Composer

»If I survived, and others didn’t, then it was probably to attest to what Auschwitz was.« Said Zofia Posmysz, explaining why she wrote her novel The (female) Passenger. Polish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg, who suffered under the brutality of the SS as well as Stalin’s reign of terror, found a guardian and supporter in Dmitri Shostakovich. It was he who suggested he turn Posmysz' novel into an opera. Director Anselm Weber and set designer Katja Haß cleverly managed to depict different times and places – present day and memories: A ship sailing to Brazil in the 1950s. Lisa and her husband Walter are on their way to start a new life when an encounter suddenly confronts Lisa with the past, when she was a KZ guard in Auschwitz. Is the other passenger a former prisoner, Marta? Lisa was convinced she had died but now stands face to face with her. Walter’s dumbfounded and fears for his future as a diplomat – he knew nothing of his wife’s past.

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The (female) Passenger

Oper Frankfurt

When three teenagers formed a piano trio in 2013, they were still students and performed under the name "Trio Chagall." More than ten years later, the three friends from Turin have become a professional trio, playing with Italian passion and now appearing as "rising stars" in Europe's prestigious concert halls. As their career progressed, a new name was needed: Inspired by Michelangelo, they called themselves "Trio Concept," with the vision of carving out the beauty of a work like a sculpture from a block of marble.

Trio Concept

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

"The Fantastic" is the theme of this season's chamber concerts in the Apollosaal, based on the season's first opera premiere, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Musicians of the Staatskapelle Berlin have developed programs that approach this idea and concept, which play a key role in music, in a variety of ways. Ranging from the Baroque to the present day, with a particular focus on the Romantic period, featuring Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and the multitalented E.T.A. Hoffmann (who, in an idealized form, became the title character in Offenbach's opera), "The Fantastic" will be explored with a variety of chamber music works in diverse ensembles.

Chamber Concert III

Berlin State Opera

The British cellist Raphael Wallfisch, son of Holocaust survivor and cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, performs with pianist Simon Callaghan in major works by composers of diverse musical backgrounds and approaches who were caught up in the suffering and upheaval of the Second World War.

Raphael Wallfisch: Composers in Exile

Southbank Centre

The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra will open the evening with the Fairy Tale-Poem by contemporary Russian author Sofia Gubaidulina. This orchestral work tells the story of a piece of white school chalk that dreams of drawing beautiful castles, gardens and seas on a blackboard Instead, it has to write boring words and numbers and draw geometric shapes every day. The schoolchildren are growing up and there is less and less writing for it. Will someone's childlike hand make her dreams come true?

Andris Poga and Tchaikovsky's Pathétique

Rudolfinum

During the 2025/26 season, various chamber concerts will again take place in the Mainz-Weisenau Synagogue.

2nd Chamber Concert in the Synagogue

Alte Synagoge Mainz-Weisenau

Lithuainian conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Italian pianist Beatrice Rana meets the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Maurice Ravel's jazzy and entertaining Piano Concerto in G major . Additionally, soprano Karolina Bengtsson joins the orchestra on stage in Mieczysław Weinberg's Symphony No. 21 'Kaddish', dedicated to the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust. The concert begins with Shostakovich's satirical cantata Antiformalist Rayok with Alexander Teliga and voice students from the Royal College of Music.

Ravel’s Piano Concerto with Beatrice Rana

Berwaldhallen

Shostakovich completed his Tenth Symphony in 1953 – just after Stalin’s death – and the work is seen as a depiction of the Stalin years in Russia, where millions of people died and those who did not die lived in constant fear. This also applied to Shostakovich, who had difficulty sleeping, chain smoked and lived in constant fear of being deported to Siberia.

Shostakovich's 10th with Weilerstein

Aalborg Central Waterfront

Mieczysław Weinberg lost his family in the concentration camps. Fifty years later, he composed Symphony No. 21 in memory of the Holocaust victims from his hometown, Warsaw. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts the symphony along with Suite No. 4 from The Golden Key. Marie-Ange Nguci is the piano soloist in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla Marie-Ange Nguci

Oslo Concert Hall

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts Mieczysław Weinberg’s Symphony No. 21. Weinberg lost his family in the concentration camps, and fifty years later, he composed this symphony in memory of the Holocaust victims from his hometown, Warsaw.

