Composer

Your LPO returns to open the season with an unforgettable Opening Night featuring the festive energy and orchestral color of Anna Clyne’s Masquerade. The evening continues with the lush, sweeping romanticism of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, a work of unparalleled passion and virtuosity. We conclude this grand debut with the profound depth and monumental power of Brahms’s Symphony No. 4, marking a triumphant return to the Orpheum Theater.

EPSG:4326

Opening Night: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2

Orpheum Theater

Seemingly transparent, delicate and almost floating, the music of Peinture propelled Edison Denisov to become one of the leading modernists of what was then the Soviet Union – he formed the USSR’s troika of the non-conformist avantgarde together with Alfred Schnittke and Sofia Gubaidulina, whose works can also be heard at this year’s festival. Vladimir Jurowski and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin present this far too rarely performed orchestral work at Musikfest Berlin, before unveiling a genuine rediscovery with the Second Symphony by Anatol Vieru, who would have turned 100 this year. The Romanian composer wrote the work in West Berlin in 1973. The evening will be rounded off by the choral symphony The Bells, which Sergei Rachmaninoff considered one of his best works. The Rundfunkchor Berlin will sing alongside an ensemble of internationally renowned soloists.

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

Berliner Philharmoniker

The opening of the 2026/2027 season takes you on a musical journey across stormy seas, through sparkling nightscapes and symphonic dances with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev, and the legendary soprano Nina Stemme. Here, the musical sea interpretations of British composers Ethel Smyth, Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar meet with the Russian sonorous and dancing energy of Sergei Rachmaninov. A concert where natural forces, emotional storms and symphonic brilliance meet.

Sea Music and Symphonic Dances

Berwaldhallen

Back in Berlin: after the triumphant success of its debut in 2024, the Kansas City Symphony accompanied by its conductor Matthias Pintscher is making a further guest appearance at the Musikfest Berlin. Alongside Tchaikovsky’s popular Violin Concerto with the Canadian violinist Blake Pouliot, the programme also includes Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 characterised by the emotions of grief and valediction. Olga Neuwirth’s orchestral pieces Tombeau I und Dreydl have a focus on transience and remembrance. The first work is a musical commemoration of Pierre Boulez. In the words of the Austrian composer, the title of the second piece alludes to the “fateful cycle of destiny”.

Kansas City Symphony

Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto is one of classical music’s greatest comeback stories. Composed after a crippling period of depression and writer’s block, the piece overflows with Rachmaninoff’s hard-won confidence, victory, and profound lyricism.

Rachmaninoff & Adams

Hollywood Bowl

Hailed by Chicago Tribune as "a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat," Yekwon Sunwoo is a powerful and virtuosic performer who, in his own words, "strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.”

Yekwon Sunwoo, piano

Tippet Rise Art Center

Trio Azura has quickly emerged as one of today’s most promising young ensembles, praised by Gramophone for its “intelligence and imagination” and “profound emotion.” Formed in 2022 at the Colburn School, where they are ensemble in residence, the trio studies with Jonathan Brown, Martin Beaver, Clive Greensmith, and Fabio Bidini. The members of Trio Azura were named winners of the 2025 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and appointed YCA Jacobs Fellows, becoming YCA’s first ensemble in residence.

Trio Azura

High Festival Level

Imperial Baths

The pianist Simon Bürki, who was born in St. Gallen, was just 11 years old when he won three prizes at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in 2011. They were far from his last: by now he has collected more than 20 awards, including the Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar and the “Step to Mastery” Competition in St. Petersburg. Yet Bürki resisted the lure of a Wunderkind career and pursued his studies with steady determination — first in Kyiv and Moscow and then in the United States with Sergei Babayan, who also trained Daniil Trifonov. In 2023, Bürki released his debut CD, Reminiscence, a collection of Romantic miniatures from Schumann to Rachmaninoff.

