Composer

Harmony with Nature isn’t always quiet. The music of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Orthodox Easter celebrates the rebirth of spring and light. The enchanted world of Stravinsky’s The Firebird lies trapped in a wintry darkness, until the magic of fire, love and dazzling music restores it to glowing, vibrant life. And with a piano concerto like no other, composer pianist Gustavo Díaz-Jerez takes us to the island of La Palma, where the volcano Tajogaite creates even while it destroys.

The Firebird

Southbank Centre

The enchanted world of Stravinsky’s The Firebird lies trapped in a wintry darkness, until the magic of fire, love and Stravinsky’s dazzling music restores it to glowing, vibrant life.

Guest Concert

Rheingoldhalle Mainz

Spending the New Year in Spain? Yes! But which one? Here are three, presented by Yutaka Sado and the National: the idealized one, of a Capriccio made to "shine with the virtuosity of its orchestral coloring," says Rimsky-Korsakov, that musician "of the starry night and the golden sun" admired by Vladimir Jankélévitch; the other, more earthy and bloody, of Bizet and Carmen ; finally, between the fragrances of magnolias, the song of birds and the trickling of fountains, that of Rodrigo and his Concerto under the fingers of Thibaut Garcia.

The Grand Tour: Dijon

Archipelago Theatre

Dijon Opera

Grain Market

Maison de la culture de Grenoble

Olympia Theater Arcachon

Salins Theater

Théâtre Molière Sète National Stage and the Bassin de Thau

Aranjuez Concerto / Thibaut Garcia

Maison de la Radio et de la Musique

Bring some popcorn spirit into your holiday season! This year’s 64th Annual Concert-at-Christmas delivers festive cheer through cinematic sound, theatrical energy, and cherished tradition. Bruce Stark’s Popcorn Fantasia makes its world premiere, a lighthearted and imaginative tribute to film music. Leonard Bernstein’s Suite from On the Waterfront follows, rich in emotional intensity and urban drama.

EPSG:4326

A Cinematic Solstice

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

[Maestro] A white and thrilling Christmas, that's what OPRL and Adèle Molle offer you to close the year 2025. The story takes place in a Ukrainian village during Christmas night. We follow Vakoula, a young blacksmith in love with Oksana, a beautiful but capricious young girl. To seduce her, he must accomplish a real feat: bring Oksana the Tsarina's shoes. With the help of the devil, whom he manages to capture and force into obedience, Vakoula travels to the imperial court to seize his booty...

A Christmas in the snow

Philharmonic Hall of Liege

For its Christmas concert, the OPRL, under the direction of Austrian conductor Christoph Campestrini, explores some major works by composers inspired by the melancholic beauty of winter. In his Seasons , Glazunov delicately evokes the winter season, with its frost, ice, hail, and of course, snow! Taken from an opera about the life of Ukrainian villagers, Rimsky-Korsakov's Christmas Eve suite is adorned with Slavic colors and irresistible picturesque dances. Finally, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1 captures the beauty and intense emotion of a dreamlike journey to the heart of winter and its misty lands.

Christmas Concert: Tchaikovsky, Winter Dreams

ATTACCA Concert: Great Romanticism

Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding

Arabian Nights

Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School

Lidiya Yankovskaya returns to conduct Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved Sheherazade, inspired by Arabian Nights featuring concertmaster soloist Rolf Haas. Ten-time Grammy Award Winner and 2024 Kennedy Center Honoree Arturo Sandoval performs his very own Trumpet Concerto No. 2, inpired by his Latin Jazz roots and his love of Rachmaninoff. Samuel Barber’s Second Essay for Orchestra rounds out the program.

Scheherazade and Sandoval

Phoenix Convention Center

A concert to transport your imagination through storytelling and tall tales - from the romp that is Strauss’ Overture to Die Fledermaus, relating the farcical misadventures of a man dressed as a bat, to romantic tales of the Arabian Nights in Rimsky Korsakov’s Scheherazade. En route, drift off to a place of great calmness and tranquillity with Barber’s sublime Adagio for Strings and hear the tumultuous life story of an imaginary soldier in Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite.

Basingstoke Symphony Orchestra

The Anvil

Inspiration comes in all forms—whether it’s the sounds of a neighborhood, a different style of music, or even stories from over one thousand years ago.