Classical Hour Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla

Vienna Philharmonic · Welser-Möst

Great Festival House

Gstaad Festival Youth Orchestra – Concert

Festival-Zelt Gstaad

“Gently Saying Farewell” – Escape to Exile II

Saanen Church

Schubert, Grieg, Weinberg

Benaroya Hall

Jonathon Heyward conducts a pair of distinct musical portraits. German composer Christian Jost’s 'The Woman in the Gardens of Suzhou' depicts the gardens of Suzhou which defined and perfected the imagery of the Chinese Garden. Meanwhile Mieczysław Weinberg’s Third Symphony, written between 1949-1950, flits between pastoral images and Russian folk melodies.

Jonathon Heyward conducts Jost and Weinberg

BBC Maida Vale Studios

Hear the blazing fanfares that open Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony? For Tchaikovsky, they symbolised Fate, and the whole symphony simply bursts with melody and emotion. If you’ve already heard Vasily Petrenko conduct Russian music, you won’t need telling twice: things are about to get exciting, in a concert that begins with the flying fiddles of Weinberg’s Moldavian Rhapsody and features the unforgettable tunes of Shostakovich’s irreverent Suite. Trust us, you’ll know them when you hear them!

White Nights

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra welcomes the extraordinary Canadian piano virtuoso Marc-André Hamelin, who brings volcanic energy together with aching lyricism for an unforgettable concert experience. He performs Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 3, a piece overflowing with dazzling pianism and boisterous good cheer. Guest conductor Marzena Diakun opens the evening with Weinberg’s raucous Rhapsody on Moldovan Themes and rounds it out with Tchaikovsky's delightfully atmospheric Symphony No. 1, "Winter Daydreams."

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1

The Woodruff Arts Center

She is one of the hottest women on the classical music scene right now: Lera Auerbach. The works of the composer, pianist and author, who lives in the USA, have a large fan base around the world. Auerbach's exciting music is characterized by great stylistic freedom and is difficult to pigeonhole. Adam's Lament, which will be premiered at the 10th Philharmonic Concert, was commissioned by the Bremen Philharmonic Society. With Mieczysław Weinberg's Trumpet Concerto, the young, award-winning trumpeter Selina Ott makes her debut with the Bremen Philharmonic. Ott is now one of the undisputed stars of her profession. With the Weinberg Concerto, she plays a highly attractive work by Shostakovich's friend, which he has repeatedly praised as a veritable "symphony for trumpet and orchestra". Next on the programme is the Symphony of Fate, not Beethoven's, but Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's, which is also, significantly, his Fifth. If that isn't an omen...

A celebration of new things

Die Glocke

Join the Orchestre symphonique de Québec for an unforgettable evening of dance and music with "Radulović et Schuldt vous font danser" on May 7, 2025, at 20:00 at the prestigious Palais Montcalm. Starting at just $55, immerse yourself in a program that promises to enchant and inspire.

Under the baton of Clemens Schuldt and featuring the virtuosic Nemanja Radulović on violin, the evening will showcase a captivating selection of works. The program includes Weinberg's Rhapsodie sur des thèmes moldaves, Khatchatourian's Violin Concerto, and Dvořák's Symphony No. 6, each piece offering a unique exploration of Eastern European musical landscapes.

The concert will open with a special prelude at 19:00, hosted by Clemens Schuldt himself. This pre-concert talk offers insights into the creative process and the historical context of the featured works, enhancing your concert experience. Following the prelude, attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy performances by emerging musicians from the Conservatoire de musique de Québec and the Faculté de musique de l’Université Laval.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the dynamic partnership of Schuldt and Radulović, as they bring to life a program that traverses somber themes, virtuosic energy, and the joy of dance. Tickets are available for purchase online or by phone at 1 877 641-6040. Join us for an evening that celebrates the power of music to move and inspire.

