Composer

Violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov joins Marios Papadopoulos and the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra for a stunning evening of intensity and grandeur. Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor, with its raw, dramatic sweep, provides the perfect showcase for Vengerov’s extraordinary technique and emotional depth. Following, Brahms’s First Symphony unleashes a tidal wave of tension and triumph, with Papadopoulos leading the orchestra through its stirring passages, culminating in a glorious, heroic conclusion.

Maxim Vengerov

University of Oxford

Acclaimed conductor Rimma Sushanskaya – the last pupil of David Oistrakh – and the National Symphony Orchestra perform a series of concerts here at Cadogan Hall, opening with this programme titled ‘Northern Lights and New World’, a captivating exploration of national identity through music.

Sibelius’ intensely patriotic Finlandia is a powerful symphonic poem, a stirring declaration of national identity that has resonated with audiences for generations.

The Orchestra welcomes violinist Mathilde Milwidsky for Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen’s lyrical Romance, showcasing the instrument’s rich and expressive capabilities, and the first half concludes with Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, a vivid and folk-inspired evocation of the region’s history and landscape

EPSG:4326

National Symphony Orchestra

Cadogan Hall 

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear the classical stars of tomorrow – today. Rising Stars is a unique and forward-looking collaboration between 23 of Europe’s leading concert halls, all part of ECHO – the European Concert Hall Organisation. Each year, a select group of young artists and ensembles from across Europe are given the opportunity to tour all of the venues and perform for international audiences. Time and again, the artists chosen for Rising Stars go on to enjoy internationally successful careers.

ECHO Rising Stars with Soprano

Stockholm Concert Hall

Written in 1891, the year before Dvorak began his sojourn in America, Carnival was second of a three-overture set and was originally titled “Life.” It was played at Carnegie Hall at Dvorak’s introductory concert in America.  The peasant nature of Karelia was deliberate – Sibelius’ intention was to capture the quality of naive, folk-based authenticity. The nationalistic character of the music is evident in each of the four movements extracted which form the Suite.

Sibelius & Shostakovich

Duluth Entertainment Convention Center

Breaking Boundaries

University of California San Diego

Andrew Sords is an internationally acclaimed soloist known for his virtuosity and expressive performances. He has appeared with over 300 orchestras across four continents, with recent highlights including works by Bruch, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. A frequent recitalist and chamber musician, Sords is also a passionate advocate for musical outreach and education.

Masterworks: Romantic Masters

Lenoir-Rhyne University

Founded in 1946, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is recognized as the U.K.’s most in-demand orchestra, with a busy schedule of national and international performances. The RPO also enjoys an annual season of concerts in London’s Royal Albert Hall, where it is Associate Orchestra; the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall; and Cadogan Hall, where it recently celebrated its 20th season as Resident Orchestra. Vasily Petrenko was named Music Director in 2021. This program of Nielsen, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, conducted by Petrenko, will feature violin star Ray Chen, who delighted the local audience with his April 2024 performance.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Ray Chen

Allied Solutions Center for the Performing Arts

Guest Concert

BASF-Feierabendhaus

Grieg’s beloved and unabashedly Romantic Piano Concerto, performed by Yeol Eum Son, dances and dazzles and reflects a time of personal happiness in the composer’s life. A combination of beguiling melodies and bravura fire, it found inspiration in the rhythmic patterns of Norwegian folk dances. Maestro Danzmayr also leads Stenhammar’s Second Symphony, a Romantic Swedish jewel not heard nearly often enough. Plus, Sibelius’ stirring The Swan of Tuonela joins this Nordic musical banquet, inspired by scenes from Finnish mythology.

Sibelius & Grieg

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Willamette University

Icelandic music does not appear very often on concert programs. However, in recent years, more and more contemporary Icelandic composers have begun to be performed around the world. Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir is one of them. This is the first time her music has been performed by the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra.

Schumann & Sibelius

Louis de Geer konsert & kongress

The soloist in Sibelius' virtuoso violin concerto is Danish-Ukrainian violinist Anna Agafia Egholm, considered one of the Nordic countries' most promising young musicians. Her brilliant technique and poetic musicality have already captivated audiences across Europe.

