Composer

One of the most distinctive artists and polymaths of his generation, Sir Stephen Hough combines a distinguished career as a pianist with those of a composer and writer. The first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, Hough is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance from Northwestern University, the Royal Philharmonic Instrumentalist Award, and first prize at the Naumburg Competition. In 2014, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Hough has performed with most of the major European, Asian, and American orchestras and regularly plays recitals in major halls, concert series, and festivals around the world. His catalogue of over sixty albums has garnered prizes such as the Diapason d’Or de l’Année, Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, several Grammy nominations, and eight Gramophone awards, including the “Gold Disc” Award, which named his complete Saint-Saëns Piano Concertos as the best recording of the past thirty years. As a composer, Hough has written commissions for institutions such as the Cliburn, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Wigmore Hall. Hough holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at Manchester’s Royal Northern College and is a faculty member at the Juilliard School.

EPSG:4326

Stephen Hough, piano

Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall

Described by Strad Magazine as being, “vigorous, extrovert and emphatic players with a vitality all their own,” the Nisaika Quartet’s origins go back to the 1980s at the Curtis Institute of Music. Four chamber-music-hungry friends and classmates, coached by Karen Tuttle and Felix Galimir, went on to win Deuxième Prix at the 8e Concours International de Quatuors à Cordes, a moment described as one of the greatest adventures of their musical lives. After finishing their undergraduate studies, this group of tenacious young musicians went their separate ways to pursue graduate and job opportunities, but always found themselves connected through the years. Now, after more than four decades and four illustrious careers as performers and pedagogues, the Nisaika Quartet reunites for a very special performance, featuring works by Webern, Beethoven, Puccini and Brahms.

Masterful Strings: Nisaika 2.0- String Quartet Reunion with Friends

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

One of the most exciting piano trios on the international stage, the Merz Trio brings their creative approach to chamber music with a dynamic program. The concert begins with Beethoven’s Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 1, followed by a set of short works curated by the ensemble. The concert concludes with Dvořák’s passionate Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65.

Merz Trio

University of Louisville

Experience Disney’s groundbreaking marriage of symphonic music and animation, Fantasia.  With the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, The Nutcracker Suite, and more.  The musical score will be performed live by Orchestra Lumos while Disney’s stunning movie is shown on the big screen!

Fantasia in Concert

The Palace Theatre

Almost exactly 100 years separate the two works in this program—and yet they have one thing in common: Both trios enjoyed enormous popularity immediately after their publication. Beethoven's Opus 38 was originally a septet—and in this form, it was one of his most frequently performed works. This is probably one of the reasons why he later reworked it into a piano trio, whose violin part could also be played by a clarinet. Alexander von Zemlinsky, however, had a different "role model" for his clarinet trio: his idol, Johannes Brahms. Brahms politely thanked his colleague for the flowers and advocated for its publication with his publisher, Simrock.

Trio with clarinet

Theater Duisburg

It is not every day you get to hear a saxophone virtuoso reimagine seminal works composed for bassoon, cello, and voice on his deeply expressive instrument of choice. In his Cal Performances debut, Steven Banks, “the saxophone’s best friend, fiercest advocate, and primary virtuoso in the classical realm” (Washington Post) and the first saxophonist to win the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant, offers a whirlwind musical tour on the mighty baritone saxophone.

Steven Banks, baritone saxophone Xak Bjerken, piano

University of California, Berkeley

A note from the Maestro:  Everything old is new again: there’s a freshness to each work in our third Masterworks series concert and I invite you to listen as though you are hearing this music for the first time. Indeed, we will be treated to a world premiere by the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Composer Award winner Ellis Ludwig-Leone, a brand new composition written specifically for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. Witness the intimate collaborative atmosphere conjured by Mozart’s first flute concerto, as we welcome soloist Anthony Trionfo to our stage for his BSO debut. We end the afternoon with the magnificent storytelling drama evoked by Beethoven’s pen, delighting in the musical storyline of his Symphony No.6, also known as the “Pastorale.”

Ethereal Storytelling

University of Maine

The Icelandic sensation plays a deeply personal program centred around Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30. 

“Breathtakingly brilliant pianist” (Gramophone) Ólafsson has been called “Iceland’s Glenn Gould” by The New York Times, and was named Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards in 2019 and Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America in 2024. His remarkable originality has made an unforgettable impact. His album, Johann Sebastian Bach, on Deutsche Grammophon won Best Instrumental Album and Album of the Year at the 2019 BBC Music Magazine Awards. 

