Composer

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

Louis de Geer konsert & kongress

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

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.

EPSG:4326

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

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

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

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

Sonata evening

Bochumer Symphoniker

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

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

Kronberg Academy

Cologne Philharmonie

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

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

Resonant Beginnings

Woodstock Playhouse

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

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

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

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

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

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

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.

Sibelius & Brahms

Michigan Theater

In preparing for TMSO’s 20th anniversary season, Music Director Travis Cook reflected on music performed over the past 19 years.  He noted that music can be many different things to many different people.  This fall, he will pick up his baton and lead audiences on an emotional journey that offers answers to what "Music Is..."

Music Is...

Grace Christian Church

Troy Community Center

Faith Baptist Church

Seeking & Soaring

Alys Robinson Stephens Performing Arts Center

“Lemminkaïnen, reckless hero, in his veins the blood of ages…” In the Finnish legends of the Kalevala, Lemminkaïnen was a warrior like no other: loving, hunting and vanquishing death itself. Sibelius knew all those ancient tales, and he retells them in music as vivid as any film score – the climax to a whole evening of fantastic tales from Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Oramo conducts Adès, Coleridge-Taylor and Sibelius

Barbican Centre

Music of the Greats

McAllen Performing Arts Center

Full of richness and lyricism, it was written, in striking contrast to his other concertos, for a relatively small orchestra. Despite this, it is packed with the charm and beauty so characteristic of the composer’s other works.

Elder Conducts Dvořák

The Bridgewater Hall

Conductor Emeritus, Sir Mark Elder is joined by friend and collaborator Dame Imogen Cooper to perform Mozart’s final piano concerto. Full of richness and lyricism, it was written, in striking contrast to his other concertos, for a relatively small orchestra. Despite this, it is packed with the charm and beauty so characteristic of the composer’s other works. Dvořák composed his Fifth Symphony in only five weeks. It is quite a dramatic departure from the strident, Wagnerian sounding Fourth; it is lighter and largely pastoral in nature, heavily influenced by the Slavic folk songs and melodies of his native Bohemia. An often overlooked symphony in modern times, it is alive and bubbling with orchestral colour.

The Hallé – Elder conducts Dvořák

French pianist Alexandre Kantorow makes his debut with the San Francisco Symphony in Prokofiev’s fiendishly difficult Third Piano Concerto, conducted by Karina Canellakis. Prokofiev’s music leaps from Paris to Pavlovsk, from the 19th century to the 20th and beyond. Not quite neoclassical, the concerto is too sly to be Romantic, too approachable to be Modern. Sibelius was inspired by nature and by the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, to create his own deeply personal form of folk expression. This fiercely original, arguably autobiographical music reclaimed the cultural birthright of a nascent people—and stirs the hearts of non-Finns, too. Dvořák composed Scherzo capriccioso while mourning his mother. Complex and dynamic, it guides listeners through the many stages of grief to the catharsis of an ecstatic coda.

Canellakis Conducts Prokofiev & Sibelius

Davies Symphony Hall

From the world of film to the vast Finnish expanses: Mozart and Sibelius are music that create images in your inner cinema.
The iconic tones of the Elvira Madigan theme evoke film images on our inner screen in Mozart's 21st Piano Concerto. And although many already know the slow movement from the film, for this concert we naturally also get the rest of the concert, which is full of cheerful energy and wealth of ideas. The soloist is Katrine Gislinge; a spirited Danish pianist who specializes in Mozart's concertos.

Sibelius 5

Aarhus Music Hall

Amid the heroism and drama lies the hushed, almost religious contemplation of the third movement, the tender heart of the symphony that moved the audience to tears at its 1937 premiere.

Santtu Conducts Sibelius, Lindberg & Shostakovich

In 2020, the La Crosse Symphony started filming all of their concerts. We have pulled pieces to create the LSO Film Collection which includes a pre-concert lecture from our very own Maestro Alexander Platt.