Scheherazade

Merrill Auditorium

Opening Weekend: Xian Conducts Scheherazade

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

Princeton University

Count Basie Center for the Arts

The Midland Symphony Orchestra invites you on a breathtaking musical journey celebrating the violin! The evening begins with Motherboxx Connection by Carlos Simon, a vibrant and powerful work commissioned by our friends and partners at The Sphinx Organization. Violinist Adrian Anantawan will join the Orchestra for a performance of this Tchaikovsky masterwork. The second half features the beautiful and alluring Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

Midland Center for the Arts

Pure Fantasy

Mariposa County High School

Yosemite National Park

Opera for everyone: BMW Classics Concert

Sportanlage Sendling-Westpark

Orchestral Fantasies

West Side Presbyterian Church

Ignite

Washington Center for the Performing Arts

Experience a vibrant journey through timeless myth. Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade weaves the magical tales of One Thousand and One Nights with lush melodies an dazzling orchestration.

Scheherazade: One Thousand and One Nights

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Scheherazade's stories, which she tells over 1,000 nights to the Sultan, who summons her to his palace, are more than 1,000 years old. And the stories take place more than 1,000 kilometers away, in India and Iraq, China and Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon. They tell of adventurous journeys to distant lands, of dangerous sea voyages and incredible beasts, of heroic deeds and daring princes. In dazzling colors and flowery words, Scheherazade tells us some of the stories in her dress rehearsal before she goes to the Sultan. But she doesn't do it alone; the orchestra joins in the narration.

Scheherazade tells

Bonn Opera House

Experience a vibrant journey through modern energy, soulful tradition, and timeless myth. Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst shimmers with cosmic energy, followed by Arturo Márquez’s “Mystical and Profane” concerto featuring acclaimed Spanish guitarist Pablo Sainz-Villegas. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade weaves the magical tales of One Thousand and One Nights, with lush melodies and dazzling orchestration.

Shelley Conducts Scheherazade

The 28th Shibuya Afternoon Concert

Bunkamura

All concerts are FREE of admission charge and are held at Bridges Hall of Music.

2025 October Concert

Pomona College

The 40th Weekday Afternoon Concert

Tokyo Opera City Tower

Rimsky-Korsakov’s depiction of tales from One Thousand and One Nights features Artist in Residence and Concertmaster Nancy Zhou representing Scheherazade on her violin. Acclaimed SCS principal cellist Jonah Kim performs Elgar’s intensely moving Cello Concerto. The program opens with Mascagni’s breathtaking Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana.

Civic Auditorium Santa Cruz

Watsonville High School

Music Director & Conductor Toshiyuki Shimada’s 16th season leading the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra will rousingly begin, as usual, with The Star-Spangled Banner. The three other works on the program all had their premieres—in London, Vienna, and St. Petersburg—with the composer conducting. ECSO Instrumental Competition Winner Nicholas Hammel, a master’s candidate at Yale with degrees from the University of Texas and New England Conservatory, will perform Sir Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B Minor, first performed in 1910. Johannes Brahms’s Haydn Variations, composed in 1873, is also known as the Saint Anthony Variations, since the eight variations are based on a “Chorale St. Antoni” from a piece for winds probably misattributed to Joseph Haydn. Fourteen years later, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed his caprice on Spanish themes, Capriccio espagnol, a five-movement suite in which the strings at times imitate guitars. The fourth moment opens with five lively cadenzas, by the trumpets and horns, violin, flute, clarinet, and harp.

Opening Night 2025

The Garde Arts Center, Inc.

Voyages

The Salvation Army Scarborough Citadel Community Church

Be swept away into an enchanting evening full of rich orchestral textures and evocative musical storytelling. The evening unfolds with the lush, dreamlike landscapes of Debussy’s Nocturnes. Each movement paints an impressionistic picture: slow-moving clouds, vibrant festivals, and the mysterious voices of Sirens, portrayed by the voices of the Columbus Symphony Women’s Chorus. Kaija Saariaho’s Vers toi qui es si loin is a haunting exploration of longing and connection to what lies beyond our human existence. Finally, escape into the exotic musical landscapes of Rimsky-Korsakov’s colorfully orchestrated Scheherazade. Melodic tales of adventure and intrigue are brought to life featuring concertmaster Joanna Frankel as the “voice” of the Arabian princess Sheherazade weaving fairy tales for 1001 nights.

Ohio Theatre

The NSO’s season bursts to life with the sensational Yuja Wang in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, a powerhouse work for Wang to flaunt her “scintillating pianism” (New York Classical Review). The evening also shines a spotlight on American voices, from Copland’s resounding Fanfare for the Common Man to Carlos Simon’s Warmth of Other Suns and more. A perfect night for newcomers and longtime symphony lovers alike!