Simon Bürki

Reformierte Lukaskirche

Grandiose romanticism performed by one of the best orchestras in the world. Rachmaninoff and Mahler on the program of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. A song that is most expressive without words. A virtuoso piano concerto that is probably more “comfortable” than the previous one, only according to its composer. A symphony that took the genre to a whole new level. Each one is a beautiful, emotionally resonant piece. The orchestral version of Vocalise, a gem of the vocal repertoire, originally written for voice and piano, will open the concert, followed by Piano Concerto No. 3, with Isata Kanneh-Mason, who has performed at major concert halls in the world, from the Royal Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall, as a soloist, and recorded a number of exciting albums as a Decca Classics artist. After the interval, the orchestra will perform Mahler’s lengthy palette of emotions, his Symphony No. 1, which was premiered in Budapest.

Tour: La Chaise-Dieu

Saint-Robert Abbey Church, La Chaise-Dieu

This thrilling program centers on piano duets by Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and György Kurtág, which are performed here by award-winning pianists Kirill Gerstein and Katia Skanavi. The duo is joined by New York Philharmonic Associate Principal Percussionist Daniel Druckman and Mike Truesdell for Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, a work that was wonderfully innovative (for its unusual instrumentation and wide range of influences) when Bartók premiered it alongside his pianist wife in 1938.

Bartók & Rachmaninoff

Lensic Performing Arts Center

The acclaimed Rachmaninoff cycle that Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra have been developing since 2019 comes to its culmination this evening. Chailly’s vision has been not only to present the celebrated warhorses — the Second and Third Piano Concertos and the Second Symphony — but also to champion rarely heard treasures. One such rarity is the early opera Aleko, which Rachmaninoff wrote as a 19-year-old student. 

Lucerne Festival Orchestra | Riccardo Chailly | Lukas Sternath

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

Tour: Menuhin Festival Gstaad

Festival-Zelt Gstaad

The award-winning Ulster Youth Orchestra presents its Summer Concert on 16 August 2026 when 93 talented young musicians will bring energetic, high quality orchestral music to Ulster Hall stage!

Ulster Youth Orchestra Summer Concert

Ulster Hall

A passionate Sonatenabend (or “Evening of Sonatas”) with pieces by Bowen, Faure, and Rachmaninoff.

Sonatabend: Romance at the Bay

Pacific Maritime Heritage Center

Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff stand among the greatest poet-composers of the piano, each creating music of profound depth, beauty, and emotional power that continues to captivate audiences worldwide. In this program, pianist Michelle Yelin Nam brings these two towering figures into dialogue, interweaving their works to illuminate the striking affinities between them across time and culture.

Two Romantics: Dialogue between Chopin & Rachmaninoff | Michelle Yelin Nam, piano

Clayton State University

“The Journey Home” offers a personal reflection within our American Adventures season, shaped by conductor Leonard Slatkin’s own musical path and the works that have accompanied him along the way. Cindy McTee’s Circuits crackles with electric energy and brilliant orchestral interplay. Voyager 130, a piece written by Slatkin’s son, looks outward and inward at once, inspired by space exploration yet grounded in memory and connection. Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 3 was written after the composer’s emigration from Russia to America, and is the music of longing, resilience, and the profound pull of home. 

The Journey Home

Riverwalk Center

We are very grateful to Rustem Hayroudinoff for stepping in to perform this recital in place of Richard Goode, who has had to withdraw due to personal reasons.

Rustem Hayroudinoff

Wadham College

The festival is thrilled to present one of the most exciting emerging instrumental talents, Greek pianist Theodosia Ntokou, who has counted Martha Argerich as her mentor since 2009. Theodosia joins the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for all the fresh air, spontaneity and adventure of one of the central piano concertos of the literature, that by Edvard Grieg – followed here by Rachmaninov’s symphony of infernal whirlwinds, passionate declarations of love and heartfelt longing for peace.

Grieg Piano Concerto

University of Oxford

Close the season on the grand piano with pianist Stewart Goodyear taking center stage. Featuring Goodyear’s own genre-blending works—offering a sneak peek of an upcoming WCO recording—this program builds toward one of the most iconic pieces in American music: Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. Jazz-inflected, virtuosic, and unforgettable, it’s a piano marathon and a bold and satisfying sendoff to summer on the Square. Learn more about Stewart Goodyear.