Víkingur Ólafsson, piano

The Royal Conservatory of Music

Internationally acclaimed Zimbabwean conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni is conductor-in-residence of Austria’s Klangforum Wien, artist-in-residence and conductor of the International Contemporary Ensemble, music director of the Composers Conference, and artistic advisor of the Boston Lyric Opera.

Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra

Northwestern University

Do Mozart's letters reveal anything about The Magic Flute ? What did contemporaries say about Emanuel Schikaneder and his troupe? In this program, with the unusual combination of bassoon and voice interacting with Mozart's own fortepiano, letters, documents and music offer some amusing insights into the last year of Mozart's life. Besides works by Mozart some rarely played compositions by his Viennese colleagues can also be heard.

Letters & Music (in English) 'What pleases me most of all is the silent applause!'

Mozart Residence

Start your weekend with our must-see Friday night concert series and social experience, Symphonic Piazza. Prepare to escape, mingle, and be entertained as you enjoy the perfect combination of a shorter format concert with enjoyable and engaging lobby activities to share with family, friends, and our musicians. It’s your new go-to date night! The fun continues in the lobby after the concert, as we’ll have even more memorable things for you to experience.

Beethoven and Beyond

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

One of today’s most acclaimed pianists, Yefim Bronfman brings poise and power to Beethoven’s revolutionary “Emperor” Concerto, which Music Director Franz Welser-Möst pairs with Mozart’s formidable “Jupiter” Symphony. Sharing heroic and evocative nicknames, Beethoven’s final piano concerto and Mozart’s final symphony have long represented the epitome of Classical composition. Sometimes composers really do save the best for last!

Miami — Bronfman Plays Beethoven

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County

One of today’s most acclaimed pianists, Yefim Bronfman brings poise and power to Beethoven’s revolutionary “Emperor” Concerto, which music director Franz Welser-Möst pairs with Mozart’s formidable “Jupiter” Symphony. Sharing heroic and evocative nicknames, Beethoven’s final piano concerto and Mozart’s final symphony have long represented the epitome of classical composition. Sometimes, composers really do save the best for last!

Bronfman Plays Beethoven

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

“A Grecian maiden” was how one 19th century critic described Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, but no words really do justice to the sparkling humour and pure, irrepressible life-force of this firecracker of a symphony. It’s a perfect counterpart to Detlev Glanert’s stunning new Harp Concerto – inspired by the harp’s ancient roots and glowing with the sunlight of Ancient Greece.

Oramo conducts Beethoven's Fourth Symphony

Barbican Centre

Following two triumphant Benaroya Hall appearances, internationally lauded British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason returns with two other members of his remarkable musical family: sister Isata on piano and brother Braimah on violin. Don’t miss these three sensational musicians’ rendition of Beethoven’s unique and vibrant Triple Concerto, the composer’s only concerto for multiple soloists. Kahchun Wong also returns to our stage, conducting British composer Malcolm Arnold’s emotional Peterloo Overture, which commemorated Manchester radicals who were killed while protesting for parliamentary reform in 1819. The evening finishes with Bartók’s cherished Concerto for Orchestra, an adventurous melding of folk themes and unorthodox tonality that highlights each section of the orchestra.

The Kanneh-Masons Play Beethoven Triple Concerto

Benaroya Hall

From its mysterious introduction to its buoyant finale, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto brings the listener on a stirring journey. Violinist María Dueñas (“nothing short of remarkable,” Gramophone) makes her NY Phil debut as the soloist in this apex of the violin repertoire. Conductor Manfred Honeck offers his own arrangement of music from Richard Strauss’s opera Elektra, one of that composer’s most intoxicating scores.

Elektra Suite & Beethoven’s Violin Concerto

David Geffen Hall

Over a misty landscape of storybook castles and deeply carved valleys, a solitary horn calls out at dawn. Bruckner’s Romantic Symphony begins its four-movement journey, encompassing birdsong, forest dances and hymns of thanksgiving. Chicago favorite Daniil Trifonov takes on Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto, a work that crackles with invention and ends with a rollicking, dance-like finale.

