Composer

Harpsichordist Jean Rondeau returns to lead OSL in the finale of this year’s Bach Festival with a program tracing the evolution of the Bach dynasty’s music across the 18th century.

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Jean Rondeau and The Bach Dynasty

Carnegie Hall

Following our captivating performance at Halifax Minster in 2025, we are delighted to return to Halifax as part of our ongoing commitment to Culturedale and our work with UNESCO’s Seeds of Hope initiative.

As echoes of The Lark Ascending continue to resonate across the town, we look forward to bringing another vibrant programme of string repertoire to the Victoria Theatre, celebrating the very best of English music alongside inspiring works from around the world. The programme includes Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves, Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, and Grieg’s much-loved Holberg Suite.

We are especially pleased to premiere a new arrangement of Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances and to share the stage with talented young musicians from the Calderdale Music Youth Ensemble. This special concert provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase our award-winning work with schools and community groups across the region before we return to Calderdale again in August.

Close Encounters: Beyond the Lark

Victoria Theatre Halifax

The love for music is in Czech genes. There is good reason for the saying: Every Czech is a musician. Czech musicians are rightly considered to be the absolute best in the interpretation of classical music in the world. Do you want to meet them live?Come to a concert of the Prague Music Orchestra chamber ensemble, which originated in the beginning of the 21st century and is one of the most renowned Czech musical ensembles today. It is distinguished by a unique, cultivated sound and it is a representative of highly appreciated interpretation art.

The Best of Classics

Municipal House

All stops are pulled when organist Sebastian Heindl plays our Eule organ, demonstrating the versatility of his instrument with a virtuosic program. As a modern representative of the centuries-old Leipzig music tradition, Heindl opens his program with Bach. After warming up his fingers – and the audience – with the virtuosic cascades of the Toccata in F major, he leads through a mini-panorama of organ music, in which he also presents his own compositions. The thrilling conclusion is formed by Camille Saint-Saëns' "Danse macabre," arranged for organ by Heindl himself – dance-like, grotesque, and dizzyingly virtuosic.

Toccata

Palace of Culture

Hear violinist Renaud Capuçon make his OSL debut as both soloist and conductor in a program of vibrant and expressive works by Bach and Mozart.

Renaud Capuçon, Bach, and Mozart

8.  Chamber Concert

Lübeck Town Hall

The cello, long confined to the bass, rises to imitate the violin and reveal all its virtuosity. Exploring previously unpublished works by composers such as Giulio Ruvo, Giorgio Antoniotto, and Vivaldi, this concert tells the fascinating story of the instrument and its popular origins, sometimes meditative, sometimes exuberant. An invitation to discover an instrument in full emancipation.

And the cello suonò

Opéra Comédie

His piano recitals are unforgettable emotional events: Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say fascinates with his expressive playing style. Born in Ankara, trained in Düsseldorf and Berlin, Say combines experiences from Western classical music, oriental music, and jazz, building bridges between eras and cultures.

Fazıl Say

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

The final concert of the subscription serie I will be performed by the beloved Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. Under the expert direction of Nicholas Kraemer—a regular guest of the orchestra—the ensemble will present three of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, masterpieces that epitomize the Baroque concerto grosso tradition.

Czech Chamber Music Society • Nicholas Kraemer

Rudolfinum

Erin Yu, piano

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Our 40th Season concludes with the 1946 revision of Stravinsky's ballet suite Petrushka. A second performance this season featuring soloists from the ranks of the orchestra will be Assistant Concertmaster Viet Block and oboist Lauren Nebel's performance of Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe. Oregon composer (and occasional OES contra-bassoonist) Nicole Buetti's Odyssey Overture will round out the program.

OES Summer Concert 2026

Vert Auditorium

Claire Coven, mezzo-soprano

Jimi Wexler, guitar

Paul McCreesh launches OSL’s annual Bach Festival alongside GRAMMY-nominated countertenor Reginald Mobley.

Paul McCreesh Conducts Bach and Mozart

Clare Choi, cello

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

9th Philharmonic Concert BEETHOVEN / TERRANOVA

Elbphilharmonie

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

Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Jean-Christophe Spinosi

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Sacred and secular songs of hope, light, and comfort, by composers ranging from Giovanni Battista Pergolesi and J. S. Bach to Craig Hella Johnson and Caroline Shaw.