LSO Film Collection: Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Bloch

Rivoli Theatre

The young, likeable and down-to-earth German-Italian pianist Sophie Pacini has already performed on stage with Andrea Bocelli and Martha Argerich, has received numerous awards, and, according to her own statement, can smell, taste, and see sounds in color. With her wide-ranging program, with which she opens this season's "Pianomania" series, not only she herself but also the audience will experience a true explosion of the senses.

Sophie Pacini / Piano Recital

Undoubtedly Mozart’s most well-known concerto, his 21st piano concerto has found new audiences through popular culture. Its slow movement has been used in a Bond film (The Spy who Loved Me) as well as a Swedish romantic drama, Elvira Madigan, from which it has gained its more familiar name.  All of Mozart’s concertos require a very precise and subtle pianist.  The ETSO is happy to welcome Misha Berestnev to interpret this deceptively challenging work.  The remainder of the program consists of Tchaikovsky’s Mozartiana Suite, an homage to his favorite composer, as well as two works by Sibelius, including his stirring Finlandia.

Mozart and More

The University of Texas at Tyler

It’s a romantic masterpiece showdown, featuring Tchaikovsky’s brilliant Violin Concerto and Sibelius’ adventurous First Symphony.

Sibelius’ First Symphony

Omaha Performing Arts

The oceans, after all, are the key to life on our blue planet, and as part of the LPO’s Harmony with Nature theme, Sir Mark Elder explores two very different perspectives on the sea: Vaughan Williams’ epic symphony of the human spirit, and Sibelius’ powerful depiction of the ocean waves.

A Sea Symphony

‘Behold, the sea itself!’ With a ringing fanfare, and a mighty shout from the London Philharmonic Choir, Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony unleashes a flood tide of inspiration. The oceans, after all, are the key to life on our blue planet, and as part of our Harmony with Nature theme, Sir Mark Elder explores two very different perspectives on the sea: Vaughan Williams’s epic symphony of the human spirit, and Sibelius’s powerful depiction of the ocean waves. With soloists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and David Stout, this should be a true voyage of discovery.

Voces Intimae – literally “inner voices” – is a programme where strings speak the language of the soul. Since the early Romantic era, composers have considered the string quartet the ideal medium for their most personal confessions. Beethoven, for example, composed his Eleventh String Quartet during a time of unrequited love and increasing deafness. The result is a deeply introspective and expressive work. Samuel Barber, decades later, rose to fame with his heartbreaking Adagio for Strings, originally the slow movement of his own quartet – now a timeless 20th-century classic.

Voces Intimae

Cinema Walburg

The esteemed Paavo Järvi returns with the serene beauty of Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, and the grandeur of Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5, inspired by the natural beauty of the composer’s Finnish homeland. Accordion sensation Ksenija Sidorova adds a fresh twist to the program with Kõrvits’s dynamic Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra.

Debussy & Sibelius

One of Australia’s most promising young musicians, Edward Walton performs Sibelius’ Violin Concerto as the centrepiece of this powerful program dedicated to the Finnish composer, conducted by Benjamin Northey.

A Celebration of Sibelius

Monash University Clayton Campus

Melbourne Town Hall

No matter how many times you’ve heard Dvořák’s ‘New World’ Symphony, there’ll be fresh sounds in store when you hear it conducted by Kahchun Wong. Wong is one of the most-talked about conductors in the UK right now, and tonight you’ll hear why, as he joins violinist Himari in Sibelius’s elemental Violin Concerto. Still in her early teens, Himari has been described as a phenomenon: but come and hear for yourself …

New World Symphony

Wong is one of the most-talked about conductors in the UK right now, and tonight you’ll hear why, as he joins violinist Himari in Sibelius’ elemental Violin Concerto.

One of Britain’s most celebrated ensembles, the Philharmonia Orchestra returns after two decades, under the baton of its electrifying music director, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, in his highly anticipated Washington Performing Arts debut. The program begins with a new work by visionary Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, followed by Ravel’s jazzy and luminous Piano Concerto in G Major, performed by the incomparable Víkingur Ólafsson—praised for his “ferocious keyboard technique with a razor-sharp intellect that puts those gifts to powerful interpretive use” (On a Pacific Aisle).

