Composer

Beethoven wanted his Ninth Symphony—led here by James Gaffigan—to enact a journey of transformation, exploring themes of struggle and salvation, community and compassion. Although he wasn’t religious in the conventional sense, he found spiritual sustenance in his art. Even in our hyperpolarized times, Beethoven’s Ninth feels like a unifying force across the globe, a cultural common good. For its creator, who drafted, revised, and perfected his final symphony over more than 30 years, its meaning was urgent, immediate, vital: In those decades he saw the humanist ideals of the French Revolution trampled by repressive regimes.

EPSG:4326

Gaffigan Conducts Beethoven 9

Davies Symphony Hall

Our 2025/2026 season culminates with the ultimate symphony — Beethoven’s Ninth, featuring an all-star cast of soloists chosen by Music Director Xian Zhang and joined by the massed forces of the Seattle Symphony Chorale. Revolutionary, epic and at 200 years old, still as driven as Beethoven’s own sense of our shared destiny, he crowned this summit of his music with the stunning addition of voices in a song for humanity, hope and joy. Xian pairs it with Artist in Focus Steven Mackey’s RIOT, for chorus, vocalist and the composer himself on electric guitar. This inspiring music places race and resilience in the foreground with a setting of words by Tracy K. Smith — culminating in positive affirmation and a celebration of perseverance, commitment and community.

Xian Conducts Beethoven 9

Benaroya Hall

Beethoven - Symphonies No. 1, No. 4 and No. 7

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre

Few orchestras can currently boast in their dramaturgy an opera premiere by the great Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů. The previously unplayed and unpublished version of the opera Mariken von Nimègue will be a gift for all of us lovers not only of his music. Chief conductor Tomáš Netopil will take over the performance.

Beethoven – Pastoral Symphony

Municipal House

Join London Concert Choir for an evening of drama and entertainment, with thoughtfully chosen selections from four operas, spanning creative periods from the Baroque to the late Romantic. Here is a chance to enjoy this great storytelling art form in miniature, featuring specially devised suites of orchestral movements, arias and choruses from Handel’s Semele, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

A Night at the Opera

Cadogan Hall 

The Times once enthusiastically described Håkan Hardenberger as "the best trumpeter in the galaxy" after a concert. Whether it's a classic concerto by Johann Nepomuk Hummel or new works by composers like Mark-Anthony Turnage, the Swede breathes life into the music with his trumpet, this time accompanied by the renowned Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Harding.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra / Håkan Hardenberger / Daniel Harding

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Archduke Rudolph of Austria was the pianist for the premiere of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto—and he also happened to be one of the composer’s most important patrons. To make him shine, Beethoven brought in two of the best players of the day. We’ve got our own trio of all-stars on tap for this program, which includes Schumann’s reflection of life in the Rhineland.

Beethoven Triple Concerto

Orchestra Room

The final concert requires an adequate program that will bring the season to its climax. Such a program shall feature works by the most influential composers in history who are of fundamental importance for our orchestra. We have listened to the music by Ludwig van Beethoven several times during the season, and at the last evening the time has come for his works for piano.

Beethoven. Brahms

Rudolfinum

Thomas Adès’ Alchymia has been hailed as ‘simply one of the best chamber music compositions of our time’ (Guardian). Inspired by the music of Shakespearean England, but with a voice all of its own, this major work for string quartet and basset clarinet was premiered in 2021 and has become an instant classic. Musica Viva Australia is excited to present the London-based Doric String Quartet performing this ‘magical and arresting’ (The Times) work with the ‘brilliance, charisma and sensitivity’ (The Mercury) of Australian clarinettist Lloyd Van’t Hoff.

Musica Viva Australia presents Doric String Quartet & Lloyd Van’t Hoff

Queensland Conservatorium

Marie Jacquot is one of the leading conductors of her generation. According to one critic, her interpretations are »more inventive than innovation-driven, they float, they arise autonomously, without the gesture of emancipating oneself from anything.« In Dresde1, the French maestra will present two key works: Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, a piece of luminous clarity with a symphonic breadth and formal balance, complemented by Béla Bartók’s »Concerto for Orchestra«, which the composer wrote in 1943 while living as an émigré in America. This is a work of irrepressible energy and subtle irony, combining counterpoint, Hungarian folklore and late Romantic opulence.