Anna Egholm plays Sibelius

Alsion Concert Hall

Anyone who wins the junior section of the legendary International Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 13 is under special scrutiny. Even ten years later, Alexander Malofeev continues to fulfill the associated expectations with flying colors. Since then, the Russian, dubbed a "world revolution on the piano" by the Wiener Standard, has collected numerous other prizes and performed with the world's greatest orchestras. In 2022, he stood in for Yevgeny Kissin with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. "The audience went wild with enthusiasm," wrote the Frankfurter Rundschau. At the Elbphilharmonie, the still only 23-year-old now devotes himself to both the grand masters of Russian piano music and darkly shimmering works from Northern Europe.

Alexander Malofeev, Piano

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

The ensembles present a joint concert featuring selections they will perform at the annual OMEA Conference.*

Women's Glee Club and Symphony Orchestra give OMEA Preview

Weigel Auditorium

The Future is Now

Aurora University

We put our heart and soul into this concert. Sweeping melodies, intense emotions, and symphonic brilliance abound in this program of Romantic greats.

Schubert’s overture, originally composed for Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus, has since become a concert hall favorite, captivating audiences with its elegance and charm.

Hopelessly Romantic

California Theatre

A glittering piece that evokes the excitement and sparkle of a lively celebration, Debussy’s Fêtes transports you to a magical world full of movement and light.

Celebration

Alaska Center for the Performing Arts

Pure joy! This is the musical program Mozart set for himself in his so-called "Coronation Mass," written in March 1779. In reality, it resounded in Salzburg Cathedral for Easter that same year, and it was only after the composer's death that it became the essential accompaniment for the weddings of crowned heads. The graceful vocal quartet clearly alternates with jubilant, swift choirs, the two concertante oboes adding a festive touch to the ensemble.

Coronation Mass

Opéra Comédie

This Scandinavian programme opens with Esa-Pekka Salonen’s enigmatic Helix, described by the composer as a spiralling ‘nine-minute accelerando’. While the pulse of the piece increases gradually throughout, the note values get proportionately longer, creating a fascinating experience, where the work seems to simultaneously speed up and slow down.

Grieg’s Piano Concerto

The Bridgewater Hall

2025’s astounding winner of the Terence Judd-Hallé Award, Julius Asal, joins forces with returning Hallé conductor Lionel Bringuier to perform Grieg’s exceptional Piano Concerto.

The Hallé – Grieg’s Piano Concerto

For the first time, Iceland, with the Harpa in Reykjavik, is participating in the European Concert Hall Organization's annual "Rising Stars" program, which sends young artists on tour through the continent's major concert halls. And with Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir, a singer from the Nordic island nation was directly nominated. She loves the poetic, mystical traditions of her country and is currently performing brilliantly not only on the major opera stages in Basel and Berlin, but also realizing unusual projects as a photographer and video artist.

Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir, Soprano

"Jean Sibelius' Violin Concerto is one of the most important works of my life," says Lisa Batiashvili. In 1995, she won second place at the renowned Sibelius Competition with this late-Romantic repertoire classic: the launch of her career. And to this day, the press continues to rave about the "glowing warmth" with which the violinist interprets the work. For her ProArte concert, the artist will be joined by the best possible partners: rising star Klaus Mäkelä and his Oslo Philharmonic, who thrilled audiences with a recording of the complete Sibelius symphonies in 2022. Complemented in the second half by the effervescent Lemminkäinen Suite, the artists present a magnificent homage to Finland's most famous composer to date.

Oslo Philharmonic / Lisa Batiashvili / Klaus Mäkelä

Music director Vasily Petrenko, 2017 Gramophone Awards Artist of the Year, “has brought style and excitement to the RPO ... since taking over three seasons ago” (The Guardian). These qualities will be showcased brilliantly in their performance of Sibelius’ grand and luminous Symphony No. 2. With its gorgeous melodies, luxurious harmonies and a finale that is pure joy, it’s easy to see why the Second Symphony has become one of the composer’s most celebrated works.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Join the Longmont Symphony for a whimsical and unforgettable journey through Michael Close’s A Child’s Book of Animals, where you’ll hop with frogs, soar with seagulls, dive with octopuses and meet a swan with big dreams of becoming a rapper. The program also features the exhilarating finale of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, performed side-by-side with the talented musicians from the Longmont Youth Symphony, and a showcase of the winner of our new Concerto Competition. It’s a concert full of imagination, inspiration and extraordinary music for all ages.

