Kidane, praised by the Financial Times as "quietly impressive" and by The Times as "tautly constructed" and "vibrantly imagined," in one of the world’s great concert halls.

**Programme Highlights:**
- **Cradle Song (2023)**: A setting of the poem by William Blake for tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas and ensemble, commissioned through BCMG's Sound Investment Scheme.
- **Winged (2019)**: Performed by electric guitarist Pétur Jónasson and string quartet.
- **Pulsing (2016)**: Based on a poem by Zodwa Nyoni.
- **Primitive Blaze (2022)**: Another captivating piece by Daniel Kidane.
- **a visible trace (2006)**: By Berlin-based British composer Rebecca Saunders.

**Performers:**
- **Conductor:** Gabriella Teychenné
- **Tenor:** Elgan Llŷr Thomas
- **Guitar:** Pétur Jónasson
- **Ensemble:** Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

**Ticket Information:**
- **Prices:** £18 (Standard), £16 (Concessions)
- **Booking:** Tickets can be purchased on the Wigmore Hall website.
- **Priority Booking:** Opens at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, 17 April for Friends of Wigmore Hall.
- **General Sale:** Opens at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, 30 April.

**Additional Information:**
Daniel Kidane, who received an honorary doctorate from Coventry University in 2022, is a visiting tutor in composition at both the Royal Northern College of Music and Cambridge University. His works have been widely performed, including at the Last Night of the 2019 Proms. Recent highlights include the world premiere of "Sun Poem," performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, receiving 5-star reviews.

**Add to Calendar:** Ensure you don't miss this unique musical experience by adding the event to your calendar.

For more details and to book your tickets, visit the [Wigmore Hall website](#).

Daniel Kidane Day

Join BCMG for our afternoon concert at Wigmore Hall's Daniel Kidane Focus Day. Hear Daniel's music, described by the Financial Times as ‘quietly impressive’ and by The Times as ‘tautly constructed’ and ’vibrantly imagined’ in one of the world’s great concert halls.

The programme includes Cradle Song for tenor (Elgan Llŷr Thomas) and ensemble, a setting of the poem by William Blake, commissioned through BCMG's Sound Investment Scheme and premiered in 2023. In this concert, Kidane is paired with Berlin-based British composer Rebecca Saunders in a programme that includes Daniel's Winged for electric guitar (Pétur Jónasson) and string quartet, and Pulsing based on a poem by Zodwa Nyoni.

### Event Description: Secret Kiss Birmingham

**Event Title:** Secret Kiss Birmingham

**Date and Time:** Wednesday, 27 November 2024, 7:30 PM (Pre-concert talk at 6:30 PM)

**Venue:** CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham, B1 2LF

**Ticket Prices:**
- General: £15.00
- Student: £7.50
- Under 12s: FREE with a paying adult

**Event Overview:**
Join the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) for an ethereal performance at the CBSO Centre. The concert, titled "Secret Kiss," explores the theme of intimate communication through music, featuring sensitive stories of connection and self-awareness.

**Program Highlights:**
- **Rebecca Saunders:** *Stirrings* (2001, 16')
- **Julian Anderson:** *Mitternachtslied* (2020, 2023, 6')
- **Peter Eötvös:** *Secret Kiss* (2018/9, 15') - BCMG SI Commission (World première of the English language version)
- **Lisa Illean:** *Cantor* (2017, 9')
- **Harrison Birtwistle:** *The Woman and the Hare* (1999, 15')
- **Harrison Birtwistle:** *.when falling asleep* (2022, 7')

**Featured Artists:**
- **Alice Rossi:** Soprano
- **Meg Kubota:** Reciter
- **Geoffrey Paterson:** Conductor

**About the Main Piece:**
"Secret Kiss" is one of Peter Eötvös' final ensemble works, inspired by Alessandro Baricco's novel *Silk*. The piece transports the audience back to the 19th century, where a young Frenchman travels to Japan to learn about silk production. During his visit, he encounters a young girl, and a tender yet binding connection emerges from a single glance.

**Additional Information:**
- **Co-Commissioners:** Gageego Ensemble Gothenburg, Casa da Música Porto, Plural Ensemble Madrid, Okamura & Company, Inc., Musikfabrik Cologne, MÜPA Budapest, Wigmore Hall, and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group as part of BCMG’s Sound Investment Scheme.
- **Composer Background:** Peter Eötvös (1944 - 2024) was a highly influential figure in the contemporary music scene, known for his operas, instrumental solo concertos, and chamber music pieces.

**Booking Information:**
Tickets are available for purchase online. For more details and to book your place, visit the BCMG website.

**Contact:**
For further inquiries, contact BCMG at 0121 616 2616.

**Add to Calendar:**
Ensure you don't miss this captivating performance by adding the event to your calendar.

Join us for an evening of intimate and evocative music that promises to be a memorable experience.

Secret Kiss

One of the UK’s leading contemporary ensembles offers a new Wigmore Hall co-commission; the piece by Hungarian composer/conductor Peter Eötvös is a melodrama for narrator and five instruments setting a text adapted by Mari Mezei from Alessandro Baricco’s novel Silk. There’s also the first London performance of a short work by Birtwistle.

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group; Geoffrey Paterson conductor; Alice Rossi soprano; Meg Kubota reciter

Together with the VOICES Festival Berlin and director Philipp Grigorian, Klangforum Wien creates immersive listening experiences with contemporary music. The "Nachspiel" concert creates spaces for an intimate, intensive encounter between audience and artists. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the radical experience of New Music and to leave the distance between listener and performer behind.

VOICES Festival: Nachspiel

Kühlhaus, Berlin

Accordionist Manca Dornik makes her debut from RDAM's soloist programme


Debutkoncert Manca Dornik

Konservatoriets Koncertsal

Pianist Conrad Tao, “the kind of musician who is shaping the future of classical music” (New York Magazine), returns to Cal Performances after a memorable outing as composer and performer for Caleb Teicher’s tap dance creation More Forever during the 2021–22 season. Tao is admired for his risk-taking and for the rigorous attention he gives his programs, which often juxtapose new and old works. He says he was “thinking about fairy tales and poetry” in assembling the program for this recital, which intersperses Brahms’ Op. 118 Klavierstücke and David Fulmer’s I have loved a stream and a shadow… with works by Rebecca Saunders and Todd Moellenberg. Ravel’s fiercely challenging three-part Gaspard de la nuit takes Aloysius Bertrand’s book of fantastical poems as both title and inspiration.

University of California, Berkeley

Join BCMG NEXT for a performance to bring in the new year, featuring works by Benjamin Graves, Rebecca Saunders, Aileen Sweeney, Bethan Morgan Williams, and more. This concert is available to CBSO Sounds New ticket holders and takes place directly afterward, you may even recognise some faces who've worked with BCMG before!

Rebecca Saunders

Events

Past events

Mar 15, 2026

Conrad Tao, piano · Celebrity Series of Boston

Mar 1, 2026

Conrad Tao, piano · Washington University in St. Louis Department of Music

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