Northwestern Camerata

Director of Chamber Music Margaret Batjer invites you to savor an intimate bouquet of Baroque treasures, featuring the return of soprano Amanda Forsythe. From Handel’s expressive arias to Bach’s luminous “Wedding Cantata,” each piece unfolds like a flower in full bloom. On the second half, LACO cuts loose with Telemann’s Don Quixote suite and Biber’s Battalia, inviting you to dance into the night at this wedding themed program.

Baroque In Bloom

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

The Huntington

Ashley Ryoo, cello

Daniel Dorsey, cello

For the final program of the season, every note awakens the soul, reaffirming music’s timeless power to guide us toward joy and meaning—even when none seems to be found. Led by celebrated BSO Choral Director James Burton, “Boston’s best professional chorus” (The Boston Musical Intelligencer) delivers a concert experience unlike any other in our season, showcasing the transcendent music of Bach, Brahms, Gesualdo, and more–reminding us that in music, we can rediscover hope.

Voices Carry

New England Conservatory of Music

Xin Quan, violin

Amy Chu Yi Zhang, violin

Vintage baroque meets pure rock in this spirited double bill. Because when Vilde Frang and Kammerorchester Basel tackle Bach together, you know sparks will fly. The Norwegian string queen chose not only a violin concerto but also a harpsichord concerto, massaged into string music. And then there are Mendelssohn's string symphonies, brimming with youthful exuberance, and the Holberg Suite, in which Grieg proves that the spirit of Bach lingers even in the Far North.

Vintage baroque

Music Center De Bijloke

Eunchai Kang, viola

Experience the artistry of Sir András Schiff in his dual role as pianist and conductor. One of today’s foremost interpreters of Bach and Mozart, he leads from the keyboard in a sunny concerto by each. He then takes the podium for Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony, a piece inspired by the composer’s travels in the dramatic landscape of the Scottish Highlands.

Sir András Schiff: Bach, Mozart & Mendelssohn

David Geffen Hall

The MZ Duo, made up of Canadian saxophonist David Zucchi and Spanish accordionist Iñigo Mikeleiz- Berrade, presents a programme of creative reimaginings of the classical repertoire, reaching as far back as JS Bach’s whirlwind Flute Sonata in E Minor and Edvard Grieg’s landmark Holberg Suite, to a Dixieland interpretation of Eric Satie’s iconic Gnossienne no. 1, and finishing with a much- loved exploration of Astor Piazzolla’s Nuevo Tango.

MZ Duo

Donnington Priory

Shu-Tien Lin, guitar

A unique collaboration between outstanding young musicians and an expert on the music of J.S. Bach, the Gamut Bach Ensemble prides itself on stylistically sensitive, earnest, and insightful performances. Directed by Koji Otsuki, the Ensemble embarks on its annual program of cantatas in the luminous Church of the Holy Trinity.

Gamut Bach Ensemble

The Church of the Holy Trinity Philadelphia

Driven by infectious energy and great interpretative finesse, the ensemble takes on some of Johann Sebastian Bach's finest concertos, combining virtuosity, balance, and expressiveness. A luminous program that highlights the richness of instrumental dialogue so dear to the Leipzig master.

Bach Concertos

Jonas Koh, Percussion

The Juilliard School

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

Curtis on Tour in Berlin, Germany

Konzerthaus Berlin

Founded in 2019, Ensemble Augelletti were New Generation Baroque Ensemble in partnership with BBC Radio 3, the National Centre for Early Music, and the Royal College of Music and City Music Foundation Artists 2024-5. They are now regarded as among the most innovative and exciting period instrument ensembles and specialise in creating engaging programmes that tell the everyday stories of people living in the 17th and 18th centuries through baroque chamber music.

Ensemble Augelletti

St. Mary's Church

Conductor Andrew Megill leads a celebration of our Chorus in breathtaking spaces. From the intricate counterpoint and surprising dissonance of Machaut’s Kyrie and Andrieu’s Armes, amours to the Renaissance splendor of Ockeghem, Josquin, and Byrd, the evolution of choral music unfolds. Tallis’s breathtaking 40-part motet, Spem in alium (Hope in no other), soars alongside Monteverdi’s highly expressive madrigals and Bach’s deeply moving Komm, Jesu, komm and Jesu, meine Freude.

Celestial Voices

Fourth Presbyterian Church Chicago

Sts Faith, Hope, And Charity Catholic Church

What does musical progress sound like? And what happens when composers consciously look back? Under the motto "BACKWARDS is also FORWARDS," Christopher Lichtenstein explores the complex relationship between past and present in this program.