Family Concert: A Child’s Book of Animals

Skyline High School

BNY Classics showcases unforgettable performances by your Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, featuring timeless masterpieces, thrilling premieres, and renowned guest artists.

Sibelius' Second

Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts

Week two of the Nordic Soundscapes festival takes us back to Sibelius, this time with his maiden voyage as a composer of symphonies. Turns out, he was more than ready to take the plunge. We also return to Denmark, with a deeply moving song cycle by Hans Abrahamsen that tells the story of Hamlet’s Ophelia from her perspective.

Søndergård Conducts Sibelius

Orchestra Hall

The evening begins with Swedish Wilhelm Stenhammar's orchestral work Excelsior! The music is magnificent, dramatic and moving. Stenhammar uses the full potential of the orchestra to create a sense of upward movement and triumph.

The Nordic composers

Aalborg Central Waterfront

An evening with a Finnish-Swedish programme, where MSO and conductor Kristian Sallinen journey from a harmonious dawn to a yearning for freedom, ending with rhythmically rich power.

Lindberg & Sibelius

Malmö Concert Hall

Before the orchestra’s European tour with Chief Conductor Klaus Mäkelä and violin soloist Lisa Batiashvili, you can hear Klaus conduct Jean Sibelius’ four tone poems about Lemminkäinen, one of the heroes of Finnish mythology.

Classical Hour Klaus Mäkelä

Oslo Concert Hall

Members of the Minnesota Orchestra join violinist James Ehnes for an evening of chamber music on the Orchestra Hall stage.

Chamber Music in the Hall with James Ehnes

We're bringing you the biggest January yet in our orchesrta's history with the Andy Armstrong Festival! Northern Lights marks the first of three concert events featuring the celebrated director of the Andy & Friends Chamber Series. 

Northern Lights

University of South Carolina

Randall Goosby Returns

Mayo Performing Arts Center

New Jersey Performing Arts Center

State Theatre New Jersey

Princeton University

James Ehnes was a teenager when he made his debut with the Minnesota Orchestra at Symphony Ball in 1993. He’s been back many times since, and we’re thrilled to have him play Sibelius during this year’s Nordic Soundscapes festival. And our favorite Dane, Thomas Søndergård, invites you to embrace the First Symphony by Carl Nielsen, one of Denmark’s heroes.

Søndergård and Ehnes

A sparkling New Year's celebration with Martyn Brabbins and guests! 

With glitter and champagne we celebrate the new year atMalmö Live Concert Halland hearMalmö Symphony Orchestrashine with sparkling virtuosity.  

New Year's Gala 2025

Malmo Live Concert Hall

With this program, the orchestra wants to give its audience a real Christmas present. In the program, we have tried to collect the most beautiful Christmas melodies and the most famous Christmas songs. Everything from Sibelius' Christmas Carol, Koppången and Klang min vackra bjällra , to Sleigh Ride and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, which are also included in the program. To help us, we have Norrköping-born Olle Persson as soloist and the choirs Bel Canto and Musikaliska Sällskapets Kammarkör. It almost couldn't get better. Here you really get the chance to fill up on all the energy and Christmas spirit needed for the holidays.

Sound and cheers

Led by the talented Case Scaglione, the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie offers a journey between Helsinki and Vienna, post-romanticism and classicism.

Beethoven #8

Theatre of Nîmes

Since 2016, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has hosted an ”Orchestra Academy”. The international RSPO Orchestra Academy is a one-year, advanced academic programme for young musicians. Under the guidance of the section leaders from the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piteå School of Music, the musicians receive intensive training individually, in chamber music, and orchestral playing.

RSPO Orchestra Academy & Falun Conservatory of Music

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Wizards in Winter, Dreams of Fireflies, Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, and A Mad Russian’s Christmas bring a rock-and-roll energy to the season, with soaring electric guitars, powerful orchestra, and dazzling rhythms.