Season Opening Gala Concert: Noseda & Yuja Wang

Kennedy Center

Scheherazade, based on the Middle Eastern folktales, One Thousand and One Nights, showcases Rimsky-Korsakov’s mastery as an orchestrator and storyteller. Waves of sound feature many instrumental solos with a prominent role throughout for the solo violin. Our very own talented Concertmaster, Scott Moore, will be featured in this performance. The German-Jewish composer Paul Hindemith was newly settled in New York in 1951 when he transformed his sketches of a ballet based on themes by Carl Maria von Weber into his “American Symphony”.

Exotic Nights

Isaac Harris Cary Memorial Building

Season Opening Sunday!

Blennerhasset School

an orchestral "breathing in and out" (Šenk). Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 5 was composed in 1896 in Luxor, Egypt. The composer himself described the middle movement as "a kind of journey to the Orient." In addition to Arabic melodies recorded several years earlier, it contains "a Nubian love song that I heard boatmen sing on the Nile." Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov also paints pictures of an imaginary Orient in his "Scheherazade" from 1888. The eponymous princess tells adventurous stories for a thousand and one nights, for her survival is at stake – and Rimsky-Korsakov dresses these stories in beguiling orchestral palette.

1st Symphony Concert

Eurogress Aachen

We begin Erin Aldridge’s 20th season as concertmaster of the DSSO with a look to the East, featuring Rimsky-Korsakov’s masterpiece, Scheherazade. This large orchestral work includes stunning violin solos which weave throughout the work representing the 1,001 tales told by Sultana Scheherazade as she vied to save her life day after day by seizing the interest of Sultan Shahriar. The program also includes Weber’s contribution to the tale of the Arabian Nights. Piano soloist, Adam Golka, completes the program with Africa, a work by Saint-Saëns written in Algeria and Egypt, and Turkish composer Fazil Say’s 2nd Piano Concerto, which evokes traditional music from Silk Road countries including Tibet, India, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia.

Duluth Entertainment Convention Center

Season Opening Night!

Clay Center

The RSO begins the 2025/26 season with passionate rhythms of Spain and Russia. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, a vibrant celebration of Spanish folk music, showcases the colorful range of the orchestra, as the themes dance through the instrument families. Ponce’s Concierto del Sur features the romantic sounds of the classical guitar, performed by returning guest virtuoso Daniel Bolshoy. The concert powerfully concludes with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, a sweeping journey of emotion, from its tragic and brooding opening to its triumphant finale.

Passionate Rhythms

Coronado Theatre

Rimsky-Korsakov 'Scheherazade'

Lotte World Mall

The two stars Daniel Müller-Schott and Vasily Petrenko have been working together for over ten years, and now it's time for the festival prize winner to bring the conductor and his Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to Ulrichshusen. The program includes a piece that the cellist considers one of the most beautiful and moving of all time: Dvořák's Cello Concerto. "Every note is full of love. This work is from heaven," says Müller-Schott.

Daniel Müller-Schott and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Schloss und Gut Ulrichshusen

Ever since winning the 2021 Warsaw Chopin Competition, Bruce Liu has been one of the most sought-after pianists of our time. At the Kurhaus Wiesbaden, last year's Focus Artist, together with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vasily Petrenko, presents a demanding program that impressively demonstrates the close connection between music and storytelling. The program focuses on three masterpieces that transform stories into sound in very different ways: Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1," famous for its iconic "Morning Mood," Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade," inspired by the fairy tales from "One Thousand and One Nights," and Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini," which shines with virtuoso brilliance.

Bruce Liu, piano Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Vasily Petrenko, conductor

Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal

To kick start the Oxford Piano Festival 2025, we have a thrilling concert full of dynamic and exciting works. We will be joined by Isata Kanneh-Mason, ‘one of today’s most in-demand classical musicians’ (Classic FM), performing Prokofiev’s playful and inventive Piano Concerto No. 3. After the interval, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra will return to the stage for Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Full of vivid musical storytelling and enchanting melodies, the audience will be transported away to a world of mystery and adventure.

Isata Kanneh-Mason

The Sheldonian Theatre

The fourth concert of the NY Phil’s Bravo! Vail residency opens with a selection from Schubert’s Marche Militaire. Santtu-Matias Rouvali returns to the podium to lead Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto — featuring Yulianna Avdeeva as soloist — and Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved Scheherazade.