Radulović and Schuldt Make You Dance

Palais Montcalm – Maison de la musique

Program change: The NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Jonathon Heyward will perform Rachmaninoff's Second instead of Holst's "The Planets" in the Elbphilharmonie. Trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger will play Weinberg's Trumpet Concerto in B flat major.

Jonathon Heyward & Hakan Hardenberger

St. George's Church Wismar

Daniel Hope : Chamber orchestra

Prinzregententheater

Around ten years before his opera "The Passenger", which is on the Lübeck Music Theatre's repertoire this season, Mieczysław Weinberg composed his brilliant violin concerto in 1959. Influences from the musical tradition of the Eastern Jewish diaspora, with which he had been familiar since his childhood in Poland, shape the melody and harmony of the work. It is conceived as a symphony in four movements and dedicated to the great Russian violinist Leonid Kogan. In Lübeck, the solo part will be played by a proven Weinberg interpreter, the award-winning violinist Benjamin Schmid.

6th  Symphony Concert

Music and Congress Hall

Despite being a friend and contemporary of Shostakovich, Mieczysław Weinberg and his musical genius went unrecognized for much of the 20th century due to Soviet-Era suppression. This concert highlights three of Weinberg’s more than 150 works: a playful flute concerto, a concertino for violin and string orchestra, and a dramatic chamber symphony.

Recovered Voices: The Music of Poland

Colburn School

New York City Opera proudly presents a celebration of survival and perseverance through the universal language of music, featuring the works of composers whose stories resonate with the enduring power of the human spirit. The program begins with rarely heard gems from Holocaust Survivors: Mieczysław Weinberg's stirring Suite from The Last Inch and poignant Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 52, making its New York premiere, followed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Cello Concerto in C Major, Op. 37  featuring cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper. These works, born from the crucible of survival, showcase the profound artistry of composers whose legacies are only now being fully appreciated.  Weinberg's emotional Fantasia and Korngold's vibrant concerto, originally written for the 1946 film "Deception," offer a testament to their creators' extraordinary talents and unwavering artistic integrity.

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The concert culminates with the U.S. premiere of Gennady Rovner's Symphony Metamorphosis, featuring soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich. This contemporary piece echoes the same enduring spirit for the 21st century, bridging past and present. As we reflect on the journeys of Weinberg and Korngold, we are reminded of music's power to transcend borders and foster understanding. This performance invites us to learn from history, encourage empathy, and celebrate the artistic resilience that continues to inspire and unite us.

Music of Survival

Carnegie Hall

Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft takes to the podium to conduct the world premiere of Composer-in-Association, Gavin Higgins’ A Monstrous Little Suite from his opera The Monstrous Child, before Håken Hardenberger makes a much anticipated return to BBC NOW for one of the finest concertos of its kind, Weinberg’s playful, suspenseful and witty Trumpet Concerto. With shadows of darkness, to a hobbling waltz, this concerto ingeniously quotes music from some of the most popular works in existence, from Bizet’s Carmen to Stravinsky’s Petrushka, from Mendelssohn’s iconic Wedding March to Mahler’s fifth.

Shostakovich 6 with Ryan Bancroft

 Brangwyn Hall

BBC National Orchestra of Wales

The Trio Orelon is praised for its "chamber music intensity and emotionality" (FAZ) and has earned an outstanding reputation since its founding in 2019, which has been expressed in numerous awards, most recently in the award of 1st prize at the ARD Competition 2023. The program is as profoundly brooding as it is rich in sound,encompassing Weinberg's trio composed in 1945 and Dvořák's powerful F minor work, Wolfgang Rihm's third part of his triptych "Fremde Szene", the result of Rihm's engagement with Robert Schumann's work.