Rhapsody Squared

Capitol Square

Johannes Moser, known for performances seasoned by his capacious imagination and poetic artistry, is joined by his regular duo partner Andrei Korobeinikov in a programme hallmarked by two fascinating pairings of works. Nadia Boulanger’s 3 pieces, composed in 1914, provide a playful introduction to the five contrasting movements of the Cello Sonata Britten wrote for Mstislav Rostropovich in 1961, while Rachaminov’s Vocalise makes a charming companion to the cello version of César Franck’s weighty Violin Sonata.

Johannes Moser cello; Andrei Korobeinikov piano

Wigmore Hall

Capturing the frenetic spirit of the 1930s and ’40s, conductor Kevin John Edusei leads a vibrant program that highlights Rachmaninoff’s fiery Symphonic Dances, his last major composition, which The Cleveland Orchestra plays side-by-side with the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra. The swirling Hungarian rhythms of Kodály’s Dances of Galánta open the evening before giving way to Martinů’s energetic First Cello Concerto, performed by Principal Cello Mark Kosower.

Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances

Blossom Music Center

Few can match the dazzling brilliance and zen-like focus that Boris Giltburg brings to every performance. His latest Wigmore Hall recital would command attention for no other reason than its inclusion of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor, a titanic monument of Romantic music. Yet the Moscow-born Israeli pianist places Liszt’s single-movement masterwork in company with a succession of musically powerful, technically-demanding compositions, crowned by Gaspard de la nuit, Ravel’s mesmerising suite of character pieces.

Boris Giltburg piano

Experience the rich lyricism of Rachmaninov and the vibrant spirit of African and American song in this captivating recital by soprano Nombulelo Yende – BBC Cardiff Singer of the World finalist – and pianist Mariusz Kłubczuk. A programme of emotional depth and cultural resonance awaits.

Nombulelo Yende soprano; Mariusz Kłubczuk piano

A work of audacious technical demands and lyrical beauty, Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto was composed when he was just 17. Longtime Cleveland Orchestra friend Garrick Ohlsson revisits this work that helped put Rachmaninoff on the map as a composer and performer. Conductor Semyon Bychkov bookends the program with Smetana’s love letter to his homeland and Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, which bursts with optimism from the first note to the last. 

Ohlsson Plays Rachmaninoff

Severance Music Center

2025 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Aristo Sham brings his "lucid and gripping" artistry to the intimate Music Room for a program centered on the transformative transcriptions of Ferruccio Busoni. This afternoon recital highlights Sham’s technical mastery through a curated selection of Brahms character pieces, including the soulful Intermezzo in A Major and the spirited Capriccio in C Major. The second half of the performance focuses on Busoni's iconic arrangements, featuring the monumental Bach Chaconne and Chopin’s Variations on Prelude in C minor. As the newest Cliburn winner, Sham continues the competition's legacy of elite pianism with a performance that balances late-Romantic introspection with towering virtuosity.

Aristo Sham, piano

The Rosen House at Caramoor

Opening night of the Festival Orchestra Series highlights not one but two popular monuments of the orchestral canon, featuring pianist and 2021 Donald Runnicles Musical Arts Scholarship Competition winner Tanner Jorden.

Festival Orchestra: Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky’s Fifth

Jackson Hole High School

Enjoy a behind-the-scenes look as Sir Donald Runnicles and the orchestra rehearse for the weekend Festival Orchestra concerts with pianist Tanner Jorden.

Open Rehearsal: Rachmaninoff & Tchaikovsky’s Fifth

A meeting of two  worlds: Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, still deeply rooted in his Russian homeland, contrasts with the late Paganini Rhapsody – an American work whose title not coincidentally recalls Gershwin's famous Rhapsody in Blue. The program is sure to be full of musical aha! moments, reviving memories of Nézet-Séguin's acclaimed Rachmaninoff concerts at the Festspielhaus.