Bravo! Vail: Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Yulianna Avdeeva

Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater

Enjoy a captivating program rife with rich musical storytelling as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra returns to Interlochen. Acclaimed for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost artists, and deep connections to its city, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is widely regarded as one of the nation’s most accomplished orchestras. Music Director Jader Bignamini leads the ensemble in three evocative works: the Overture to Omar by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels; Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice; and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Op. 35.

Jader Bignamini conducts the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Interlochen Center for the Arts

Superstar pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet brings vibrant color to George Gershwin’s jazzy Piano Concerto in F—a bluesy masterwork filled with Charleston rhythms. Closing the program is Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, an exotic journey of love, peril, and intrigue inspired by the famous folktale about a clever young queen who spins 1,001 fantastical stories to outwit a murderous sultan.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet plays Gershwin

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

The wonderful Australian Youth Orchestra features young instrumentalists aged 12 to 30, hailing from all corners of the continent. The experiences these musicians bring with them are correspondingly diverse. They all applied for this summer and passed a rigorous selection process. Now they're touring Europe, performing at the MV Festival, and adding another facet to the colorful picture audiences can form of these young heroes of orchestral life—even playing the didgeridoo!

Orchestral heroes: The Australian Youth Orchestra

At the end of the season, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra with chief conductor Alain Altinoglu will once again be appearing at the Festival International de Colmar with three concerts. Alain Altinoglu has been the artistic director of the traditional festival in Alsace since 2023. In the church of Saint-Matthieu, he and his orchestra, this time with cellist Gautier Capuçon and pianist Alexander Malofeev as well as hr solo trumpeter Sebastian Berner, will present works by Stravinsky, Escaich and Dvořák, Rachmaninoff and Rimsky-Korsakov as well as Brahms and Haydn.

International Festival of Colmar 1

Église Saint-Matthieu

To conclude the season, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of chief conductor Alain Altinoglu, will once again perform three concerts at the Festival International de Colmar. Altinoglu has been the artistic director of this prestigious festival in Alsace since 2023. In the Church of Saint-Matthieu, he and his orchestra, featuring cellist Gautier Capuçon, pianist Alexander Malofeev, and Frankfurt Radio solo trumpeter Sebastian Berner, will present works by Stravinsky, Escaich , Dvořák, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Brahms, and Haydn.

International Festival of Colmar

Église Saint-Matthieu de Colmar

June 2025 Concert

Eccles Town Hall

Season Finale Concert

East Providence High School

Grab your passport and join us for our season’s grand finale in Spain. Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, by far his best-known work, cemented his reputation as one of Spain’s most significant composers.

We’ll also view the Iberian Peninsula through the lens of two visiting composers, Ravel (France) and Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian), and hear how each portrayed Spanish music through their distinct writing styles.

España

California Theatre

Dive into an enchanting underwater adventure with Symphony Under the Sea. In celebration of World Ocean Day, this program brings the magic and mystery of the sea to life through music. From the sweeping waves of classical masterpieces by Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns, to the beloved melodies of The Little Mermaid and Moana, this concert captures the wonder of the ocean in a way that’s both exciting and immersive. With pre-concert activities like an instrument petting zoo and resources for family, this sensory-friendly concert designed for music lovers of all ages, will transport you on a symphonic journey beneath the sea.

MyDSO Sensory-Friendly Concert

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

Featuring fantastical worlds of bewitching lovers and swashbuckling sailors, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade recalls the queen who saves her life — and those of 1,000 women — with her stories. And Principal Cello and composer Nancy Ives merges music, poetry, and photography to tell the story of the majestic falls of Celilo, Oregon, Although the construction of the Dalles Dam destroyed this central site of Native American life for over 15,000 years, the traditions and resilience of the community live on today.

Scheherazade and Celilo Falls

Willamette University

Rimsky-Korsakov’s sweeping symphonic suite follows the stories of One Thousand and One Nights, with music as immersive as the tales spun by the storyteller Scheherazade.

Arts Centre Melbourne

Every note in Grieg’s Piano Concerto is a delight, from the iconic opening to the gorgeous lyricism of the slow movement. Electrifying pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk brings stunning virtuosity to this performance of a perennial audience favourite.