Salonen, Trifonov & Beethoven

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Passion, versatility, and uncompromising artistic standards are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's hallmarks. The orchestra returns to Krannert Center with its music director Vasily Petrenko for a rousing program highlighting the uncompromising excellence of the United Kingdom's most in-demand orchestra. The program's light-hearted opening, Berlioz's Overture to the comedic opera Beatrice and Benedict, contrasts the gravitas of the closing work, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, considered one of the greatest of all 20th-century symphonies. Vasily Petrenko brings a deep affinity for and love of Shostakovich's music to the podium; his insightful recordings of the composer's complete symphonic output have been lauded for their depth, integrity, musicality, and interpretive intelligence. The RPO welcomes Benjamin Grosvenor, "a genius who has reached the height of his interpretive powers" (Spectator), as soloist in Beethoven's playful Piano Concerto No. 1.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

The opening piece is an imaginative portrait in sound of melting Nordic ice. Shimmering and delicate textures give way to more urgent music, after which the piece 'rewinds', offering a glimmer of hope for the future.

BBC Symphony Orchestra

The Anvil

New York-based Harlem Quartet has been praised for its “panache” by The New York Times and hailed in the Cincinnati Enquirer for “bringing a new attitude to classical music, one that is fresh, bracing and intelligent.” Harlem Quartet advances diversity in classical music while engaging new audiences with varied repertoire that includes works by minority composers. Their mission to share their passion with a wider audience has taken them around the world, including a 2009 performance at The White House and a successful tour of South Africa.

Guest Artists: Resident Quartet: Harlem Quartet presents "Jazz Inspirations"

Arizona State University Tempe Campus

Chamber Music Evening N° 4

Semperoper Dresden

Chamber Orchestra of Europe Renaud Capuçon • Gautier Capuçon • Martha Argerich Beethoven • Dvořák

Vienna Music Society

A late monument by Beethoven, the imposing Missa solemnis is undoubtedly the score that cost the “great deaf man” the most effort: stubborn and passionate work, for a work that, beyond its liturgical significance, is a universal hymn of peace.

Ludwig van Beethoven / Missa solemnis

Philharmonie de Paris

Beethoven's Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra, Op. 56 is also known as the Triple Concert. Before embarking on a tour of the world's concert stages, it was first performed privately twice in the spring of 1804 for its patron – Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian Lobkowitz. Arranged for accordion, mandolin and piano, the performance will feature a trio of Israeli artists, with composer and conductor Omer Meir Wellber both conducting and playing the accordion. The mandolin will be played by Jakob Reuven and the piano by Guy Mintus, a composer and pianist also involved in jazz and an enthusiastic music teacher.

Beethoven and Dvořák's Eighth

Municipal House

Beethoven’s many works, right down to their individual movements, abound with a variety that is beyond belief. This all-Beethoven program highlights the abundant variety of his compositions pays tribute to his genius, beginning with early chamber works and culminating in the grandeur of his “Archduke” Trio. Though Beethoven’s performances of the “Archduke” Trio would mark his last public performances as a pianist because of his growing deafness, his reputation as a composer would continue to grow, as demonstrated in the now-legendary status of this transformational piano trio.

Beethoven's "Archduke" Trio

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

From the depths of longing to the heights of euphoria, the Reno Phil and guest conductor Nicholas Hersh embark on a stirring pursuit of peace, where every note seeks solace, strength, and triumph. The journey begins with Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture, a dazzling burst of orchestral brilliance that crackles with energy. She broke new ground as she continued writing music while war threatened to destroy her country. Davidson Fellow Zlatomir Fung takes center stage for Elgar's Cello Concerto, a soul-baring masterpiece that speaks in whispers and echoes in eternity. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 brings the evening to a jubilant close, its relentless rhythms and soaring melodies sweeping us toward a finale that dances with unshakable joy.

Elgar Cello Concerto

Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts

The Calidore String Quartet, recognized as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of a vast chamber music repertory, presents a concert of works by two giants of chamber music literature - Beethoven and Schubert. Beethoven's favourite of the late quartets, opus 131 in C-sharp minor, has a grandeur which no words can express. After hearing this work Schubert said, “After this, what is there left to write?” Sibling cellists come together as Arnold Choi joins the quartet for Schubert’s sumptuous and profound Cello Quintet, his final chamber music composition.

Cecilian Chamber Series - Calidore Quartet with Arnold Choi

Darke Hall

A small but perfectly formed group of musicians from Royal Northern Sinfonia and, leading proceedings, Maria Włoszczowska.