4th Chamber Concert

Orangerie Darmstadt

Grieg Quartet Leipzig

Gewandhaus

Three composers cry out in the void. Confronted by unimaginable horror, Schoenberg rediscovered his Jewish roots, and created a musical drama of savage, defiant courage, in tribute to the Holocaust victims. In Soviet Russia, the authorities expected Shostakovich to write a propaganda symphony: but what they got was a searing denunciation of man’s inhumanity to man – more potent, and more urgent than ever in 2024. As part of our exploration of memory, Andrey Boreyko conducts three testaments from a dark century – with the incomparable Gidon Kremer as soloist in the Violin Concerto by Mieczysław Weinberg: composer, survivor and Shostakovich’s most devoted friend.

A Dark Century

Royal Festival Hall

Three composers cry out in the void. The London Philharmonic Orchestra continues its exploration of memory, in works by Schoenberg, Shostakovich and Weinberg.

Chennie Sung, Cello

Alice Pratt Brown Hall

In this latest instalment of the ensemble’s exploration of chamber works by Shostakovich and Weinberg, we hear the Tenth Quartet (1964) of the former and the Eleventh (1965-6) of the latter, alongside his early (1944) Piano Quintet.

Quatuor Danel; François-Frédéric Guy piano

Wigmore Hall

Cello students of Brinton Averil Smith

Precision and feverish intensity: this is what critics say one can look forward to in a performance from the Trio Zimbalist. Although still young, the trio of graduates from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute has already received wide acclaim, and this performance presented by the Czech Chamber Music Society marks their first appearance in the Czech Republic. Their programme is an inspirational combination of Czech classics coupled with a modern-day reimagining of the piano trio from the contemporary composer Lera Auerbach.

Czech Chamber Music Society • Trio Zimbalist

Franz Schubert is rarely as much a singer and song composer in his instrumental music as he is in his "Rosamunde" string quartet. Despite all the melodic beauty, Schubert does not depict a pure idyll here, but remains true to himself as a refuser of clear moods. Tender moments are rudely torn open, there is a constant back and forth between major and minor. Schubert builds up tension very skilfully and breaks expectations with attractive changes.

1st Sunday Matinee

Watch the performance on this page at the scheduled date and time. This performance won’t be available to stream afterward on demand.

Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series | Laurie Smukler, Violin; Gwen Krosnick, Cello; Qing Jiang, Piano

The Juilliard School

**Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony Performed by The Phoenix Symphony**

Join The Phoenix Symphony for a monumental evening as guest conductor Julian Rachlin leads the orchestra in a performance of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, a masterpiece that has captivated audiences with its revolutionary spirit and profound beauty. This event promises to be an unforgettable experience, showcasing not only Beethoven’s genius but also featuring the talents of Colombian cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia. Fresh from his success as the Silver Medalist at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Cañón-Valencia will enchant the audience with Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, a piece renowned for its elegance and charm.

**Concert Repertoire:**
- Weinberg: Sinfonietta No. 1
- Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme
- Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 Eroica
- Mystery Piece

**Event Details:**
- **Dates:** November 8-10, 2024
  - Friday, November 8, 2024, at 7:30 PM
  - Saturday, November 9, 2024, at 7:30 PM
  - Sunday, November 10, 2024, at 2:00 PM
- **Location:** Symphony Hall
- **Series:** Classics Series

**Special Offer:** Interested in attending 4 or more performances? Become a subscriber and save 20%. Create your package today and immerse yourself in the world of classical music.

**Tickets:** Tickets are available for purchase. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience the power and beauty of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, along with other captivating works, performed by the talented musicians of The Phoenix Symphony and distinguished guests. Secure your seats for an evening of exquisite music and artistic brilliance.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit The Phoenix Symphony’s official website or contact the box office.

Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony

Phoenix Convention Center

Friends and colleagues Shostakovich and Weinberg are once again brought together by an ensemble that has been lavishly praised for its recordings of both composers. Weinberg’s works from 1963 and 1964 respectively are succeeded by the second of two Shostakovich examples from the latter year.

Quatuor Danel

Festival Program Five

Kneisel Hall

Join us for an evening of profound musical expression at the Rising Artists Concert, presented by Ascent Music. This special event is scheduled for July 3, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and will take place at the serene Chapel at Western Reserve Academy, located at 147 College St., Hudson, OH 44236.