Grieg's Piano Concerto

Pre-College Orchestra

The Juilliard School

Jader Bignamini leads Ravel’s nod to the past and French pianist Bertrand Chamayou has the “big technique that you need,” (Seattle Times) to play Ravel’s piano concertos back-to-back. Composed at the same time, the two magnificent works combine Ravel’s flair for orchestral color with pianistic virtuosity and the influence of jazz. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol began as a feature for the violin but ended up a showpiece for the entire orchestra.

Ravel's Piano Concertos

Orchestra Hall

This majestic piece exudes grandeur and wisdom, with a regal march showcasing Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestration mastery.

Wisdom

Moody Performance Hall

Jakub Hrůša and the Czech Philharmonic Youth Orchestra not only see “eye to eye” but hear “ear to ear” as well. After their first collaboration last season, they set out together this time for Arabia of the Middle Ages in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. In the second half of the programme, the Czech Philharmonic and its Principal Guest Conductor join forces with three vocal soloists and the Prague Philharmonic Choir for Josef Suk’s Epilogue, the finale of his symphonic tetralogy.

Czech Philharmonic • Jakub Hrůša

Rudolfinum

Florian Noack (born 1990) is a Belgian pianist renowned for his virtuosity, innovative programming, and championing of rare romantic and post-romantic repertoire. He began piano studies at age 4 and by 12 joined the Queen Elisabeth Chapel’s program for exceptional young talents. Noack has won numerous prestigious awards, including the ECHO Klassik for Young Artist of the Year, Diapason d’Or of the Year, Octave de la Musique for Artist of the Year, and prizes at the Rachmaninoff, Robert Schumann, and Cologne international piano competitions.

Florian Noack

De Anza College

In this legendary rendering by Rimsky-Korsakov, a soaring violin embodies the seductive voice of Scheherazade, while Ravel’s kaleidoscopic orchestration conveys the all-absorbing tales of One Thousand and One Nights. Composer and pianist Gabriela Montero combines forces with Music Director Laureate Marin Alsop in Montero’s uproarious and fun Piano Concerto No. 1, “Latin,” complete with a mambo and a pajarillo dance from her native Venezuela. Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz kicks off the party with a scintillating tribute to dance halls of Mexico City.

Scheherazade, Alsop, & Montero

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

University of Maryland

The Music Center at Strathmore

Rimsky Korsakov, Copland, and Brahms

Brooklyn Museum

Take a trip with the Charleston Symphony through lush Spanish musical themes via Rimsky-Korsakov and Joaquín Rodrigo, with a detour to Austria for Brahms’ inviting and intricate Symphony No. 2. Conductor José Luis Gomez returns to the podium with Grammy nominated guitarist Mak Grgic for the CSO’s final Masterworks concert of the 2024-2025 season.

Brahms’ Symphony No. 2

Gaillard Center

It starts with a bassoon solo, and before long there is a profusion of twitters, plucked strings and pounding of pagan drums…like all manner of life forms breaking through the frozen crust of the Russian landscape as pulsing rhythms and primitive rituals proclaim the veneration of spring. It’s The Rite of Spring, the iconic work that changed classical music forever and even today continues to be a thrilling, visceral experience. Abandon yourself to its raw energy and revel in its electrifying intensity as Aziz Shokhakimov, Music Director of Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, guest conducts the DSO. Jörgen van Rijen solos in the US premiere of a concerto by Andrew Norman, praised by the Boston Globe for his “staggering imagination.” Opening the concert, Rimsky-Korsakov dazzles you with colorful evocations of Spain.

Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring

The Great Scheherazade

La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church

Consummate virtuosa Isabelle Demers transforms the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique into an opulent orchestra, bringing out its many facets.

Isabelle Demers Performs The Firebird

Place des Arts

This enchanting concert features Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s music inspired by Sheherezade’s tales of hordes of thieves, caves of treasure, and magic lamps from 1001 Arabian Nights. We are joined by our talented Youth Orchestra for Bela Keler’s Lustspiel Overture and Symphonic Choir for a series of popular opera choruses.

Sheherezade

Mansfield Theater

Powerful Women

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

This adventurous program will feature Rimsky-Korsakov’s enchanting Scheherazade, which uses music to tell the story of 1001 Arabian Nights. NHSO proudly welcomes triple-Grammy nominee Wu Man – the world’s foremost pipa soloist – to serve as a “wordless narrator” on Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Du Yun’s extraordinary and unusual Ears of the Book.