Beethoven's Septet

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

It was conductor Mariss Jansons who asked Jörg Widmann to compose a concert overture for the performance of Beethoven's 7th and 8th Symphonies. So Widmann wrote for a similar ensemble to Beethoven's at the time, drawing on the timbres and explosiveness of the 7th Symphony. However, the musical elements here appear torn apart – a Beethoven from the shredder. To recall the Seventh's original shock effect, Widmann also includes avant-garde scratching and crackling sounds. This "crazy overture" is great fun.

With momentum

Bochumer Symphoniker

Curiosities

Three composers and one female composer each explore in their own way the play of contrasts, reflections, and flashes. Sophie Gail, one of the rare female composers of her time, opens the concert with the overture to The Two Jealous , a lively and theatrical work, in the spirit of the comic operas of his time. Étienne-Nicolas Méhul achieved great success with the comic opera Stratonice , oscillating between gravity and lyricism. Then, Beethoven, whose Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 exudes a gentle melancholy, suspends time before deploying his creative energy in the overture to The Creatures of Prometheus . As for Mozart, he breathes into this concert the sparkling youth of his Symphony No. 29 , all lightness and clarity.

Orchestra for All #2

Opéra Comédie

Beethoven’s explosively exhilarating First Symphony was written in the very last years of the 18th century, when Napoleon was first seizing control of France and setting out to conquer Austria and Italy. The music breathes the air of earth-shaking public events and an intense optimism for the future. Shostakovich composed his colossal Eighth Symphony in the depths of World War II, when the Battle of Stalingrad was raging and the future of the entire world at stake. This wildly dramatic, almost cinematic, music traverses every kind of human feeling from the dark tragedy and struggle of the first movement, through bitter satire and brutal human conflict to despair and finally a vision of a new world of transcendent beauty.

Tragedy and Triumph: Shostakovich Symphony No. 8

Jacobs Music Center

Julian Schwarz has been heralded from a young age as a cellist destined to rank among the greatest of the 21st century, Julian’s powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palette are hallmarks of his style. 

After making his concerto debut at the age of 11 with the Seattle Symphony, he made his U.S. touring debut with the Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2010. Since being awarded first prize at the inaugural Schoenfeld International String Competition in Hong Kong, he has led an active career as soloist. 

Julian Schwarz, Cello

Greenwich High School

2025 GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann joins the A2SO to perform Mozart’s agile and elegant Piano Concerto No. 23 in a concert that takes place days before the composer’s 270th birthday. Music Director Earl Lee continues his multi-season Beethoven exploration with the composer’s genial Symphony No. 4, and Gabriela Lena Frank’s tribute to her Peruvian heritage rounds out the first concert of the New Year.

Mozart, Beethoven & Frank

Michigan Theater

Mozart Symphony

The Garde Arts Center, Inc.

Pure magic: The young Spanish violinist María Dueñas has been enchanting audiences in major concert halls for some time now. In her eagerly awaited Mozart Week debut under the baton of American conductor Karina Canellakis, she will be accompanied by the renowned Vienna Philharmonic, who will open the concert evening with the enchanting and delicate sounds of Mendelssohn's famous "Midsummer Night's Dream" Overture.

Vienna Philharmonic I: Canellakis / Dueñas

Great Festival House

Mozart Week Salzburg

Kerson Leong, a violinist who speaks “with sincerity and without exaggeration” (The Strad), performs Beethoven’s beloved Violin Concerto; Beethoven changed the genre with this innovative and lyrical concerto, which leaves ample space for the violinist to dazzle. The MSO welcomes leading Baroque expert Bernard Labadie to conduct one of the era’s finest gems: Haydn’s rambunctious “Drumroll” Symphony.


Beethoven & Haydn

Warner Grand Theater

Alexander Conducts Beethoven

Artis–Naples

Sophie Gail, one of the rare female composers of her time, opens the concert with the overture to The Two Jealous Ones , a lively and theatrical work, in the spirit of the comic operas of her time. Étienne-Nicolas Méhul achieved great success with the comic opera Stratonice , oscillating between gravity and lyricism. Then, Beethoven, whose Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 distils a gentle melancholy, suspends time before deploying his creative energy in the overture to The Creatures of Prometheus . As for Mozart, he breathes into this concert the sparkling youth of his Symphony No. 29 , all lightness and clarity.

Montpellier Occitanie National Orchestra

Bridges Theatre

An evening of classical and improvised music with Derek Menchan, ‘cello and bass, accompanied by Kasan Belgrave, woodwinds, Brendon Davis, piano, & Jeannette Fang, piano.