London Symphony Orchestra

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Conductor Laureate Carlos Kalmar returns to the Festival with the technically brilliant pianist Olga Kern for Rachmaninov’s highly virtuosic Piano Concerto No. 3. The program also features Stravinsky’s mischievously charming ballet Game of Cards and Elgar’s sunny In the South.

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 3

Millennium Park

Guest performance in Bad Kissingen | Kissinger Summer

Regentenbau

Immigrant Voices opens Litha Symphony’s 2026 summer season with a celebration of composers who found inspiration—and opportunity—in America. From the triumphant optimism of John Williams’s Liberty Fanfare to the vibrant cultural landscapes of Jack Délano and Soon Hee Newbold, the program culminates in Dvořák’s beloved New World Symphony, a powerful tribute to America seen through new eyes.

Immigrant Voices

Church of the Holy Apostles

A lyrical evening of music, shining warm light on our vibrant WNO orchestral partnership, with members of WNO Orchestra joining the RWCMD Symphony Orchestra. Vaughan Williams' mesmerizing Oboe Concerto is a love letter to the English countryside; a virtuoso showpiece performed here by WNO’s Principal Oboe, Lucie Sprague.*

WNO Orchestra & RWCMD Symphony Orchestra 2026

Bute Park

Roman Borisov was First Prize-winner at both the Krainev Youth Competition 2019 and the Kissinger KlavierOlymp 2022. Now a seasoned concert performer living in Berlin, the young pianist presents a Wigmore Hall programme which includes a selection of Preludes from the 'ultramodernist' American composer and musicologist Ruth Crawford Seeger.

Roman Borisov

Jazz meets classical as pianist Makoto Ozone joins conductor Jun Märkl for Rachmaninoff’s spirited Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Ozone’s own O’Berek, and Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony complete a concert that features vivacity and charm.

Season Finale: Makoto Ozone plays Rachmaninoff

Hilbert Circle Theatre

For his guest appearance with his Hamburg colleagues, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Chief Conductor of the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra from Hanover, has brought a program featuring three Slavic composers. Nikolai Lugansky, a renowned Rachmaninoff expert who has released a highly acclaimed complete recording of his piano concertos, will be at the piano.

GDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra / Nikolai Lugansky / Stanislav Kochanovsky

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Experience the sweeping grandeur of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, the perfect finale to a remarkable season of classical music. Rachmaninoff composed this triumphant work after overcoming one of the most famous cases of composer's block in music history.

Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Experience the sweeping grandeur of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, the perfect climax to a remarkable season of classical music. Rachmaninoff composed this triumphant work after overcoming one of the most famous cases of composer's block in music history.

Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 2

10th Symphony Concert

Nikolaisaal

We conclude our Philharmonic Concert series with three sonic wonders and the great conductor Sebastian Weigle. As General Music Director of the Frankfurt Opera and the Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, ​​he has been crowned Conductor of the Year four times. He has performed brilliantly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Bayreuth Festival, and the Berlin State Opera. In addition to his engagements in Frankfurt and his numerous conducting engagements at the world's finest opera houses and concert halls, Sebastian Weigle has also been Chief Conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo since 2019.

10th Philharmonic Concert

Exhibition Hall 4

In her ESO debut, Harmony Zhu performs Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, a set of 24 variations that is bursting with energy and passion from the first note.

Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody

Winspear Centre

End the season with a breathtaking blend of iconic energy, lyrical grace, and emotional depth. Rossini’s William Tell Overture sets the stage, followed by Mascagni’s tender Intermezzo and Boccherini’s virtuosic Cello Concerto. The evening culminates with the sweeping grandeur of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, the perfect climax to a remarkable season of classical music.

Rossini, Boccherini, Mascagni & Rachmaninoff

Superstar violinist Hilary Hahn returns with Mozart’s majestic Violin Concerto No. 5. Nicknamed the “Turkish” concerto, it contains a lively section meant to evoke an Ottoman military band. The season concludes with a flourish as Jader Bignamini leads the DSO in Rachmaninoff’s sumptuous Second Symphony, a work beloved for its rich orchestral textures and soaring melodies.