Yale University

Dominant alpha males or sensitive organisers: conductors are very different – and one might think that the profession has been around forever. Compared to many others, however, it is still relatively young: it only emerged in the 19th century. Before that, only one of the players or the composer himself made a few hand gestures from the piano. But during the Romantic period in particular, the ensembles became larger and larger and the scores became more complex. A person was now needed to coordinate everything in order to avoid chaos. Mendelssohn is regarded as the first conductor in today’s understanding of the term, who set the standard as Gewandhauskapellmeister. He was followed by other big names in Leipzig, including Arthur Nikisch, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Kurt Masur and Herbert Blomstedt. Since 2018, Andris Nelsons has been holding the strings together there – but he also loves conducting our orchestra, and we are delighted that he is coming back to Bamberg. Because he is a phenomenon: he lives, breathes and loves music – and celebrates this with an unmistakable trademark of virtually painted lines, conveying strong emotions. The programme he has chosen combines dance works from East and West – after all, music is a wonderful means of building bridges across borders: His Latvian compatriot Arturs Maskats wrote an exciting tango in 2002, while Carlos Simon wrote the colourful »Four Black American Dances« in 2022. There is also a beguiling feast for the ears with Rimsky-Korsakov’s caleidoscope about the storyteller Scheherazade – and Andris Nelsons will certainly conduct again in the same way as he once mentioned in an interview: »Ultimately, you have to follow your heart, that’s where the impulse comes from.«

Andris Nelsons

Bamberg Concert Hall

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returns to Reading with a program that will stir your senses and transport you to the sun-drenched plazas and tranquil courtyards of Spain.

Sean Shibe performs Rodrigo

The Hexagon

2025 Spring Concert

Saratoga High School

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" stands as one of the most recognizable and beloved orchestral interludes in the classical repertoire. Originally composed as part of his opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan," this brief yet intricate orchestral piece has transcended its operatic origins to become a standalone concert favorite.

"Flight of the Bumblebee" is a musical portrayal of the incessant buzzing and darting flight of a bumblebee, characterized by its rapid tempo and virtuosic passages. Rimsky-Korsakov masterfully captures the agility and energy of the insect through the use of rapid chromatic runs and fluttering melodies, which dart and weave through the orchestral texture with remarkable agility.

While the piece is often performed as a standalone orchestral excerpt, its original context within "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" is worth noting. In the opera, the "Flight of the Bumblebee" serves as an entr'acte between scenes, depicting the transformation of the Tsar's son into a bumblebee to escape from a treacherous situation. This context adds an extra layer of whimsy and theatricality to the music, enriching the listener's experience

Orchestral Menagerie

University of Redlands

Immerse yourself in an afternoon of orchestral splendor at SOGO’s March concert, where vibrant melodies and dazzling performances take center stage! Delight in the spirited charm of Franz von Suppe’s Pique Dame Overture performed by the Conservatory Orchestra, followed by the colorful rhythms of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol. This concert, which will also feature the Brass Choir and Academy and Philharmonic orchestras, promises to be a thrilling showcase of over 160 talented young musicians from across the South Sound region, bringing these iconic works to life with passion and precision. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the excitement of classical music through the fresh perspectives of our rising stars!

SOGO Winter Concert

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra returns to G-Live under the baton of trailblazing South Korean conductor, Shiyeon Sung and with Artist-in-Residence Johan Dalene to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major. A work full of fire and ferocity, both soloist and orchestra have the chance to dazzle in one of the most enduring concertos of the violin repertoire.

Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

G Live

Joyce Yang dazzles in Prokofiev’s sparkling 3rd Piano Concerto, a piece with the one of the most brilliant finishes of any work in the genre. Anna Clyne’s Masquerade conjures images of a chaotic revelry. Conductor Valentina Peleggi makes her ISO debut and transports us into a Middle Eastern fairy tale with Rimsky-Korsakov’s exotic Scheherazade.

Hilbert Circle Theatre

Opening is Finnish composer Jean Sibelius's single movement nature-inspired Nightride and Sunrise - a strident nocturnal journey culminating in a rejoiceful dawn.

Composer

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 7, 2026

Peter and the Wolf (A Family Concert) · San Diego Symphony

Feb 8, 2026

Tales of Old · Alamo City Arts

Feb 8, 2026

Rachmaninov And Scheherazade · Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

Feb 13, 2026

Experience the Intrigue · Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra

Feb 14, 2026

Love Stories · The Syracuse Orchestra

Past events

Jan 17, 2026

The Firebird · London Philharmonic Orchestra

Jan 17, 2026

The Firebird · Southbank Centre

About

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov hasn't added a bio