Derek Menchan, cello

Wayne State University

Finnish conductor John Storgårds makes his San Francisco Symphony debut with an exhilarating program centered on Beethoven’s monumental Fifth Symphony. Beethoven’s subject wasn’t the individual but the human condition, the fate we heroically create for ourselves, one choice at a time. Has any transition from C minor to C major ever felt more blissful, more fully earned? Less familiar but equally powerful is Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s visceral and life-affirming The Rapids of Life, heard in its US premiere. Pianist Seong-Jin Cho and SF Symphony Principal Trumpet Mark Inouye perform Shostakovich’s sprightly and intelligent Piano Concerto No. 1, an underperformed gem that spans the silly and the sublime. Initially conceived as a trumpet concerto, the work still gives that instrument plenty of love: this is a double concerto in all but name.

Beethoven 5 & Seong-Jin Cho

Davies Symphony Hall

Experience an entire evening bathed in the most magnificent key of them all: E flat major, as we kick off the symphonic year with a tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven, who will be duly celebrated around the world next season on the 200th anniversary of his death.

Beethoven's 3rd Symphony & The Emperor Concert

Odense Concert Hall

The artistic evolution of Ludwig van Beethoven changed the course of music, and nowhere is that stunning transformation experienced better than in this all-Beethoven program. From this program, one can sense the tremendous vitality that would propel him to stardom within a decade. Beethoven’s hand also broadened the possibilities of both the sonata for violin and piano, and the piano trio, here illustrated by his last and greatest example, the “Archduke.”

Beethoven Journey

Trinity Episcopal Church of Vero Beach

US Tour

RiverCenter for the Performing Arts

Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts

Carnegie Hall

Opelika High School

The Byers Theatre, Sandy Springs

The Community Church of Vero Beach

Merz Trio returns with another powerful program. Sandwiched between Beethoven’s Piano Trio (a conversation of tension and dark lyricism) and Dvořák’s Piano Trio (an emotionally rich venture of intense inner conflict) we find  the sweet center: Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”), a  journey of tonal richness from D minor to D major, reviving harmonic language reminiscent of both Wagner and Brahms.

Rice University

Young hearts run free. Mozart was still a teenager when he wrote his Fifth Violin Concerto, but genius is genius and the result is the sparkiest, quirkiest and most stylish showpiece ever written for a world-class violinist. Maria Włoszczowska brings it to life today – a sparkling centrepiece to a concert that begins with Ravel’s bittersweet homage to a vanished world, and ends with Beethoven in full, dazzling flight. His youthful Second Symphony is daring, dashing, and packed with musical humour – perfect, in other words, for conductor Erina Yashima and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Beethoven’s Second

Congress Theatre

Discover Beethoven’s only opera, Fidelio, a stirring saga of love, bravery, and the quest for justice. In this heroic tale, Leonore goes undercover, disguised as a guard named Fidelio, to infiltrate a corrupt prison and rescue her wrongfully accused husband, Florestan.

It’s an emotional journey that reflects Beethoven’s idealism, echoing his own conviction that good will triumphs over tyranny. With the hopeful “Prisoners’ Chorus” and soaring overture, Fidelio is a testament to Beethoven’s musical genius—be the first to experience this brand-new production, incorporating modernized dialogue and thought-provoking projections that underscore the power of the human spirit.

Beethoven's Fidelio

Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre

We are excited to bring back one of our most loved and honored soloists, the Grammy-nominated pianist Joyce Yang, in a program balancing the masterful First Concerto of Beethoven with three orchestral visions of the story of Romeo and Juliet. Brilliant masterworks of Strauss, Prokofiev and Diamond complete this compelling program.

Joyce Yang

Heritage Theatre

San Mateo High School

Beethoven Piano Concerto Marathon

Granada Theatre

What do you get when you blend the elegance of Beethoven, the soul of Ellington, and the sparkle of Bernstein? A concert that dances. Beethoven’s Seventh isn’t just “good.”… Wagner called it the “apotheosis of the dance.” It’s yet another joyous display of brilliance out of one of music’s all-time greats. University of Akron professor Chris Coles, our saxophone soloist, brings the cool to the Duke’s Three Black Kings, and Bernstein’s West Side Story  Symphonic Dances round it all off with jazzy brilliance. We open the night with a special debut of UofA student Sarah Hegenderfer’s Clearing of Snow. This one’s for your head, your heart, and your hips.