Hilary Hahn performs Mozart

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Qixuan Fan, piano

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

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

Alte Oper

In his 2023 CSO subscription debut, Conrad Tao gave a “dazzling, staggering” performance of Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, wrote the Chicago Tribune, in which Tao “carried his melodies masterfully.” As part of the CSO’s monthlong focus on American music, the Illinois native returns with a selection of Gershwin song arrangements interspersed with works by Debussy, Ravel, Rachmaninov, Schoenberg and Robert Schumann.

Conrad Tao

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Brothers Demarre and Anthony McGill give a world premiere by jazz piano icon Billy Childs reflecting on America's 250th. Rachmaninoff unapologetically captures the Russian musical spirit in his Symphony No. 3, while Shostakovich elicits a celebratory mood.

Rachmaninoff 3

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

The Music Center at Strathmore

Čajkovskij & Rachmaninov

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Theatre

Alexander Malofeev's debut was brilliant! The pianist stepped in for the ill Evgeny Kissin at a concert of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra - and the audience could hardly contain itself. The Frankfurt audience rewarded Malofeev's virtuoso playing with thunderous applause, not so much for its power as for its melody and transparency. It was high time for the 23-year-old to give a recital at the Alte Oper. Malofeev readily admits that he feels most at home alone on stage. He then gives an insight into his world of sound: "It's always my own space, even when hundreds of people are listening. I let them in. I like to create my own space. In the Mozart Hall, Malofeev creates a sound space that spans Scandinavia, France, Vienna and his Russian homeland: Characteristic pieces glowing in intense colours.

Alexander Malofeev, piano

The second concert of Music Director Matthias Pintscher’s Rachmaninoff celebration sees Yefim Bronfman, one of the greatest pianists of our time, tackling the composer’s Third Piano Concerto, widely viewed as one of the most difficult concertos ever written. Film buffs may recognize it as the concerto in the 1996 movie “Shine.” The second part of the Rachmaninoff double feature is his Third Symphony, displaying his rich gifts for gorgeous melodies and yearning harmonies. Rounding out the program is the second installment of piano preludes commissioned specially for these concerts — including one by Matthias himself!

Rachmaninoff Celebration, Part 2 Piano Concerto No. 3

Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

The season finale features the return of Joyce Yang in Rachmaninoff’s exhilarating Piano Concerto No. 3, one of the most intricate, demanding and passionate works in the repertoire. Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers opens the evening with dramatic urgency, leading into Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, a hauntingly beautiful journey from turmoil to resolution.

Rachmaninoff’s Third

Jacoby Symphony Hall

MSO Concertmaster Jinwoo Lee steps into the spotlight to perform Saint-Saëns’s Third Violin Concerto, a veritable showpiece for the instrument’s sparkling character and color. Conductor Iván López Reynoso, who made his U.S. orchestral debut with the MSO, returns to conduct Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony, rife with deliciously heartbreaking tunes and romantic melancholy.

Rachmaninoff & Saint-Saëns

Warner Grand Theater

Some composers think bigger, but it takes a special sort of genius to create a whole new musical universe. Everything about Scriabin’s Third Symphony is larger than life, from the enormous orchestra to the galactic ambition of Scriabin’s inspiration – music that he described as ‘ecstatic’, ‘drunken’ and even ‘divine’! If you like Mahler, you’ll love ‘The Divine Poem’, and for Vasily Petrenko, it’s a passion – a musical experience that doesn’t come around every day.

Hisaishi x Scriabin

Royal Festival Hall

Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft takes to the podium for his final concert in the title role as we draw our 2025-26 Season to a close, starting with Stravinsky's symphonic poem Song of the Nightingale. Based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, we hear the story of an emperor in his ornate Chinese palace and the glorious singing of nightingales that accompanies his life.

BBC NOW - Symphonic Dances

Brangwyn Hall

For the final concert of the season, the UN Symphony Orchestra brings together two towering masterpieces of the Romantic repertoire. Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 unfolds with sweeping lyricism and virtuosic brilliance, its unforgettable melodies moving from intimate reflection to triumphant grandeur. Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World,” completes the evening with music inspired by the American folklore. Join us on June 4 for these delightful crowd-pleasers, filled with passion, drama, and symphonic splendor.