BACKWARDS is also FORWARDS

Schloss Osnabrück

Harpsichordist Justin Taylor will offer a suspended moment around Chopin, echoing the literary voice of Léonor de Récondo, writer and violinist, whose unique journey opens a sensitive dialogue with the composer's universe. Her new novel, Marcher dans tes pas, was published by L'Iconoclaste in 2025. An inspired evening, at the crossroads of imagination.

Justin Taylor & Léonor de Récondo

True to its mission of promoting and raising awareness of classical music, the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie travels across the Occitanie region in various formations.

Jazz Spirit Quartet

Tauriac-de-Camarès

Bach — and beyond. For the grand finale of Lucerne Festival Pulse, Víkingur Ólafsson himself takes the stage to perform the composer’s famous F minor Piano Concerto. Following intermission, Hong Kong-born maestra Elim Chan leads the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Brahms’s Fourth Symphony — a work that likewise bears Bach’s influence. The finale’s Passacaglia theme, which Brahms transforms with masterly skill, comes from Bach’s earliest surviving cantata, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (“For Thee, O Lord, I Long”), BWV 150. Even in Berg’s Violin Concerto — “one of the most Romantic ever,” as Víkingur calls it — a Bach reference appears in the form of a quote from the chorale Es ist genug (“It Is Enough”). For this performance, he has invited his favorite violinist, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, entrusting her with a special role: instead of an encore, she will play the original chorale. The orchestra will sing along, and the audience is invited to join in. “That’s something I’m not sure has ever been done at Lucerne Festival,” Víkingur says. “But the question is, can we really ever have enough of music?” The answer is clear: no — nor of Lucerne Festival Pulse, which will return for its second edition in 2027.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra | Elim Chan | Víkingur Ólafsson | Patricia Kopatchinskaja

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

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

Víkingur Ólafsson believes that Ludwig van Beethoven reinvented himself with the Sonata in E major, Op. 109, while at the same time paying homage to one of his great inspirations: Johann Sebastian Bach, who served as Beethoven’s “compass” for this venture into the unknown, as he puts it. The last movement of Op. 109 is a theme and variations that reveals “striking connections with the Goldberg Variations,” according to Víkingur. “Both are built on a songful Sarabande theme which comes back at the end in a cyclical return — the only time Beethoven does so in a variation movement. Even more, he brings little glimpses from the Goldbergs into play, including direct citations from Bach and such techniques as a fugato and so on.” Víkingur’s recital traces a path to this pinnacle through four works, all in E major or minor yet each strikingly different in character. Alongside a Bach prelude and the great E minor Partita, he includes a rarely heard Schubert sonata comprising only two movements that he believes was written in response to Beethoven’s own two-movement Sonata in E minor, Op. 90 — which is why it, too, merits a place on his program.

Víkingur Ólafsson

Got Bach? We do–and Telemann too! Enjoy the unparalleled H+H Orchestra led by Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen as they share their “consistently fresh and vital” takes on Baroque music (The Boston Globe). Embrace the warm comfort of Bach cantatas perfectly paired by the grace of Brandenburg Concerto No. 6. To send us off, Telemann’s Du aber Daniel gehe hin reminds the soul of blessed bliss!

Bach + Telemann

Old South Church in Boston

Harvard University

“Is there a string quartet on this planet that I like more?” Víkingur Ólafsson rhetorically asks. The answer, of course, is no. Formed 25 years ago at the Royal Academy of Music in Copenhagen, the Danish String Quartet has achieved cult status, with a shelf full of awards to match. Most recently, the four “Vikings,” as they jokingly call themselves on account of their bearded looks, received the prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize. Their hallmarks include electrifying arrangements of Nordic folk music, yet they are equally at home in the classical and contemporary repertoire. Their Festival debut begins, fittingly for Víkingur’s programming vision, with Bach. Stravinsky’s neoclassical Suite italienne, heard here in the quartet’s own arrangement, also draws on Baroque models. But the title of the concert comes from Beethoven, who inscribed the finale of his last string quartet with a question: “Muss es sein?” (“Must it be?”) — and gave his own reply in the lively main section: “It must be!” Just like this concert.