Orchestra Concert 3 - Sounds of the Season

First Church OKC

A violinist of “velvety tone and...a high degree of elegance” (Los Angeles Times), Renaud Capuçon brings these ideal qualities to Mozart’s sublime Third Violin Concerto. Albert Einstein claimed that its Adagio “seems to have fallen straight from heaven,” before culminating in a lively Alsatian dance.

Mozart & Sibelius

Walt Disney Concert Hall

At 98 years old, he is a living legend, and we cherish every moment we spend with our honorary conductor, Herbert Blomstedt. It has been said of our regular collaborations with him that "everything is played with such vibrant energy" and "full of rapturous enthusiasm." This time, he, as a skilled conductor, leads us through two symphonic soundscapes. First, we contemplate the "slender Greek maiden between two northern giants": this is how Beethoven's Fourth Symphony was once described, as it was composed in 1806 between the bold "Eroica" and the triumphant Fifth. Here, we can show off our "playful leaps"—and also revel in the enchanting melodies of the composer, who was in love at the time and whose heart is said to have "almost burst with happiness" while writing it.

Herbert Blomstedt

Bamberger Symphoniker

Close your eyes and imagine the horse-drawn sleigh and torches arriving amidst swirling snow in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells. With the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, conductor Nicholas Collon, choirs and vocal soloists.

Rachmaninoff The Bells

Göteborgs Symfoniker

When the winter darkness is at its thickest,Norrland Operaopen the gates for this year's Classic Christmas with the Norrlandsoperans Symphony Orchestra, two magical evenings – December 12 and 13 – packed with ear candy for those who want to get in the Christmas spirit just in time for Epiphany. Everything from English choral gems, classical solo singing by Mozart and Sibelius to beloved Swedish Christmas music is on offer.

Classic Christmas with the Norrlandsoperans Symphony Orchestra

Norrlandsoperan

Under the energetic direction of Case Scaglione, Music Director of the Orchestre National d'Île-de-France, your National Orchestra opens the evening with Réveil à l'aube d'une ville by Lisa Chevalier, young winner of the 2024 Unanimes competition. This contemporary work evokes urban renaissance through innovative orchestral textures. Next comes Jean Sibelius's Symphony No. 7 , a single-flow work that transports us from the darkest depths to the brightest bursts. After the interval, Beethoven takes possession of the stage with the Leonore Overture No. 3 , a veritable opera condensed into a few minutes, then Symphony No. 8 , a jewel often overshadowed by its more famous sisters. Beneath its apparent classical lightness, it reveals all the inventiveness and humor of Beethoven's genius. A concert that celebrates the eternal vitality of musical creation through the centuries.

Opéra Berlioz

Celebrate the holiday season with an afternoon of festive music. The concert opens with Coleridge-Taylor''s Christmas Overture, followed by Hely-Hutchinson's A Carol Symphony, which beautifully blends classic carols with symphonic charm. The program concludes with Sibelius' majestic Symphony No. 3 in C Major, showcasing Nordic elegance. Let the spirit of the season come alive in this enchanting performance, filled with timeless melodies and holiday cheer for all ages.

Yuletide Splendour

The Machine Shop

Sonata evening

Bochumer Symphoniker

Feel the smoldering heat of Jean Sibelius when the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra welcomes the acclaimed Finnish conductor Pietari Inkinen. Sibelius' ever-popular Finlandia, an anthem to liberty and national pride, opens the program. Then, gold medal-winning violinist Sergey Khachatryan plays the flashy and fiendishly difficult violin concerto by fellow Armenian Aram Khachaturian. The Orchestra rounds out the evening with the passion-filled Sibelius Second Symphony, a patriotic piece that once carried the torch for Finnish independence from Russia.

Sibelius + Khachaturian

The Woodruff Arts Center

Come to an intimate concert with music characterized by Nordic sounds and harmonies – from Finnish Sibelius' string quartet 'Intimate Voices' to arrangements of beloved Danish songs.