From Piano Passion to Sounds of the New World

Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space

Chamber music icons in the former Rothschild orangery. The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester) presents three captivating trios by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, and Schubert at the premiere of its "Chamber Flicker" series in the historic pavilion in Frankfurt's Günthersburgpark. An early stroke of genius by the young Shostakovich meets a musical gem from the late Schubert and Rachmaninoff's melancholic "Trio élégiaque No. 1." Shostakovich was just 17 when he composed his Piano Trio, which was only published from his posthumous manuscripts in 1983. Schubert's Piano Trio is one of his last and most mature works, which, according to Robert Schumann, swept over the musical scene of the time "like an angry apparition from heaven."

Trio élégiaque

Orangerie

Ashley Ryoo, cello

Callan Shanahan, soprano

Saifei Wang, piano

Jonathan Yi, cello

William Johnson, cello

Just how American is the New World Symphony? Although many listeners swear that they hear snatches of such classic folk tunes as “Turkey in the Straw,” “Three Blind Mice,” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” Dvořák later claimed that the Ninth’s title was meant only to describe “impressions and greetings from the New World.” Kicking things off with a commissioned premiere by Tyler Taylor—the 2024 winner of the Emerging Black Composers Project—Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru leads the San Francisco Symphony in a rousing and profound program that also boasts Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto, No. 1, spotlighting Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski. The piano tumbles recklessly, sings ardently, mimics, mocks, and pounds until the meter-juggling finale drives home the happy ending.

Măcelaru Conducts Dvořák’s New World

Davies Symphony Hall

Solamada Pando Girard, baritone

Marie Wurtz, piano

The concerts of the Gewandhaus Orchestra are the centrepieces of Frankfurt's Opera Square. It goes without saying that great symphonic music is on the programme at the regular dates of the orchestra with its significant history. On the podium: Andris Nelsons, who has been Gewandhauskapellmeister since 2018. This time, Nelsons and the Leipzig orchestra will be performing two powerful masterpieces that give a glimpse into the soul of their creators: One theory about Dmitri Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony is that he worked through times of deep suffering after Stalin's death. The theory is controversial, but it cannot be denied that the composer gave a harrowing testimony to himself with this work. Sergei Rachmaninov composed himself back to life from a severe creative crisis with his second piano concerto. For Yulianna Avdeeva, music is also a spiritual indicator: ‘With the piano, you share your innermost feelings and thoughts that you often can't put into words.’

Gewandhaus Orchestra

Sam Russ, tuba

Anthony Reznikovsky, piano

Inspired by Dylan Thomas’ stirring poem, Do Not Go Gentle explores the awe, mystery, and magnitude of the cosmos through music that evokes both the vastness of space and the human spirit’s refusal to fade quietly into the night.

Do Not Go Gentle

Central Presbyterian Church Denver

Mapleton Arts Center

Be swept up in the infectious energy of Javelin, an audience favorite originally composed for the Olympics by American composer Michael Torke. Be dazzled by the keyboard gymnastics of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini performed by Stewart Goodyear, “one of the best pianists of his generation” (Philadelphia Inquirer). Be immersed in the shimmering grace and beauty of Respighi’s Fountains of Rome before being swallowed whole by Pines of Rome, the majestic finale to our 2025-26 season.

Pines Of Rome

Morrison Center for the Performing Arts

After his brilliant performance at the Cathedral Concert in June 2024, conductor Jan Söderblom returns to the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Together with pianist Alexander Melnikov, he promises fireworks in Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto. This youthful work, later revised by the composer, dazzles with grand Romantic gestures and virtuosic piano brilliance. Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony keeps us in the high-Romantic spirit but takes us across the Atlantic. Amy Beach sought a distinct musical voice for the United States, much like Dvořák. Drawing on her English, Irish, and Scottish heritage, her symphony overflows with warmth and inviting melodies. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is delighted to share these captivating sounds with you.