The concert will feature an evocative program that pays homage to resilience through the power of music. Highlighting the evening is Mieczysław Weinberg's Sonata No. 5 for violin and piano, alongside Dmitri Shostakovich's epic Piano Quintet, reflecting their personal battles and triumphs against oppressive regimes. Additionally, the concert will premiere "Anne Frank" by Victoria Bond and present an original arrangement of "Wiegala" by Ilse Weber, a poignant piece penned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Performances will be delivered by a distinguished ensemble of musicians, including Grigory Kalinovsky (violin), Sarah Kim (cello), Melissa Kraut (cello), Paul Laraia (viola), Alan Rafferty (cello), Karlos Rodriguez (cello), and Vladimir Stoupel (piano).

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, admission to all Ascent Summer Concert Series concerts, including this moving evening, is free and open to the public. This is a unique opportunity to experience the transformative power of music while supporting the future of classical music.

Ascent Music is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and support of classical music. Contributions to Ascent Music are tax-deductible, ensuring the continuation of accessible classical music experiences for all.

For more information, visit the Ascent Music Group website or the venue's website. Add this event to your calendar and join us for a memorable night of music and resilience.

Resilience

Western Reserve Academy

Shostakovich sustained a quiet resistance against the brutal oppression of the Soviet Union under Stalin, burying his objections under fastidious layers of symphonic elegance, as heard in the wartime Eighth Symphony. 

Shostakovich Symphony No. 8

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

The Music Center at Strathmore

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason has established himself as "nothing less than the future of classical music" (NPR). We celebrate the centennial of Julia Perry’s birth with a brilliant piece by the prolific Kentucky-born composer, and we end the 2023–2024 season with the fateful theme and inevitable glories of Beethoven's timeless Fifth Symphony.

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

Orchestra Hall

Shostakovich sustained a quiet resistance against the brutal oppression of the Soviet Union under Stalin, burying his objections under fastidious layers of symphonic elegance, as heard in the wartime Eighth Symphony.  Music Director Jonathon Heyward excavates the endlessly revealing layers of this modern masterpiece. The Trumpet Concerto from Shostakovich’s protégé Mieczysław Weinberg (a.k.a. Moisey Vainberg), featuring BSO’s Principal Trumpet Andrew Balio, leans on this Polish-Jewish musician’s family roots in Yiddish musical theater. 

Bso: Shostakovich Symphony No. 8

A creative frenzy usually produces something extraordinary. Whether it's Webern's late romantic-early piano quintet, Weinberg's rich string quartet treasure or Schumann's groundbreaking, enthusiastic piano quintet - all three works in this program were created in a frenzy and will captivate and enchant you. Anton Webern's piano quintet still exudes the romantic air of Brahms in his pursuit of the new, Mieczysław Weinberg's diverse, fascinating music is only just being discovered, while Schumann's piano quintet has always been considered a chamber music highlight.

Born in Ecstasy

Bertramstraße 8

You don’t need us to tell you about Sheku Kanneh-Mason – the inspirational young British cellist who’s changed the way we think about classical music. Well, he’s back, this time with a haunting, unfairly neglected concerto by one of Shostakovich’s best friends. Meanwhile, Andrew Manze shares the greatest of British symphonies, Elgar’s First. When it was premiered in Manchester in 1908, the audience jumped to its feet and cheered – you’re about to hear why.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs Weinberg

Acclaimed violinist and Curtis faculty member Benjamin Beilman (’12) joins former Dover Quartet violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt (Viola ’10, ’11), award-winning cellist Oliver Herbert (’19), and emerging professional artists from Curtis for a North American tour. This phenomenal sextet of distinguished Curtis faculty and alumni, alongside exceptionally gifted young musicians, presents an electrifying concert of curated selections, both old and new. The program includes Richard Strauss’s masterful Sextet from his final opera Capriccio, Berg’s colorful and chromatic Piano Sonata in B minor, Brahms’s exhilarating String Sextet No. 2 in G major, and a new work by Alyssa Weinberg commissioned for this tour.