Beethoven’s Seventh

The University of Akron

Kick off the evening with Schumann’s electrifying Overture, Scherzo, and Finale —its fiery energy and playful twists set the perfect laid‑back yet thrilling tone. Then, feel the chemistry as Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin) and Edward Aaron (cello) team up in Brahms’s sumptuous Double Concerto. Folk‑tinged melodies and lush, intertwining lines make this a heartfelt, toe‑tapping highlight.

Beethoven and Blue Jeans 2026

University of South Carolina

André Raphel Conducts Shostakovich 10 + Midori

Palace Theatre Albany

City Noir is John Adams’s musical tribute to half-lit rooms, venetian blinds, desperate men, dangerous women, secrets, lies, and the City of Angels. A symphony inspired by the iconography of 40s and 50s film noir, it weaves a dark and swaggering jazz sensibility through its three movements.

BBC Philharmonic - City Noir

The Bridgewater Hall

City Noir

Rachmaninoff Concerto No.3

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts

A most heart-stirring concert awaits you, portraying vastly different approaches to grief and memory. In the “Eroica,” grief turns into fury, when the original dedicatee, Napoleon, crowns himself emperor and the enraged Beethoven now celebrates only “the memory of a great man.” From two bolts-out-of-the-blue chords to exhilarating finale, the Symphony’s majesty and drama, extraordinary scope, and bold harmonies all proclaim a new era in music. Turning his grief into sorrow, Berg inscribes his heartbreaking Concerto, sensitively performed by our concertmaster, “To the memory of an angel”—a vivacious 18-year-old girl struck down by polio. He paints her portrait in the first movement, and, in the emotional heart of the Concerto, incorporates Bach’s chorale, “It is enough; Lord, if it pleases you/Unshackle me.”

Beethoven’s Eroica

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Willamette University

Celebrated American conductor Jonathon Heyward returns in a program featuring the all-star Kanneh-Mason siblings in Beethoven’s rarely performed Triple Concerto, effectively a concerto for piano trio and orchestra. Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony takes inspiration from the composer’s travels in Italy, reflecting the sunny countryside, imposing architecture, and spirited local dances.

Beethoven's Triple Concerto

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Join us for a special evening of music and learning at the UCSB Piano Masterclass with internationally acclaimed pianist Tali Margulis.

Masterclass: Tali Margulis

University of California, Santa Barbara

He was not simply a violinist, not simply a composer: Niccolò Paganini was a phenomenon! “He was large, he contained multitudes,” one might say with Walt Whitman, the inspiration for the Camerata's 2025/26 season. The “devil's violinist” with his nimble, long fingers opened up previously unimagined technical dimensions for violin playing and completely redefined the concept of genius – with all the sensations and abysses that entails. In the third “Multitudes” concert of theHamburger CamerataUnder the motto "Storm," Sergey Malov now plunges into the cosmos of Paganini. He unleashes hurricane-like energy in Paganini's wildly virtuosic solo works, energy that then spills over into the more melodically conceived Second Violin Concerto – until finally the bells ring, giving the concerto its nickname "La Campanella" and the finale its widespread fame. Ludwig van Beethoven also stormed the stage with his Third Symphony, the "Eroica": The work in "heroic" E-flat major literally brought a breath of fresh air to the history of the symphony. From the very first bar, it practically compels the audience to listen attentively, to grasp the revolutionary messages of the music.

Camerata Multitudes

Elbphilharmonie

The Vertavo String Quartet has captivated audiences the world over since its founding in 1984. The quartet’s honors and awards include Norway’s Grieg Prize; First Prize, the Audience Prize, and the Critics’ Prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition; and a Diapason d’Or for their recording of Debussy and Grieg quartets. The group has toured extensively throughout Europe, the US, and Japan, and collaborated with pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Leif Ove Andsnes, clarinetist Sabine Meyer, and violinist and violist Isabelle van Keulen.

Vertavo String Quartet 2026

Let yourself be swept away by the masterful touch of eight-time Grammy winner Emanuel Ax as he brings his deep sensitivity to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3, a fascinating bridge between the elegance of Classicism and the passion of Romanticism. Then, dive into the grandeur of Prokofiev’s Symphony No.5, a wartime masterpiece brimming with triumphant energy. The evening also features the world premiere of a new work by rising star Isabella Gellis, renowned for her refined and expressive compositions.