Danish String Quartet

He was not yet 15 years old when Mendelssohn Bartholdy was already able to present twelve short so-called string symphonies. They were already far more than compositional finger exercises and caused open-mouthed performances at the distinguished concerts in his parents' garden hall (with professional musicians from the royal court orchestra!). And then Bach: musical demands on the performer? Oh yes! Precision, logical phrasing, teamwork, and a soaring sound. Perfectly suited to Vilde Frang. And his popularity among the audience? Ten!

Idols

Don Bosco Basel

Written for Baroque orchestra, Stacy Garrop’s Handel-inspired concert opener features bursts of musical color and leads perfectly into Music for the Royal Fireworks. Musical pyrotechnics continue in the jubilant trumpet line of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 and conclude with Haydn’s beloved final symphony. Dame Jane Glover conducts this spectacular program.

Baroque Fireworks

Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Haoran Cui, Piano and Dustin Breshears, Violin

Join the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for a joyful evening celebrating a significant birthday of one of Britain’s most beloved composers and conductors, Sir John Rutter. A cherished friend of the Orchestra, John returns to the podium to lead a programme featuring his celebrated works.

Sir John Rutter Birthday Celebration

University of Oxford

Audrey Wang, Viola

Academy of Ancient Music joins The Wave Quartet in an ingenious, audacious musical voyage across five centuries.
Centuries pass, but artistry is forever, and whether it’s 1726 or 2026, there’s nothing to match the voltage generated by a virtuoso performer at the absolute peak of their game. In this extraordinary, genre-crossing collaboration AAM meets marimba phenomenon Christoph Sietzen and his Wave Quartet. Sparks will fly.

Rhythm Across Time

Milton Court Concert Hall

Maestro Adam Johnson conducts over 80 musicians on Gustav Mahler’s epic Symphony no. 5, one of the most emotionally powerful symphonies ever written.

Johnson conducts Mahler's Fifth Symphony

River Center Theatre

Centuries pass, but artistry is forever, and whether it’s 1726 or 2026, there’s nothing to match the voltage generated by a virtuoso performer at the absolute peak of their game. In this extraordinary, genre-crossing collaboration the Academy of Ancient Music meets marimba phenomenon Christoph Sietzen and his Wave Quartet. Sparks will fly.

Simon Johnson became Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in September 2021, following 13 years as the Organist and Assistant Director of Music at St Paul’s Cathedral. He was involved in all of the national occasions that took place at St Paul’s during this time, playing for Her Majesty the Queen, the Dalai Lama, as well as numerous Prime Ministers and Archbishops.

Simon Johnson

Douai Abbey

Sammi Li, piano

Joshua Lee, piano

We look forward to welcoming Ensemble MidtVest back to Esbjerg with a broad program featuring some of chamber music's finest composers.
Ensemble MidtVest is based primarily at the HEART art museum and creates exciting musical experiences in the tension between traditional chamber concerts and innovative outreach formats.

Guest Concert With Ensemble Midwest

Southern Denmark Conservatory of Music

Colors Ignited

Whitman College

Since forming their duo in 2016, saxophonist Huw Wiggin and harpist Oliver Wass have continued to develop and refine their programmes of music for this unusual pairing of instruments. Huw and Oliver have developed a reputation as warm communicators who draw audiences into their intimate and engaging performances.

The Highclere Concert

Highclere Castle

An exciting dialogue between Baroque and modern styles will unfold: Corelli's renowned Concerto Grosso, a Baroque masterpiece, will be followed by Handel's Concerto Grosso, showcasing the splendid, festive character of the Baroque era. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1, with its diverse instrumentation and sophisticated structures, is a shining example of his virtuosity and inventiveness. Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No. 1 blends Baroque tradition with modern sonic elements and unusual harmonies.

7th Symphony Concert

Theater Osnabrück

Freshmen Double Bass Recital

Micah Cortezzo, bassoon

Connor Cowart, horn

Maximilian Hornung regularly enchants his Blaibach audiences with his outstanding chamber music partners. Now you can experience him in his purest form: as a breathtaking soloist performing two of Johann Sebastian Bach's famous cello suites and exciting modern works.