Intime stemmer

Unitarisk Kirkesamfund

»Just before ten to eleven I saw sixteen swans. One of the greatest experiences of my life. Oh God, what beauty; they circled above me for a long time. Disappeared into the veiled sun like a glittering silver ribbon. Their calls had the same woodwind sound as the cranes, but without the tremolo. The mystery of nature, the melancholy of life! The final theme of the fifth symphony.«

4th Symphony Concert

Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Halle

Praised by the New York Times as “a strong-willed young artist with something to say, and the skill to say it brilliantly,” Maria Dueñas was electrifying in her 2024 Philadelphia Orchestra performance on Opening Night. She returns with the incandescent Lalo Symphonie espagnole.

Yannick Leads Sibelius

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Under the direction of Mark Hopkins – Professor of Music at Acadia University and in-demand guest conductor – the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra kicks off a brand-new season with True North! Hear music from classical heavyweights like Beethoven and Sibelius, plus symphonic gems from Gabrieli, Björk, and Whitacre. Finally, experience the heart wrenching, JUNO Award-winning musical tribute to 15-year-old Amanda Todd by the late Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock.

NSYO: True North

St. Andrew's United Church

Kronberg Academy

Cologne Philharmonie

ACO Principal cellist Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve directs AYO Momentum Ensemble in a program that masterfully intertwines his Finnish heritage and Australian experience. Jaakko Kuusisto’s Wiima evokes the nostalgic charm of Sysmä, a Finnish town dear to Tipi’s childhood, while Crystalline, by the Australian composer Olivia Bettina Davies, shimmers with delicate textures.

ACO Up Close: Timo-Veikko Valve & AYO Momentum Ensemble

ACO On The Pier

ATTACCA Concert: Great Romanticism

Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding

It's a now iconic masterpiece: Aaron Copland's legendary Fanfare for the Common Man. This music promises pure goosebumps. Together with the ballet music to Billy the Kid, it embodies the sound of America – endless expanses, an unbroken spirit of adventure, a pathos that still resonates today. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's suite from The Sea Hawk offers real adventure. Hollywood was Korngold's new home, and film music his artistic salvation. With Korngold's lush orchestral sound as cinema for the ears, the epic soundtrack to The Sea Hawk promises pure drama. And Sibelius? He is considered the epitome of the Nordic sound. No composer has shaped Finland musically like he has. His Second Symphony is more than "just" music; it is also a story of protest, of hope, of the Finnish struggle for freedom. It is not for nothing that it bears the nickname "Symphony of Independence." A manifesto in music, powerful, courageous, timeless.

Film music & Sibelius | Jonathan Stockhammer

The Bell, Bremen

Going Big

St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral

Join Rei Hotoda and the Fresno Philharmonic for an evening of powerful and innovative musical brilliance. The centerpiece is Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a bold and lively masterpiece that was still being shaped at its premiere and has since become one of the most celebrated works in classical music. Pianist Jon Kimura Parker joins the orchestra as soloist. The program also features Ravel’s elegant Le Tombeau de Couperin, written in honor of fallen friends, and Sibelius’s majestic and structure-bending Symphony No. 5.

Ravel, Beethoven & Sibelius

Paul Shaghoian Memorial Concert Hall

Learn more about the music, artists, and personalities of Echoes of Greatness with composer and Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University, Gregory Youtz, and Symphony Tacoma Music Director Sarah Ioannides.

Echoes of Greatness (2025-2026 Season)

Pantages Theater

If any orchestra has Sibelius's music in its veins, it's the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra: The orchestra has premiered almost all of Finland's national composer's symphonic works and, through its tours, has contributed significantly to his international fame. The First Symphony, in particular, is a true home game. At the conductor's desk and on solo violin are two top Finnish musicians, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Pekka Kuusisto.

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra / Pekka Kuusisto / Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Clemens Schuldt dedicates this concert, rich in musical impressions, to the majesty of the elements. Composed when Rachmaninov was only 20 years old, his second symphonic poem is inspired by a Russian poem that elevates The Rock to a symbol of strength and permanence in the face of life's hazards.