Emanuel Ax Plays Beethoven

Place des Arts

Experience the exhilarating energy of Beethoven’s blazing and boisterous Symphony No. 7. Bold, dance-like patterns and dynamic contrasts take center stage as the symphony’s expansive introduction moves into something wilder and more exuberant. From the haunting beauty of the Allegretto to the triumphant finale, the driving rhythms and pulse-pounding force of this work will leave you breathless.

Playlist: Symphony Happy Hour

Powell Hall

As a boy, Giovanni’s parents wanted to enrol him in the preparatory department of the Milan Conservatoire. According to the school, their son was too high-spirited, and he was not admitted as a violin student, but he soon more than made up for their disappointment. He studied the recorder, and while still a student, he joined with the lute player Luca Pianca in establishing Il Giardino Armonico—an ensemble that has won worldwide renown over its 40 years of existence in the field of the informed interpretation of early music.

Czech Philharmonic • Giovanni Antonini

Rudolfinum

For its first concert of 2026, Cascade Symphony performs Beethoven’s iconic Fifth Symphony along with music by Richard Wagner, Leos Janacek and Edouard Lalo. Cellist Sunnat Ibragimov, an Uzbekistan native and current Seattle Symphony member, previously served as Principal Cellist of the prestigious Tanglewood Festival Orchestra. He has performed with major orchestras in Asia and North America and is pursuing doctoral studies at the renowned Peabody Institute. He joins Cascade Symphony to perform Edouard Lalo’s lyrically romantic cello concerto.

Beethoven’s Fifth

Edmonds Center For the Arts

The »Cameristi della Scala« orchestra from the world-famous La Scala in Milan will perform in the Great Hall this evening. In addition to the great symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven, Schumann’s cello concerto will also be performed with the renowned cellist Natalie Clein – a varied programme to kick off the year!

Chamber Musicians of La Scala

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Celebrate the New Year with Legacy of a Titan, a program tracing Beethoven’s enduring influence. Featuring Orpheus: Symphonic Variations, Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 with ASU Professor Emeritus Robert Spring, and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 – each work shaped by Beethoven’s revolutionary legacy.

A tribute to the past, and a spark for what’s to come.

Legacy of A Titan

The Vista Center for the Arts

Czech Philharmonic’s Artist-in-Residence, Evgeny Kissin, will also appear at the Rudolfinum’s Suk Hall as a soloist. The world-renowned piano virtuoso will perform a selection of Chopin’s intimate Mazurkas, alongside Schumann’s richly layered Kreisleriana—a cycle dedicated to Chopin himself. Adding a distinctive touch to the programme is a sonata by 20th-century Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky.

Czech Chamber Music Society • Evgeny Kissin

Hailed as “one of the most probing, intelligent and accomplished artists of the new generation” (The New York Times), Igor Levit returns to Washington Performing Arts with a recital of monumental variation that challenges and inspires, featuring two impressive works rooted in an epic series of themes and variations. He brings his breathtaking technique to Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations—an epic set of variations requiring impressive technical and musical breadth—and Frederic Rzewski’s revolutionary The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, a tour de force of virtuosic brilliance and political fervor. Washington Performing Arts co-commissioned Rzewski’s work in 1976, commemorating the 200th anniversary of United States independence. Levit’s performances are acclaimed for their emotional depth and intellectual rigor, promising an unforgettable evening of musical mastery.

Igor Levit, piano

Sixth & I

A rhapsody on Gypsy tunes, an American masterwork played by an American soloist, and Beethoven at his sunniest. Rising star William Hagen brings Samuel Barber’s violin concerto, on a program with Zoltán Kodály’s whirling Dances of Galánta and Beethoven’s beloved bucolic romp, his Pastoral symphony.

Composer

Ludwig van Beethoven

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 18, 2024 - Feb 11, 2026

Piano Concerto Finals · The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University

Apr 13, 2025 - Apr 18, 2026

Campanile Orchestra · The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University

May 11, 2025 - May 10, 2026

6th Chamber Concert · Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

Sep 16, 2025 - Jun 16, 2026

NDR Chamber Concert · Elbphilharmonie

Nov 10, 2025 - Feb 19, 2026

The Olympic Concert / Kit Armstrong / Jan Caeyers · Elbphilharmonie

Past events

Feb 2, 2026

Stephen Hough, piano · Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Feb 2, 2026

Masterful Strings: Nisaika 2.0- String Quartet Reunion with Friends · University of Maryland School of Music

About

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