Symphony Concert N° 11

Semperoper Dresden

Season Finale

La Jolla Woman's Club

Following the conclusion of our 25/26 subscription season, join us for “A Community Gift and Dream — for the Love of Music” June 13-14, 2026.

A Community Gift and Dream — for the Love of Music

Overture Center for the Arts

Four remarkable artists with a passion for chamber music have come together to form an exciting new piano-and-strings quartet, destined to become an audience favorite.  For decades, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson, together with their piano trio partner the late Joseph Kalichstein, were hailed as “chamber music royalty” (Washington Post), a distinction that equally applies to their ESPRESSIVO! partners—the stellar violist Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt, a founding member of the Dover Quartet, and the award-winning pianist Anna Polonsky, one of chamber music’s most sought-after collaborators.  Their program includes favorites by Beethoven and Schumann and a reprise of Richard Danielpour’s Book of Hours, co-commissioned by the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle and premiered on our series at Olin Auditorium in 2007.

Espressivo!

Fisher Center at Bard

Westphalian Music Festival Hamm

Gut Kump, Hamm

Kurhaus, Hamm

“My chief aim was to awaken and permanently instill spiritual feelings not only in the singers but in the listeners,” said Beethoven of his immense and moving Missa solemnis (“Solemn Mass”). Observing the structure of a traditional Catholic mass, Missa solemnis is a vibrant paean to faith but also to humanity. This concert concludes Music Director Ken-David Masur’s final season as well as the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus’ 50th anniversary celebration. As Beethoven penned at the top of his score: “From the heart: may it go to the heart.”

Masur Conducts Missa Solemnis

Warner Grand Theater

Guest performance Viersen

Festhalle Viersen City

The Budapest Festival Orchestra will conclude its guest tour in Bad Kissingen with a vibrant and colorful program. The concert will open with a choral work by Fanny Mendelssohn, a talented member of the Mendelssohn family who remained unrecognized, as orchestra members are keen a cappella singers and committed to the oeuvre of rarely performed composers. After the orchestra musicians, Gramophone Award-winning Julia Fischer’s violin from 1742 will take center stage. The soloist for Beethoven’s lone, grand violin concerto is not only a violinist: she is also a pianist, a quartet player, an instructor and the founder of a youth orchestra. As a reviewer wrote, “She has a pure tone, impeccable intonation, and immaculate technique, but she also has a warm heart and a radiant soul”. The concert will be concluded by the serene symphony of Johannes Brahms, written when he had finally stepped out from Beethoven’s shadow.

Tour: Mendelssohn Hensel, Beethoven, Brahms

Regentenbau

With its unforgettable Ode to Joy, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is always a special occasion – a glorious way to end any concert season. Tonight, Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Hahn makes it the climax of a very special (and distinctly Scottish) celebration; starting with Mendelssohn’s Hebridean journey and pausing for a song or three with Sir James MacMillan and Scottish star, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill. As Beethoven himself put it: here’s a kiss for all the world! 

Season Finale: Ode to Joy

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

With its unforgettable Ode to Joy, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is always a special occasion – a glorious way to end any concert season. Tonight, Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Hahn makes it the climax of a very special (and distinctly Scottish) celebration; starting with Mendelssohn’s Hebridean journey and pausing for a song or three with Sir James MacMillan and Scottish star, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill. As Beethoven himself put it: here’s a kiss for all the world!

Ode to Joy

Usher Hall

Few works begin as majestically as Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto. Pianist Alexander Melnikov is able to unleash his highly emotional virtuosity right from the start. The most beautiful melodies and subtle nuances follow on the path to the thrilling finale. Felix Mendelssohn's overture "Ruy Blas" was also once described as "brilliantly chivalrous," opening the program with solemn wind sounds and stormy vehemence. The evening then embarks on a grand journey with Mendelssohn's atmospheric "Scottish Symphony." The evening will be conducted by the celebrated Maxim Emelyanychev.