Curtis on Tour in Phoenix, AZ

ASU Kerr

Trio Zimbalist

Bethel United Methodist Church

Yoonah Kim, Clarinet

Wales Millennium Centre

Brangwyn Hall

Based on the novel of the same name by Polish author and Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz, Weinberg created an opera about guilt and renewed confrontation with the past. In his opera, completed in 1968 but only staged for the first time in 2010, the Polish-Jewish composer, who lost his parents and sister in the Shoah, combines late romantic opulence with twelve-tone technique, folk songs and dance music to create a haunting memorial against obfuscation and forgetting.

Die Passagierin

Staatstheater Mainz

All performances will take place Grace Presbyterian Church.

Sierra Chamber Society 37th Season Program II

Grace Presbyterian Church

The Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series brings together members of the Carnegie Mellon Faculty and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for outstanding music making in an intimate space.

The Clarion Quartet, featuring David McCarroll, performs works written during the Holocaust by Jewish composers, featuring instruments for part of the performance on loan from Violins of Hope Greater Pittsburgh.

Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series: Violins of Hope, Featuring the Clarion Quartet

Carnegie Mellon University

Faculty members Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, piano, Donald Weilerstein, violin, Cameron Stowe, piano, and guest artist Sari Gruber, soprano, join forces in a chamber music recital.

Faculty Recital: Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, Cameron Stowe, Sari Gruber, Donald Weilerstein

New England Conservatory

This event is sold out.  To join the waitlist, please fill out this form.

Telegraph Quartet Recital

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Hailed by critics as a “superior poet” (Vancouver Sun) and praised for his “heart and indomitable will” (Gramophone), violinist Grigory Kalinovsky will be joined by pianist Lyudmila Lakisova in a recital of works by Schumann, Franck, Weinberg, and Bacewicz.

Artistry in Action: String Masters Series—Grigory Kalinovsky

Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Beautiful music by Fryderyk Chopin and composers who survived the Holocaust in tribute to people who performed extraordinary acts of courage in defense of human dignity during World War II and Holocaust. The evening will begin with an exhibition, followed by a film with historical footage and a concert featuring outstanding artists from Canada, Poland and Ukraine.

Memory Brings Us Together Classical Music Concert

Kaufman Music Center

Pianist Alexander Malofeev, the young “Russian genius” (Corriere della Sera) who came to international prominence in 2014 when he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, makes his Orange County debut.

Alexander Malofeev, piano

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Tucson Convention Center

Described as “the latest phenomenon of the Russian piano school” (Corriere della Sera), Alexander Malofeev came to international prominence when, in 2014, he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians at age 13. Reviewing the performance, Amadeus noted, “Contrary to what could be expected of a youngster … he demonstrated not only high technical accuracy but also an incredible maturity. Crystal clear sounds and perfect balance revealed his exceptional ability.” Since this triumph, Malofeev has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation. 

Alexander Malofeev

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

The great French quartet returns for the third time with their deeply personal readings of Schubert, Weinberg, and Mendelssohn.

The Town Hall

Gripping, intense, and totally committed on stage, the Quatuor Danel is celebrating its 31st anniversary at the forefront of the European music scene. Known for its deeply personal interpretations of the string quartet cycles of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Weinberg, the quartet tours all over the world and performs regularly for major European and Canadian festivals. The quartet has served as artists- in-residence at the University of Manchester (England) since 2005.

Christ the King Catholic Church

Salastina’s Resident Flutist Benjamin Smolen guides us through the flute works of Shostakovich’s BFF, Mieczysław Weinberg, a composer with whom he became enamored while studying in Moscow. Mimosa and pastry reception to follow.