Philharmonia Orchestra

The Music Center at Strathmore

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy

Severance Music Center

The Göppingen Youth Symphony Orchestra is one of the ensembles offered by the Göppingen Municipal Youth Music School. It has won prizes in numerous competitions and is regularly invited to take part in international festivals. At the IX New York International Music Festival in Carnegie Hall, the Göppingen Youth Orchestra was awarded the gold medal. The ensemble has been featured on radio and television on numerous occasions. The conductor has been Martin Gunkel, City Music Director since 1989. The ensemble aims to promote children and young people's musical development and offer them the opportunity to play sophisticated orchestral music through the development of traditional and modern orchestral works. Furthermore, national prizewinners of the "Jugend musiziert" competition are given the opportunity to perform as soloists in concerts. Concert tours and international youth exchanges have taken the Göppingen Youth Symphony Orchestra to Spain, France, Norway, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Latvia, Great Britain, and the USA on numerous occasions.

Göppingen Youth Symphony Orchestra

Mozarteum Foundation

Discover the next generation of talent! On Oct 25, the OKC Philharmonic presents Oklahoma Stories: Celebrating Our Future, with Yihan Zhang, Kiegan Ryan, and the Oklahoma Youth Orchestra. Featuring music by Sibelius, Mendelssohn, Ryan, and Prokofiev.

Oklahoma Stories: Celebrating Our Future

Civic Center Music Hall

A bravura showcase for the Orchestra and soloist! Violinist Lisa Batiashvili thrills audiences with her “magnificent” (The Scotsman) gifts, the perfect skill set for the Sibelius Violin Concerto, seething with tensions and dark energy.

Sibelius, Higdon, and Tchaikovsky

Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto is a timeless favourite, though its debut was a disaster, leading Sibelius to withdraw it. Thankfully, he later reworked the piece into a breathtaking masterpiece. Composed while living in the Finnish countryside, its soaring melodies evoke Nordic landscapes. Anders Hillborg’s King Tide also captures nature’s essence, portraying a desolate terrain swept by a piercing wind. Similarly, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony reflects a world scarred by two world wars. With its unrelenting drama and powerful opening, this symphony leaves a profound impression.

Sibelius' Violin Concerto

Queen Elisabeth Hall

Music Center De Bijloke

A Mozart overture sets the stage with energy, elegance, and drama - an ideal prelude to an evening of compelling musical storytelling. Guest conductor Ludovic Morlot - who captivated audiences when he stepped in at short notice with the BBC SSO in 2024 - leads a journey that culminates in the soaring melodies of Sibelius’s epic Second Symphony. At its heart, Elisabeth Leonskaja brings profound artistry to Mozart’s darkly expressive 24th Piano Concerto - one of his most personal works, rich in light and shade. If anyone can uncover its secrets, it’s the legendary Leonskaja.

Perth Concert Series: Sibelius's Second Symphony

Perth Concert Hall

We welcome acclaimed violinist Augustin Hadelich and rising star conductor Tabita Berglund for this celebration of the music, architecture, and nature of Nordic countries. Called “one of the most exciting violinists of his generation” by The New York Times, Hadelich shines in a performance of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto, and the orchestra sets off on a journey through the countryside in Sibelius’ sweeping Second Symphony. This performance takes place within the newly renovated Powell Hall, whose expansion was designed by the Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta and was inspired by the elegant shapes of orchestral instruments.

Prokofiev and Sibelius

Powell Hall

Perth Concert Series: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra - Sibelius's Second Symphony

Carl Nielsen’s bustling overture to his 1904 opera, Maskarade, launches this Nordic programme from the acclaimed partnership of Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, joined here by regular collaborator, Simon Trpceski, for Grieg’s evergreen Piano Concerto.  Composed when he was just 25, it’s an astonishingly accomplished blend of personal style with national musical identity, mixing Norwegian folk idioms with youthful solo writing that’s both brilliant and warmly lyrical.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Concert Hall Nottingham

Join the Southern California Philharmonic for our 2025-2026 Season Opener!