Spirit of Romanticism - Beethoven & Mendelssohn

Museum Ludwig

Myung-Whun Chung / Beethoven / Brahms

Teatro alla Scala

Freude! Music Director Gustavo Gimeno brings the season to its close with Beethoven’s triumphant Ninth Symphony. Joined by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and a stellar cast of soloists, this Masterworks finale delivers the ultimate “Ode to Joy,” bringing us all together in jubilant celebration.

Beethoven’s Ninth

David Pecaut Square

"Orpheus' Comet" by the Bulgarian-English composer Dobrinka Tabakova is a homage to Monteverdi's opera "L'Orfeo" and the Orpheus myth in general. At first, a buzzing swarm of bees appears to be circling the orchestra—an allusion to the beekeeper Aristaeus, who (according to the myth) was responsible for the death of Orpheus's lover, Eurydice. Gradually, solemn melodies emerge, and at the end, the (slightly altered) opening hymn from "L'Orfeo" resounds, pompous as a stadium fanfare.

Beaming with joy

Bochumer Symphoniker

Qixuan Fan, piano

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Beethoven's magnificent Septet was for a long time the composer's undisputed most popular work. Here, he reveals himself not as the titan he was stylized as in the 19th century, but as approachable, cheerful, and filled with an unbridled joy of making music. A feast of a completely different kind is the arrangement of Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel : a sparkling piece of musical humor.

4. Chamber Concert: Favorite Pieces

Kokerei Hansa

When Beethoven wrote his Fifth and final piano concerto in 1809, Vienna was besieged by Napoleon's troops. The sounds of war and economic uncertainty – his patron Archduke Rudolf had left the city – influenced the creation of the work. Beethoven composed a piano concerto with an exceptionally new form for the time, in which the soloist alternates between heroic and peaceful moments. Despite the difficult circumstances, the work does not reflect fatalism, but rather a solemn struggle for freedom and against oppression. Gustav Mahler's First Symphony also reflects intense personal experiences. His unhappy love for the singer Johanna Richter inspired him to create the "Songs of a Wayfarer," from which he incorporated motifs into the first and third movements of the symphony. In an emotional state of exception, Mahler completed the symphony in just six weeks. The premiere in Budapest in 1889 was met with incomprehension, prompting Mahler to revise the work multiple times. Today, it is among his most frequently performed symphonies.

Sir Donald with Mahler

Palace of Culture

Beethoven, Mendelssohn & Schubert

Accademia Bartolomeo Cristofori

The last concerts this season welcome back our dear friend Sebastian Weigle, long-standing chief conductor and artistic manager of the Museumsconcerts, conducting the Frankfurt Opern and Museumsorchesters for the first time as a guest.

10th Sunday & Monday Symphonic Concerts

Alte Oper

The last concert of the season brings us a reunion with an old friend. Sebastian Weigle, long-standing principal conductor and artistic director of the Museumskonzerte, returns to the podium of the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra for the first time since his retirement.

Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra

Gregory Hughes, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, leads a bold and invigorating program that pairs two revolutionary symphonies. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9, full of wit, irony, and unexpected charm, opens the evening with a satirical twist on traditional symphonic form. In contrast, Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” closes the program—an enduring masterpiece that forever changed the course of classical music with its heroic scale, emotional depth, and sheer power.

Hughes Conducts Beethoven

Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture

Erin Yu, piano

The genius on his shoulders

Tobacco Quarter Hall 1

What is good orchestral playing other than great chamber music? We are proud that the Philharmonic State Orchestra's chamber music series has been a fixture in our concert calendar for years, managed and brought to life each year anew by the passion of our musicians. Today, it is an integral and indispensable part of Mainz's musical life! With great attention to programming and musical detail , a wide variety of ensembles come together to perform for you.