Happy Hour No. 118: Shostakovich's BFF, in Macro and Miniature: The Flute Works of Mieczysław Weinberg

Pasadena Conservatory of Music

Among the world’s leading violinists over the past 5 decades, Gidon Kremer has established and sustained a worldwide reputation as one of the most original and compelling artists of his generation. He has appeared on almost every major concert stage as recitalist and with the most celebrated orchestras of Europe and North America, and has worked with many of the greatest conductors of the past half century.  After winning a series of prestigious awards, including the Queen Elisabeth Competition and first prize in both the 1969 Paganini and 1970 Tchaikovsky International Competitions, his career erupted.

Gidon Kremer

Shalin Liu Performance Center

Stories of dedication and perseverance set a “gold standard” in this chamber showcase. Sato Matsui’s Goldenrod pays tribute to beloved SMF flutist Carol Wincenc’s “Golden Jubilee,” celebrating the anniversary of her remarkable 50-year career. Written in 1946, Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg’s Sonatina for Violin and Piano possesses a tenderness that belies the adversity he faced during his life. The GRAMMY Award-winning Attacca Quartet makes its Festival debut with two acclaimed works. Composer Caroline Shaw, the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, drew creative sparks for her First Essay (Nimrod) from human language, in particular, the lilting rhythms of Marilynne Robinson’s prose. Maurice Ravel’s ravishing String Quartet ends the program on a brilliant and lyrical note.

Gold Standard

Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center

Ascendant artists make their Davies Symphony Hall debuts in this recital series. Discover these astounding performers on the move.

ALEXANDER MALOFEEV

Davies Symphony Hall

What were the classical music sounds of the Cold War? How did American and Soviet composers deal with shifting political tides, conflicting ideology, and government interference? Come join Parlando on a sonic journey through the defining conflict of the last 75 years. 
Works include Aaron Copland’s Nonet for Strings, Edvard Mirzoyan’s Symphony for String Orchestra and Timpani, and Mieczysław Weinberg’s Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra performed by Aubree Oliverson.

Parlando: Cold War

A recital of violin works performed by Mira Steenbrugge (B.M. '23).

Student Recital: Mira Steenbrugge, Violin

One of the world’s great orchestras led by celebrated conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla in a program of enduring favorites and new discoveries. From the churning impressionism of Debussy’s La Mer to soloist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a rising star from England, shining on the Elgar Cello Concerto, this will be an evening of unforgettable music-making.

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is the flagship of musical life in Birmingham—and one of the world’s great orchestras. The tradition began with their very first concert back in 1920—conducted by Sir Edward Elgar. The CBSO became internationally famous when conductor Simon Rattle took the helm in 1980. In 2016, the CBSO welcomed the appointment of Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, a native of Vilnius, Lithuania, as its Music Director and now Principal Guest Conductor, following her time with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a Dudamel Fellow, Assistant Conductor, and Associate Conductor. British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason became a household name in 2018 after performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle, watched by nearly two billion people globally. Sheku’s album Elgar on the Decca Classical label made him the first cellist in history to reach the UK Top 10.

Granada Theatre

In this transporting program, a veteran virtuoso performs the dramatic Violin Concerto by prolific Soviet composer Mieczysław Weinberg, a Shostakovich colleague. Mirga leads Mahler’s shortest and sweetest symphony, which concludes with a child’s view of life in heaven.

Mirga Conducts Mahler

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Make way for the under-30 generation! Every season, highly talented young musicians from Northern Germany have the opportunity to perform with the Hamburg Camerata in the exquisite Recital Hall of the Elbphilharmonie. Youthful energy, fresh motivation, and a healthy dose of positive excitement make these concerts a truly special and intense musical experience. This season, the program features 15-year-old horn player Paul Scheffler and 24-year-old cellist Oskar Meier, both scholarship recipients of the German Foundation for Musical Life, as well as 25-year-old violinist and conductor Doğa Çetin.

Boys & Girls : Hamburg's Young Virtuoso In The Elbphilharmonie

Elbphilharmonie

Emanuel Ax performs a concerto written for him by movie-soundtrack legend John Williams. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla conducts Vaughn Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, a shimmering exploration of the English Renaissance, and Weinberg’s Fifth Symphony, a powerful exploration of dramatic contrasts inspired by the work of Shostakovich, his friend and kindred spirit.