This captivating evening will feature the WORLD PREMIERE of Eric Alan Foster's Concerto for Guitar, Mariachi Ensemble, and Orchestra -- with special guest artists from the University of San Diego Mariachi Ensemble, and the composer himself as premiering soloist!

SoCalPhil Season Opener

St Paul's Episcopal Church

Mozart sets the stage with energy, elegance, and drama—an ideal prelude to an evening of compelling musical storytelling. Guest conductor Ludovic Morlot—who captivated audiences when he stepped in at short notice with the BBC SSO in 2024—leads a journey that culminates in the soaring melodies of Sibelius’s epic Second Symphony.

Sibelius' Second Symphony

City Halls

The renowned Philharmonia Orchestra, London returns to CAMA for the first time since 2019, under the baton of its dynamic new Principal Conductor, Finnish Maestro Santtu-Matias Rouvali for an epic program of powerful national voices and symphonic masterpieces. The concert opens with Sibelius’s Finlandia, a stirring anthem of Finnish national pride and resilience, followed by the composer’s Symphony No. 5, a work of majestic beauty and profound emotional depth, culminating in its iconic “swan hymn” finale. The second half of the program features Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. Written in response to political pressure in Soviet Russia, the symphony was a “triumphal success” at its 1937 premiere, receiving an ovation that lasted over half an hour. The symphony’s dramatic arc continues to resonate with audiences today, raising questions about artistic freedom and the role of the artist in society.

Philharmonia Orchestra, London

Granada Theatre

The LSO welcomes composer and conductor Thomas Adès for the first concert in a series exploring Nordic music alongside a selection of his own works.

London Symphony Orchestra/Thomas Adès

Many of you know Raphael Christ as our First Concertmaster, and not just from the Pur concerts. Regular concertgoers will have noticed, however, that recently, another face has been seen more frequently at the first violin desk: Vlad Stanculeasa has been the Coordinated First Concertmaster of the Bochum Symphony Orchestra since September 2024, sharing the position and responsibility with Raphael Christ.

London’s stellar Philharmonia Orchestra returns to Berkeley with Finnish maestro Santtu-Matias Rouvali—one of the most sought-after conductors of his generation—making his Berkeley debut! In two programs featuring 2025–26 season Artist in Residence Víkingur Ólafsson, orchestra, conductor, and soloist take us on a spectacular journey through a sublime collection of works, from Romantic masterpieces to an exciting new commission.

Cal Performances

The Fifth Symphony by Dmitri Shostakovich was composed in 1937 during a time of great personal and political tension. After facing criticism of his music from the Soviet government, he had to prove himself once again - and created a work that impressed both the regime and deeply moved his audience. Full of tragedy, hope, and subtle irony, Shostakovich's symphony reflects his courage and genius. Today, in this gripping masterpiece, one can hear the power of a composer who used music as the language of the soul. Equally captivating is the Violin Concerto by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Nordic expanses, passionate melodies, and virtuosic solos merge into an unparalleled auditory experience. The violin tells tales of longing and adventure, of quiet moments and powerful outbursts. This concerto is a celebration for the senses - captivating, touching, and unforgettable.

Composer

Jean Sibelius

Events

Upcoming events

Jun 22, 2025 - Jun 28, 2026

Elbphilharmonie Family Orchestra · Elbphilharmonie

30 - 31 Dec, 2025

New Year's Gala 2025 · Malmö Symphony Orchestra

8 - 9 Jan, 2026

Søndergård and Ehnes · Minnesota Orchestra

8 - 11 Jan, 2026

Randall Goosby Returns · New Jersey Symphony

8 - 11 Jan, 2026

Randall Goosby Returns · New Jersey Symphony

Past events

Dec 18, 2025

Sound and cheers · Norrköpings Symfoniorkester

Dec 14, 2025

Beethoven #8 · Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier

About

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