Sunday matinee in June

Staatstheater Mainz

Sarah Heimberg, trumpet

At our guest performance at the VR Bank Bamberg-Forchheim OPEN AIR at Jägersburg Castle, we will present several highly musical works under the direction of Dinis Sousa and accompanied by violinist Tianwa Yang. The program begins with the sparkling overture to Le nozze di Figaro : an epitome of Mozart's temperament, whose rapid precision and dazzling wit immediately transport the listener into the vibrant world of his opera. 

VR Bank Bamberg-Forchheim OPEN AIR

Jägersburg Castle, Forchheim

Experience our end-of-season Concertino event up close in an informal setting. At the general rehearsal, our supporters can gain an insight into the preparation process.

Meeting point in the foyer of the Liszt Academy between 9:30 and 9:50. Attendance at the general rehearsal is free of charge for members of our BFO Patrons club, but subject to prior registration. Registration is available on the website after logging in.

Concertino: C.P.E. Bach, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Shostakovich, Beethoven

Liszt Academy

With a broad repertoire and enormous musical energy, the Austrian Manfred Honeck has distinguished himself among the world's leading conductors. When he now returns to DR Koncerthuset, it is with both Viennese classical elegance and high romantic intensity – two of his specialties.

Honeck & Liszt

DR Koncerthuset

Luke Wejman, cello

It has been called the symphony of symphonies – Beethoven’s Fifth. Perhaps the most frequently performed work in the classical repertoire. This is music that defies indifference, seemingly telling a story of a journey from darkness to light, of a struggle that leads to triumph. More than any other work, the “Fifth” embodies the Beethoven myth: the solitary figure confronting fate, fighting, and ultimately claiming his freedom. The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra is led by young Finnish conductor Kristian Sallinen, who has been described as an exceptional talent.

Beethoven’s Fifth

Stockholm City Hall

Two exceptional musicians come together here: Delyana Lazarova, a violinist and a true rising star as a conductor, and Marc-André Hamelin, a world-class pianist who feels a close connection to the Bremen Philharmonic. This is a perfect combination for Beethoven's groundbreaking Fourth Piano Concerto. Soloist and orchestra are more closely interwoven here than ever before. Beethoven proves himself once again to be a bold innovator, ahead of his time – and still relevant today. Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra also turns some conventions on their head: Here, the entire orchestra is the soloist. A challenge? Certainly. But the Bremen Philharmonic are ready for it, each and every one of them. Bartók cedes the stage to them – in a work that takes virtuosity and inventiveness to the extreme.

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 | Marc-André Hamelin

The Bell, Bremen

The last chamber music concert opens with a unique work by a Latvian composer who is one of the best-known musicians in the Baltic States. Peteris Vasks’s Quartet for Violin, Viola, Cello and Piano is an original composition that requires precision and proper interaction between the individual performers. The second part of the concert will bring Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet in E flat major, Op. 20, performed by soloists from the Prague Philharmonia, including its former member, the double bassist Adam Honzírek.

Vasks. Beethoven

The Professed House, Prague

The Hamburg State Orchestra's Philharmonic Concerts become ZeitSpiele and transcend the boundaries of the ordinary: In this concert, Daniela Terranova's orchestration of Bach's music on the one hand and her compositional dialog with Beethoven on the other will be heard - for the third movement of his 6th Symphony will be replaced by a new composition from her pen, inspired by the original.

9th Philharmonic Concert BEETHOVEN / TERRANOVA

Elbphilharmonie

The Hamburg State Orchestra's Philharmonic Concerts become time-plays, transcending the boundaries of the ordinary: This concert features Daniela Terranova's orchestration of Bach's music and her compositional dialogue with Beethoven – the third movement of his Sixth Symphony is replaced by a new composition by her, inspired by the original. Beethoven confronts us today as a mirror of the past and, through Terranova, as a part of the here and now. This unabashed musical interplay opens new perspectives on our musical culture, our thinking and being, and our way of receiving music.

Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Jean-Christophe Spinosi

This concert series is a must for connoisseurs and enthusiasts: chamber music at its finest – subtle, intimate, and full of discoveries. Alongside the great masters of Viennese Classicism, the Handel Festival Orchestra, with its historically informed sound, will also be featured.