Sibelius's Violin Concerto

Grand Théâtre de Québec

Three Scandinavian composers, three stops on an existential journey: Jean Sibelius opens with the "Scene with Cranes" from his incidental music to Järnefelt's "Kuolema" ("Death"). Here, the image of nature and the motif of death merge into a quiet vision of transition, in which the cranes appear as a peaceful escort between this world and the next. Wilhelm Stenhammar's concert overture "Excelsior!", in contrast, sparkles with vitality: a youthful manifesto, untamed and full of the spirit of optimism. Ibsen's "Peer Gynt," for which Edvard Grieg wrote his world-famous incidental music, extends the spectrum further—a life parable of self-realization and escape from responsibility, all the way to love and redemption.

Saturday Concert No. 2

Volkshaus Jena

This season, the hr-Symphony Orchestra, together with Norwegian conductor Tabita Berglund and renowned German cellist Julian Steckel, presents a program rich in myth and utterly captivating in Fulda. Myths fascinate people because they transcend us. This is true of the music Richard Wagner created for Tristan and Isolde, as well as the music with which Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir captures the idea of ​​a "primal energy" in sound. Jean Sibelius, the great symphonist of the North, proved with his Seventh Symphony that one can express the ultimate in just 20 minutes. His last symphony is like an essence, pure and intense. Dmitri Shostakovich contributes his Cello Concerto No. 1, a work full of masks, facades, and ambiguities—both whimsical and serious.

Concerts at Fulda Castle Theatre

Fulda City Palace Theatre

Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 is like an adventurous storybook waiting to be explored. As the Orchestra plays selections from this masterwork, young audiences will become musical detectives, piecing together clues that lead to a triumphant finale.

Young People’s Concert: Symphonies! Stories! Sibelius!

David Geffen Hall

Resonant Beginnings

Woodstock Playhouse

The power of music to suggest our deepest feelings of spiritual awe has been understood since ancient times. In this program, three composers write pieces capture the human yearning for another level of experience. The late great African American composer Olly Wilson drew on his roots in jazz and the music of his African ancestors to suggest the terrifying power of Shango, the ancient Yoruba god of thunder and lightning. In the slow movement of his Fourth Piano Concerto, Beethoven calls to mind the Greek divinity Orpheus who tamed wild beasts with the beauty of his music. Sibelius’ First Symphony plunges deep into the imaginary mystical mythology of prehistoric Finland.

Invocations to the Spirits: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4

Jacobs Music Center

Augustin Hadelich performs Barber’s Violin Concerto, full of expressive melodies for soloist and orchestra alike. Dima Slobodeniouk conducts Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2, with moods ranging from pastoral to ecstatic, and Stonework by Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund, whose music has been called “fiercely energetic and glitteringly intricate” (BBC Music Magazine).

Augustin Hadelich Performs Barber

Myths fascinate people because they transcend us. This is also true of the music Wagner created for "Tristan und Isolde," which sounds incredibly grand. Equally impressive is the music with which Anna Thorvaldsdottir captures the idea of ​​a "primal energy" in sound. These are sounds of singular tension and power. But one myth needs to be dispelled: that symphonies must be long to be significant. Sibelius, the great symphonist of the North, proved with his "Seventh" that the ultimate can be expressed in barely 20 minutes. His last symphony is like an essence, pure and intense, getting straight to the point without any embellishment. For all its significance, grandeur, and depth, this program also offers Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1: a work full of masks, facades, and ambiguities, whimsical yet also serious. The contrasts could hardly be sharper between broad Moderato and frantic Allegretto, between light and dark, machine-like music and grace. Alongside this, one hears and sees a soloist who is almost comically busy – Julian Steckel takes on this hyperactive role, a cellist who says of himself: "I can play Shostakovich at 3 a.m." On the podium of the hr Symphony Orchestra is the Norwegian Tabita Berglund, also a trained cellist, who for some years now has concentrated on conducting – particularly on music from the Nordic regions, on these special powerhouses that transcend the ordinary.

Archora

Hessischer Rundfunk

Music Director, Daniel Wiley marks his debut and ignites the season with Fire & Fjord, a vivid Nordic-inspired program that bursts with bold contrasts and energy. The program opens with Carl Nielsen’s Symphonic Rhapsody, an embodiment of sweeping Nordic color.