Rachmaninov with Alexander Melnikov

Queen Elisabeth Hall

TivoliVredenburg

Journey with Toronto Symphony Orchestra Conductor Emeritus Peter Oundjian through the vivid imagery of Mussorgsky’s glorious Pictures at an Exhibition. “Set to dominate the piano world for a long time to come” (The Times of London), Simon Trpčeski tackles Rachmaninoff’s impressive First Piano Concerto, bursting with virtuosic passages. Joan Tower’s Concerto for Orchestra opens the evening showcasing the exceptional musicians of the VSO.

Pictures At An Exhibition

Orpheum

Some nights are more than concerts—they are milestones. This is one of them. As we celebrate Maestro Muffitt’s incredible 20-year journey with LSO, we do so with music that speaks to legacy and possibility. Jon Nakamatsu performs Rachmaninoff’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini, a piece that blends brilliance with a touch of mischief. We then premiere a brand-new work by LSO Composer-in-Residence Jared Miller—because the best way to honor the past is to embrace the future. And finally, Respighi’s Pines of Rome, a symphonic poem that rises, swells, and shines—just like the city it was inspired by. A fitting way to mark the end of an era and the beginning of whatever comes next.

Wharton Center for Performing Arts

Fasten your seatbelt as Alessio Bax tackles Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a creation of massive power and drive and one of the hardest-to-master works in the repertoire. After its premiere in New York City, a critic wrote that “its great length and extreme difficulties bar it from performances by any but pianists of exceptional technical powers.” Its quiet start leads into an astonishing unleashing of notes and hurtles to a riveting conclusion. Copland’s Third Symphony also was first presented in the U.S. Its spirit is undeniably “American”—vital, optimistic, and big-hearted—triumphantly exclaimed in the finale’s stirring “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

Copland & Rachmaninoff

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

The new significant international award will be inaugurated right in the middle of Copenhagen with a fireworks display of a concert with three world stars, when Tivoli Concert Hall hosts the first  Daphne Awards - an award that celebrates the transformative properties of music; a power that we will feel for ourselves in the concert hall, where a top-tuned Tivoli Copenhagen Phil with conductor Alondra de la Parra at the front delivers a veritable parade of classic hits.

Daphne Awards

Tivolis Koncertsal

Here Gavrylyuk tackles Rachmaninov’s notoriously difficult Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. These 24 variations take you on a wild ride, from stormy to mischievous to tender; but in the 18th, Rachmaninov flips the melody upside down to reveal one of classical music’s biggest and best-loved tunes.

Alexander Gavrylyuk performs Rachmaninov

Sydney Opera House

Born in Cebu, Philippines, Albert Tiu has been called “an artist of uncommon abilities” by American Record Guide. His latest Centaur recording, “Grand Russian”, pairing Tchaikovsky’s Grand Sonata and Rachmaninov’s 1st Sonata, was cited in ARG: “Even with some legendary competition in this repertoire, Tiu stands tall with his interpretations and technical accomplishment.” Here for an exclusive Queensland concert, Professor Tiu will perform a concert of Classical and Romantic piano favorites.

Albert Tiu in Recital

Queensland Conservatorium

This program draws inspiration from the ocean: Britten’s Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes present an unforgiving antagonist; Debussy’s La Mer depicts a world of enchantment, and in its Australian premiere Poème by Jeanne Demessieux plumbs the still depths of the sea.

Composer

Sergey Rachmaninoff

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 18, 2026

RSNO Season 26-27: Season Opener - Mahler Six · Usher Hall

Sep 19, 2026

America the Beautiful: A 250 Celebration · Oklahoma City Philharmonic

Sep 19, 2026

The American Voice · Symphony of Southeast Texas

Sep 19, 2026

The Planets 2026 · Royal Albert Hall

Sep 21, 2026

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 · Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia

Past events

Sep 17, 2026

Opening Night: Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 · Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

Sep 13, 2026

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin · Berliner Philharmoniker

About

Sergey Rachmaninoff hasn't added a bio