Maximilian Hornung – cello solo

Blaibach Concert Hall

Bach - Britten - Pärt - MacMillan: On the "Day of Liberation" on May 8th, we musically bridge to Great Britain with our Philharmonic Choirs and present a program that illuminates different musical approaches to themes such as peace, remembrance, and spirituality. In his "Sinfonia da Requiem," Benjamin Britten combines liturgical elements with his personal musical language. Created against the backdrop of World War II, the composition stands as a monument and plea for peace and humanity. Arvo Pärt's "Da pacem Domine" combines meditative calmness and a clear, simple aesthetic. Pärt's minimalist musical language elevates the Latin plea for peace into a timeless, universal dimension. However, the musical core of the concert consists of two works by our Composer in Residence, who also conducts. Particularly poignant are his "Cantos Sagrados." "When composing this piece, I wanted to create something that is both timeless and contemporary, both sacred and secular," he says. The result is a moving work for choir and orchestra that is particularly touching under his direction.

MacMillan and Choir

MAP Studio Recital

Jimin Lee, Viola

Braxton Leek, trumpet

Gisel Dominguez, double bass

Some concerts you simply do not forget. Such was the case when Víkingur Ólafsson performed Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations at the 2023 Lucerne Festival. He did so in a way few had ever encountered before: as a vivid drama of the human condition, bringing a multitude of voices and characters to life and spanning the full range of emotions. He subsequently took the work on tour, performing it nearly 100 times around the world. “This piece is very close to me, so I’ve been giving it a bit of a rest because I wanted to have a fresh take on it,” Víkingur recalls. That time away from the Goldbergs gave rise to a bold idea. For the opening of Lucerne Festival Pulse — which he will curate for the next three years — Víkingur will join forces with his compatriot, the celebrated visual artist Olafur Eliasson, to reimagine Bach’s masterpiece as a Gesamtkunstwerk: a total work of art uniting sound and light projection. The setting for this 90-minute journey through time and space is the St. Pius Church in Meggen, with its delicate walls of translucent marble. Eliasson will respond to Víkingur’s playing in real time with his new, site-specific light installation, making each of the three performances unique. “I don’t really know how it’s going to turn out,” says Víkingur. “But that should be the spirit of the festival, to embrace the unexpected.”

Víkingur Ólafsson | Olafur Eliasson

St. Pius Church

Coco Lu Mi, Violin

Three spectacular soloists grace this program that follows a thread of musical styles from Baroque to early Classical. Co-concertmaster Nathan Olson is front-and-center in Bach’s Violin Concerto, whose poignant Adagio is one of his most sublime creations, with the solo violin exquisitely embroidering the underlying bass line. Our principal trumpet does the honors in Haydn’s tour de force concerto, traversing the instrument’s registers by leaps and bounds, but also bringing out its singing qualities. Mozart’s festive “Haffner” Symphony ends in a romping rondo, that Mozart said had to be played “as fast as possible.” In a dramatic concert aria, Kathryn Henry calls down the wrath of the gods on her perfidious lover. Hell hath no fury…

Beethoven, Bach, Haydn & Mozart

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

One of the boldest virtuosos this century plays Bach & more.

Cameron Carpenter, Organ

The Church of St. John the Divine

Tumultuous, intense, stormy, and passionate, Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 is a journey from struggle to triumph. Written over nearly 20 years, the work reveals a composer grappling with the legacy of Beethoven and facing the challenge of finding his own musical voice. The result is music of intense power and humanity: a symphony that blends Classical form with Romantic intensity.  

A work of intricate musical clarity, Bach’s Canon & Fugue, arranged for orchestra, offers a striking contrast and serves as the perfect upbeat to Brahms’ masterpiece. 

Rush Hour 4: Brahms’ First

St John's Waterloo

The remarkable piano duo brothers Arthur and Lucas Jussen will join forces once again with Academy of St Martin in the Fields directed by Tomo Keller for a tour across Europe, with a stunning programme including Mozart’s beautiful and playful Piano Concerto for three pianos in F major, Bach’s sprightly Double Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in C major.

Asmf & Lucas & Arthur Jussen, Europe

Freiburg Concert Hall

Municipal Theater Groningen

The Concertgebouw

Tonhalle Düsseldorf

Gasteig HP8

BRSO baroque · Rachel Podger

Munich Residence

A concert exploring the little-known world of percussion: rhythms, textures, and sound experimentation spanning contemporary music, arrangements of classic repertoire, and new technologies

Percussive Alchemy

Carlo Felice Theater

Throughout history, music has provided comfort in countless and diverse ways during times of grief and loss. Far Beyond the Skies brings together two venerable traditions, on the one hand two extraordinary works from the German Lutheran tradition which meditate on the release of death and the joys that await, and on the other hand funeral music from the Gospel tradition and where and how these two worlds intersect.