6. Classical Music in the Afternoon

Konzerthalle Ulrichskirche

Michael Mariotti

San Carlo Theatre

Seven prisoners escape from a concentration camp during the Nazi era; only one survives and gropes his way to freedom on a dangerous path. Hans Werner Henze used the material from Anna Seghers's seminal novel as the basis for his Ninth Symphony, which, according to the composer, is "an expression of the greatest reverence for the people who resisted during the period of Nazi-fascist terror and who gave their lives for freedom of thought."

Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra / Berlin Radio Choir / Vladimir Jurowski

Season Finale Dreaming Big

University of Nevada

Hannah Zhang, piano

Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music, Florence

Contemporary composers often struggle to become known to a wider audience. This is different for Jörg Widmann. Not only is he a celebrated clarinetist, but also perhaps the most performed living German composer. His "Con brio" is a captivating concert overture that captivates from the first second. With incredible dynamics and precise rhythm, Widmann unleashes a musical fireworks display. The virtuosity of the orchestra is also put to the test. On the other hand, Carl Maria von Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor is a masterpiece of Romanticism. The soloist becomes a storyteller here: especially the lyrically beautiful Adagio touches the soul... Weber's music impressively shows why the clarinet is one of the most expressive instruments. Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony with its "Fate motif" - that compelling ta-ta-ta-taaa - is known to everyone, and yet it impresses anew every time. From the dark beginnings to the triumphant finale, Beethoven tells of struggle, hope, and victory. This symphony is a milestone in music history and an overwhelming final chord for this special concert evening.

Beethoven 5

Celebrate the season finale with one of classical music’s most powerful masterpieces—Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Under the direction of Principal Conductor Ari Pelto, and featuring the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera Chorus, this monumental work embodies the triumph of the human spirit. With its iconic “Ode to Joy,” Beethoven’s Ninth promises an uplifting and unforgettable two performance conclusion to the season.

Beethoven Symphony No. 9

Safe Credit Union Performing Arts Center

Connor Sung, piano

Season ticket S10 - Javier Perianes

Opera House, A Coruña

Saifei Wang, piano

Violinist Liza Ferschtman (‘00), known for her “laserlike intensity, purity, and refined beauty of playing” (New York Times), and pianist Benjamin Hochman (‘01), celebrated for his “elegant, polished, and heartfelt” playing (Boston Globe), lead a piano quintet ensemble with emerging artists Leah Amory, Davin Mar, and Carson Ling-Efird from Curtis Institute of Music. The program will begin with Bohuslav Martinů’s exuberant Three Madrigals and Beethoven’s “Ghost” piano trio, and close with Brahms’ masterful Piano Quintet in F minor.

Curtis on Tour in Vilagarcía de Arousa, Spain

Municipal Auditorium Vilagarcía de Arousa

V20 Season Ticket - Javier Perianes

Claire Metcalf, violin

Laura Tillack, violin

Join alumni and friends for an unforgettable evening at Carnegie Hall, featuring Peabody faculty member and Carnegie Hall Perspectives artist Marin Alsop leading The Philadelphia Orchestra in this major highlight of the United in Sound: America at 250 festival. Maestro Alsop will be joined by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. The program includes the premiere of Wynton Marsalis’s Symphony No. 5, “Liberty,” as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Your ticket includes a pre-concert reception with food and drink at Quality Italian Restaurant (57 W. 57th Street) from 5 to 7 p.m. before the show at 8 p.m.

Peabody in New York City: Marin Alsop and Wynton Marsalis at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Composer, trumpeter, and standard-bearer for the art form, jazz legend Wynton Marsalis has earned scores of awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 1983, he became the first and only artist ever to win both a Classical and Jazz Grammy in the same year; in 1984 he did it again. Joined by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra performs Marsalis’s newest work on a program with Beethoven’s lively, melodic Seventh Symphony.