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla & Emanuel Ax

David Geffen Hall

Counted among leading string quartets of the younger generation worldwide, Goldmund Quartet was recently named “Rising Stars” (2019-2020) by the European Concert Hall Organisation. The players debut with one of Schubert’s earliest works, unusually homotonal and popular with home musicians.  A notable highlight of Weinberg’s masterful #5 is its highly appealing and contrasting movements. Then pianist Gloria Chien (making her CMH debut) tackles Amy Beach’s landmark quintet which calls the piano to emerge victorious within the intensity of the strings.

Goldmund Quartet with Gloria Chien, piano

Rice University

Aram Arakelyan, piano; Grigory Kalinovsky, violin; Serge Kalinovsky, cello

Auer Hall

An opera about Auschwitz seemed unimaginable. And yet, it did. It was composed by Mieczysław Weinberg, a Polish-Jewish Varsovian who lost his family in the camp and of whom the opera's director, David Pountney, said that he "spent his life creating music in memory of his lost loved ones." Weinberg was inspired by the novel The Passenger (1962) by Zofia Posmysz. The author survived the camp. The decision to bear witness to the cruelty of the Holocaust was obvious to her. The Passenger describes a voyage on a luxury ocean liner, during which the Polish woman Marta recognizes the elegant woman, Lisa, an SS overseer from Auschwitz (the German woman's real name is Annelise Franz). Weinberg's music, in keeping with the action, is diverse, realistic, and symbolic at once; different when it accompanies conversations in the sun on the ship's deck, with the orchestra playing for the passengers to dance to, and different when the hell of Auschwitz unfolds below deck. The prisoners are of different nationalities, so their solo singing, as well as the seven-voice Song of Life and Death , is multilingual. The prisoners ' Requiem for the Black Wall echoes with the bell, Bach's Chaconne , and the camp orchestra. Weinberg's The Passenger, completed in 1968 in the Soviet Union, could not be performed there because its content was too reminiscent of Soviet labor camps. Only in 2006, after the composer's death, was it performed in Moscow in concert. Did staging an opera about Auschwitz seem impossible? And yet, it was. David Pountney produced it in 2010. First, there was the Bregenz Festival and Warsaw. Then London, Houston, New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Florida. And everywhere, every time: a stage bisected by light and sound. A cheerful, prosperous Europe. And the hell of the Holocaust. Its memory endures. The world cannot forget.

Passenger

Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera

The devil played the violin for Tartini in a dream. The music was charismatic, electrifying, fiendishly difficult and utterly transfixing. Tartini awoke and transcribed the melody, penning the Devil’s Trill sonata. It can only be played by someone astounding.

The Devil’s Violin

ACO On The Pier

"When spring arrives, the heart leaps for joy." Fittingly, just before the official start of this season, we're bringing together a vibrant blend of sonic magic and folklore. With guest conductor Krzysztof Urbański and the explosive violinistic power of Nemanja Radulović, we'll also be delivering plenty of energy and musical exuberance – in refreshing interpretations of works that all resonate with the vibrant spirit of spring. Tchaikovsky's popular Violin Concerto, with its catchy themes, is certainly a virtuosic rollercoaster ride, yet it's also one of the more lighthearted pieces by this otherwise often melancholic composer.

Composer

Mieczysław Weinberg

Events

Upcoming events

1 - 21 Feb, 2026

The (female) Passenger · Oper Frankfurt

Feb 22, 2026

Boys & Girls : Hamburg's Young Virtuoso In The Elbphilharmonie · Hamburger Camerata

Feb 27 - Mar 3, 2026

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla & Emanuel Ax · New York Philharmonic

Mar 5, 2026

Goldmund Quartet with Gloria Chien, piano · Chamber Music Houston

Mar 5, 2026

Aram Arakelyan, piano; Grigory Kalinovsky, violin; Serge Kalinovsky, cello · Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

Past events

1 - 21 Feb, 2026

The (female) Passenger · Oper Frankfurt

Jan 23, 2026

Trio Concept · Elbphilharmonie

About

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