Far Beyond The Skies

All Souls' Episcopal Church/Bach Collegium San Diego

The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center

Violin virtuoso Andrew Sords returns for his third performance with the MSO, showcasing Richard Strauss’s vibrant and youthful “Violin Concerto in D Minor.” Composed when Strauss was only 17, the Concerto is a captivating showcase of late-Romantic virtuosity and artistic promise. The concert opens with Leopold Stokowski’s dramatic orchestral arrangement of J.S. Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” made famous by Disney’s Fantasia. Inspired by the ruins of Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh, Felix Mendelssohn’s “Symphony No. 3 in A Minor” brings the program and MSO’s season to a close.

German Masters With Andrew Sords, violin

Hylton Performing Arts Center

A superb young Toronto pianist plays Beethoven's noble Emperor Concerto and  the season wraps with one of Shostakovich's most personal masterpieces and the eternal genius of Bach 

The Emperor

Meridian Arts Centre

First appearing with the MSO in 2011, violin virtuoso Andrew Sords returns to Merchant Hall for his third performance, this time showcasing Richard Strauss’s vibrant and youthful Violin Concerto in D Minor. Composed when Strauss was only 17, the concerto may be less frequently performed than his later tone poems and operas, but it remains a captivating showcase of late-Romantic virtuosity and artistic promise.

The concert opens with Leopold Stokowski’s dramatic orchestral arrangement of J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, made famous by Disney’s Fantasia. Inspired by a walking tour through the ruins of Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh, Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A Minor (“Scottish”) brings the program — and the MSO’s season — to an exuberant close.

German Masters

Ahead of a tour together across Europe, the remarkable piano duo brothers Arthur and Lucas Jussen will join forces once again with Academy of St Martin in the Fields for a concert in London directed by Tomo Keller . The concert will feature Bach’s sprightly Double Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in C major and Mozart’s beautiful and playful Piano Concerto for three pianos in F major, written for the Countess Maria Antonia Lodron and her two daughters. The Concerto was later rearranged by Mozart himself and another pianist, incorporating the music for the Countess’ youngest daughter Giuseppa into the two other parts, which is the version the Jussen brothers will perform.

ASMF with Arthur and Lucas Jussen

St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London

Emmeline Murphy, oboe

Acclaimed pianist Mark Robson invites you to celebrate three cherished keyboard works by J. S. Bach: Partita in D, BWV 828, BWV 903, and the Italian Concerto, BWV 971, as well as selected preludes and fugues.

Pianist Mark Robson Celebrates Bach

Boston Court Pasadena

Hannah Zhao, violin

The superb young Toronto pianist Vanessa Yu joins the orchestra in one of the greatest concertos of all time, Beethoven’s noble Piano Concerto No. 5, the “Emperor.” Music director Nurhan Arman leads the orchestra in Dmitri Shostakovich’s poignant and personal Chamber Symphony in C minor Op. 110a and finishes with the powerful reassurance of J.S. Bach’s “Contrapunctus 1” and “Contrapunctus 2” in beautifully transparent orchestral versions.

Sinfonia Toronto: THE EMPEROR | Beethoven - Shostakovich - Bach

In one historic moment, Bach set the stage for the harpsichord to claim its place as a concerto soloist. The instrument's meteoric evolution from a harmony-playing member of the Basso continuo team to an elevated solo instrument worthy of concertos occurred when Bach composed a frenzied cadenza for the harpsichord in his Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. That work alone employs the harpsichord in three roles, to add harmonic texture, to share the spotlight with flute and violin as a melodic chamber instrument, and ultimately to completely take over the proceedings with a dramatic stepping out, front and center.

Composer

Johann Sebastian Bach

Events

Upcoming events

Feb 22 - Jul 7, 2026

6th Philharmonic Concert · Staatsoper Hamburg

Jun 18 - Aug 31, 2026

The Best of Classics · Prague Music Orchestra

Jun 25, 2026

Hélène Grimaud, piano · Caramoor

Jun 25, 2026

Alex Robson, Organ ·

Jun 26, 2026

2nd Student Concert · Staatskapelle Halle

Past events

Jun 23, 2026

Jean Rondeau and The Bach Dynasty · Orchestra of St. Luke's

Jun 22, 2026

Close Encounters: Beyond the Lark · English Chamber Orchestra

About

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