Pianist Cathal Breslin, Professor of Piano at ASU performs Grieg’s Piano Concerto, a romantic masterpiece. The journey concludes with Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, hailed as his most uplifting work.

Fire and Fjord

The Vista Center for the Arts

From Schubert in the early 19th century to Sibelius 100 years later, the Romantic composers were fascinated by the strange and the exotic, by the unfamiliar and the otherworldly. Mendelssohn travelled to the remote Atlantic islands of Scotland where he was inspired to write his Hebrides overture, mimicking the sound of the sea and the wailing of ancient bagpipes. In his violin concerto, Sibelius caught the incantations of Finnish folk music and the wailing of wind in the northern forests. And Schubert’s last and greatest symphony was considered so long and so strange by his contemporaries, it lay unperformed for years. Now it is one of the central works of Western classical music. As Robert Schumann wrote, after its first performance: “This symphony opens an entirely new world to us, producing such an effect on us as none has produced since Beethoven”.

Tales of Enchantment: Hadelich Plays Sibelius

The ever-impressive Joshua Bell, a 2025/26 Spotlight Artist, returns to the TSO stage, bringing the lush cinematic magic of Ukrainian composer Thomas de Hartmann’s rediscovered Violin Concerto. The Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra joins to deliver a rousing performance of Sibelius’s Finlandia to open, while Dvořák’s stirring Symphony No. 7 provides a magnificent finale.

Joshua Bell Returns

David Pecaut Square

Renowned for the sense of ease and joy she creates on stage, Baeva makes her Philharmonia debut sharing the beauty of Bruch’s soulful Violin Concerto. A perennial presence in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame, it’s the perfect showcase for her ‘sweetness of tone … elegance and power’ (The Strad).

Paavo Järvi conducts Bruch and Sibelius

Southbank Centre

Our idea of ​​Scandinavia is shaped by images of endless forests, pristine lakes and fjords, rugged mountains, clear and bright summers, and icy winters. This fascinating landscape also shapes art, from folk tales to paintings. In its autumn program, the Rhein-Ruhr Philharmonie focuses on this special atmosphere, which the "sound poets of the North" uniquely translate into music. Carl Nielsen, Johan Svendsen, Hugo Alfvén, Jean Sibelius, and Edvard Grieg draw on a rich repertoire of folk music, ancient myths, and legends.

Rhein-Ruhr Philharmonie - Sound Poets of the North

Catch us if you can! The Reno Phil embarks on a thrilling pursuit of adventure, weaving together bold contemporary voices and timeless orchestral grandeur. Tennison Watts and Timothy McAllister ignite the stage with John Williams’ Escapades, a jazzy, high-energy ride brimming with playfulness and intrigue. Zhou Tian’s Transcend, commissioned by the Reno Phil to mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, soars with luminous textures and unyielding spirit, capturing the boundless ambition of human ingenuity. Anchoring the journey, Sibelius’ majestic Symphony No. 2 unfolds like a vast Nordic landscape - achingly beautiful & bracingly powerful -  culminating in a triumphant finale that surges with hope and resilience.

John Williams & Sibelius

Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts

Sensational South Korean-German violinist Clara-Jumi Kang performs Sibelius’ thrilling yet torturous ode to a failed career as a concert soloist. Brahms’ mighty and masterful first symphony also features on the program.

Composer

Jean Sibelius

Events

Upcoming events

Jun 22, 2025 - Jun 28, 2026

Elbphilharmonie Family Orchestra · Elbphilharmonie

4 - 5 Feb, 2026

James Ehnes plays Brahms · Orchestre Symphonique de Québec

Feb 6, 2026

CSO Chamber Music at the University of Chicago · UChicago Presents

6 - 7 Feb, 2026

Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony · Charleston Symphony

6 - 8 Feb, 2026

Sibelius Violin Concerto and Enigma Variations · Phoenix Symphony

Past events

Feb 2, 2026

Maxim Vengerov · Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra

Feb 1, 2026

National Symphony Orchestra · Cadogan Hall

About

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