Beethoven and Marsalis

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Beethoven & Bruckner

"The Fifth is a cursed work. Nobody understands it," complained Gustav Mahler. That was in 1905, and the symphony, premiered in 1904, had just met with little enthusiasm in Hamburg. Mahler, in general, was celebrated during his lifetime primarily as a conductor; as a composer, his global musical visions overwhelmed the audiences of his time. Mahler's symphonies have long since been appreciated – especially his magnificent Fifth, which remains his most popular today. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin's program features this masterpiece alongside another visionary work: Ludwig van Beethoven's symphonic Third Piano Concerto. Under the direction of its chief conductor Joana Mallwitz and with Alice Sara Ott on the piano, the orchestra invites you to a summit meeting of visionaries.

Konzerthausorchester Berlin / Alice Sara Ott / Joana Mallwitz

Curtis on Tour in Vienna, Austria

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

Isaiah Adams, piano

Classic with wings

Jonathan Yi, cello

A conductorless chamber orchestra led from the first chair by Minnesota Orchestra concertmaster and Curtis violin faculty Erin Keefe. The program includes Mozart’s masterful Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra performed by Erin Keefe and Curtis President and renowned violist Roberto Díaz, as well as beloved works by Barber and Beethoven.

Curtis Chamber Orchestra in Prescott, AZ

Yavapai College

Beethoven on Bebelplatz – this is what the Staatskapelle Berlin and its General Music Director Christian Thielemann offer the audience at "State Opera for All," open-air and free of charge for all interested parties. The diverse, vividly sculpted natural images of Symphony No. 6, the Pastorale , can be experienced, as can the drama and powerful surges of the Egmont Overture, inspired by Goethe's heroic tragedy. These are two of Beethoven's most distinguished orchestral works, performed by the Staatskapelle Berlin, which can look back on a long-standing Beethoven tradition.

State Opera for all - Open-Air Concert

Unter den Linden & Bebelplatz

Curtis Chamber Orchestra in Phoenix, AZ

Musical Instrument Museum

Curtis on Tour in Stockholm, Sweden

The Royal Chapel, Stockholm

In this program, our orchestral toy shop is a whirlwind of activity: Under the direction of Kazuki Yamada, we joyfully immerse ourselves in the colorful and magical realm of childhood fantasy – with a work by Debussy, inspired in 1913 by the illustrator André Hellé. He once remarked: "Toy boxes are actually cities where toys live like real people." And he added ironically: "Or perhaps cities are nothing but toy boxes where people live like toys." For the delightful composition "La boîte à joujoux," we pull a pretty doll, a tin soldier, and a quarrelsome jumping jack from the musical box and bring this wonderful bedtime story to life on stage. The poetic world of children was also a fertile source of inspiration for Bizet: in 1871, with his piano cycle "Jeux d'enfants," he created a charming collection of short, concise genre pieces – and thanks to his skillful orchestration, we will set a whirring top in motion on the stage in the small suite. 

Kazuki Yamada, Leif Ove Andsnes

Bamberger Symphoniker

Pianist Mari Kodama is internationally acclaimed for her virtuosity across a wide range of repertoire. With her natural musicality and unerring sense of form, sound, and expression, she has become one of the most important Beethoven interpreters of our time. Following her wonderful Konzerthaus performances in 2024 and 2025, she now continues her spectacular sonata cycle, bringing Beethoven into dialogue with piano music by the renowned contemporary composer Rodolphe Bruneau-Boulmier.

Piano recital Mari Kodama

Blaibach Concert Hall

Amy Bao, piano

Experience the coming together of Eastern and Western traditions as Anoushka Shankar makes her TSO début, performing her father Ravi Shankar’s captivating Sitar Concerto No. 2. The program also features Beethoven’s lively and playful Symphony No. 8, along with a selection from Passages, the groundbreaking collaboration between Philip Glass and Ravi Shankar, blending the vibrancy of Western and Indian classical music.

Shankar’s Sitar

Sean Jang, violin

Violinist Jennifer Koh delivers intense, commanding performances with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. Artistic Director of Fortas Chamber Music Concerts and a Grammy Award®–winning artist, Koh is also “a prodigious builder of bridges” (LA Times). She brings a powerful program exploring Beethoven’s impact on diverse composers by pairing his works with new commissions. Koh is joined by pianist Thomas Sauer, a highly sought-after soloist and chamber musician praised for his clarity, expressivity, and assured stylistic sense.

Bridge to Beethoven

Kennedy Center

Quartetto Noûs

Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto is a masterpiece in piano music writing, a deeply intimate work that remains one of the composer’s best loved. Tonight, we hear it in the hands of Alim Beisembayev, winner of the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in 2021.  

Brahms’s magnificent First Symphony was many years in the making. The wait was worth it – it’s a 45-minute journey through all the poetry and power an orchestra can conjure.  

Bedford: Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms

Bedford Corn Exchange

The theme of the 2025/26 Orchestra Unwrapped concerts is centered around the history of the Philharmonia Orchestra, which was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge and celebrates its 80th birthday in 2025. Legge worked for a company called EMI, who was responsible for making recordings of classical music. 

The pieces you’ll hear take us on a journey through time linking to the exciting history of the Philharmonia, from 1945 to today – a history you are all part of by being part of Orchestra Unwrapped in its 80th year!

Bedford: Orchestra Unwrapped

The Fibonacci Quartet is one of Europe’s leading young string quartets. Formed at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the quartet teaches as Quartet in Residence at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in their position as Nina Drucker Fellows. Winners at the 2024 Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) International auditions, they were also recently appointed as Grand Résident ensemble at ProQuartet in Paris for seasons 2025-2027.

Fibonacci Quartet

Corn Exchange Newbury

"The Titan"—this wasn't just a nickname for Mahler's First Symphony, which the composer later dropped, but also an unofficial title given by younger generations to their composer idol, Beethoven. The sunny character of his Second Symphony belies the fact that Beethoven was already struggling with hearing loss when he composed it. Mahler's First Symphony broke the established boundaries of the genre in its time. For this, a conductor of superlatives comes to Wiesbaden: Jonathan Nott, at home on the world's great concert stages and a sought-after Mahler interpreter.

7th Symphony Concert: The Titan

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden

‘The virtuosic Fidelio Trio’ (Sunday Times) lead an acclaimed and diverse international performing and recording career. Here they bring together two of the most loved piano trios with a new work by Anna Clyne.

Fidelio Trio

Church of the Ascension

The progressive 20th-century Polish Composer Witold Lutosławski was admired for his avant-garde works but he was also capable of creating immediately appealing music. His Little Suite of 1950, with its infectious energy and folk-inspired themes, has since become a popular concert opener. A century earlier, Lutosławski’s compatriot Chopin was considered a radical in his own Romantic fashion and his youthful Second Piano Concerto is an unashamed showpiece for the soloist who’s centre stage at all times to dazzle the audience with light-fingered lyricism. The effervescent Romanian pianist Alexandra Dariescu takes up the challenge.

Warsaw Philharmonic

Royal Concert Hall Nottingham

Curtis on Tour in Bremen, Germany 2026

Die Glocke

In the summer of 1826, Felix Mendelssohn, just 17 years old, wrote one of his most acclaimed works to date: the overture to Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream . The atmospheric opening wind chords transport us directly to the spiritual realm of Romanticism. The whirring of the strings, a highly virtuosic performance, conjures up images of elves and other luminous folk dancing before our inner eyes. It is almost a miracle that the young Mendelssohn was able to create such a work of art, so influential on the era, so early in his career.

Composer

Ludwig van Beethoven

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 29, 2025 - Dec 31, 2026

New Year's Eve concert · Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock

Mar 8 - Jul 18, 2026

Fidelio · Bayerische Staatsoper

Mar 28 - Jul 14, 2026

Common Ground · Bayerische Staatsoper

13 - 24 Jun, 2026

Westphalian Music Festival Hamm · Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie

18 - 21 Jun, 2026

Xian Conducts Beethoven 9 · Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra

Past events

18 - 21 Jun, 2026

Gaffigan Conducts Beethoven 9 · San Francisco Symphony

18 - 21 Jun, 2026

Xian Conducts Beethoven 9 · Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra

About

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