Composer

Centering the program is Igor Stravinsky’s monumental Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), infamous for its avant-garde music and ballet choreography. A lighter take on the season is Lili Boulanger’s vivacious yet introspective D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning). Richard Strauss’s Don Juan, Op. 20 depicts the legendary ill-fated bachelor.

EPSG:4326

Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra

Northwestern University

Saint-Saëns' symphonic poem captures the headlong flight of the sun chariot in the Greek myth.

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

The Anvil

Matthew Huang, bass-baritone

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Repertory Singers & Treble Chorus 2026

University of Rochester

Ewan is one of the most prominent oboe soloists in the UK. In 2020 Ewan won the woodwind final of BBC Young Musician, advancing to the Grand Final, and giving an “exemplary, richly shaded account” The Guardian, of Navarro’s “Legacy” concerto with the BBC Philharmonic. Since the competition he has been performing as a soloist in recitals around the UK.

Ewan Millar oboe & Tomos Boyles piano

The Bridgewater Hall

Spring has inspired many composers to write music. Perhaps it is precisely the awakening of nature that inspires creativity. Here we get to know two quite different spring feelings. Debussy's  Printemps  is more of a description of a spring-like inner awakening, while Boulanger's  D'un matin de printemps  is more concrete, with joy and anticipation when we have left darkness and cold behind us.

Thoughts If spring

Louis de Geer konsert & kongress

Performed entirely from memory by the choir and soloists, this performance envelops listeners in an intimate, contemplative setting. From the radiant beauty of the Pie Jesu to the ethereal glow of In Paradisum, the music offers a vision of consolation and peace.

Fauré Requiem Performed by Hear

Smith Square Hall

A note from the Maestro: As winter comes to a close in Maine we may see crocuses peeking up through lightly fallen snow, or delicate starflowers growing in our forests, heralding the warming spring weather ahead. With the awakening and blooming of Mother Nature, composers through the ages have embraced spring as a source of inspiration. The ballet, The Rite of Spring, by Stravinsky engages one of the largest orchestras we have ever put on the stage of the Collins Center and this epic work will have us rolling and romping through the rhythmic splendor of springtime. Callirhoë by Chaminade is inspired by Venus, goddess of fertility, and the Spring Afternoon by Boulanger is a sweet short journey into the impressionist style. The robust merrymaking of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture kicks off this programmatic celebration of Spring.

The Rite of Spring

University of Maine

Aaron Copland’s operatic Tender Land Suite is a work which tells of a farm family in the Midwest, reflecting Depression-era photos and literature. Frenchman Maurice Ravel’s Piano Trio was expanded from the three-instrument original to full symphony orchestra by fellow countryman Yan Pascal Tortelier. Ravel brought the innovative Trio to a hurried completion in August of 1914 so he could enlist in the French Army at the onset of World War I, where he served as an ambulance driver. He drew inspiration from a wide variety of sources, from his Basque dance heritage to Malaysian poetry.

Patriotic Sounds (Celebrating America 250)

Purdue University Fort Wayne

Winner of several prestigious awards, she has dedicated several critically acclaimed albums to them. Alongside pianist Julian Riem, she presents a unique program inspired by her album Femmes , which spans nine centuries of female musical creation. From the German mystic poet Hildegarde von Bingen to the eclectic and innovative Lera Auerbach, by way of Lili and Nadia Boulanger, this concert highlights numerous female composers, ranging from emblematic figures to surprising discoveries.

Women

Le Corum

Violinist Tessa Lark and conductor Shiyeon Sung make welcome returns for a program of Lili Boulanger, Barber’s Violin Concerto, and music from Bizet’s classic opera Carmen.

A traditionalist in the era of atonality, Barber’s concerto contrasts lyricism with folk-like melodies and an incredibly breakneck finale. An American classic, it remains one of the most performed 20th century violin concertos.

Bizet and Barber

Linda Ronstadt Music Hall

French chamber music for flute, oboe, and English horn. A concert full of distinctive works from the circle of the extraordinary composer Lili Boulanger, who at the age of 19 became the first woman ever to win the prestigious Prix de Rome and died far too young just a few years later. Lili Boulanger was a child prodigy without equal. At the age of five, she began her studies at the Paris Conservatoire, learning piano, violin, cello, harp, and organ. Her life was shaped by two themes: her exceptional talent and an early lung condition. When she won the Prix de Rome, she also received a scholarship for a three-year residency at the Villa Medici in Rome. Her doctors tried to dissuade her from the trip. But for her, there was no doubt: she had to have this experience. In the end, she left behind over 50 works, including chamber music, hymns, and choral works such as a cantata.

Chant du soir

Hessischer Rundfunk

Journey through the year with Boulanger’s Of Spring Morning, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, and Copland’s Appalachian Spring—music inspired by nature’s rhythms.

Seasons of Sound

North Canyon High School

Phoenix-born violinist Richard Lin returns to perform Tchaikovsky’s beloved Violin Concerto. Symphony Tacoma Music Director Sarah Ioannides conducts a springtime celebration of young love in Selections from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo & Juliet and the brief, impressionistic D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning) by Lili Boulanger.

Lin plays Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto

Phoenix Convention Center

A thematic focus from the art collection of the Museum Behnhaus Drägerhaus, which will be presented in an exhibition in 2026, is on paintings and pictures by female artists, including Paula Modersohn-Becker, Anita Rée, and Else Wex-Cleemann. Juxtapositions of their works reveal how the self-image of female artists has changed over time. Just as the works of female visual artists have often been marginalized and ignored, so have those of female composers. This soundscape concert combines chamber music and vocal works by outstanding female composers from various eras, from pioneers from the mid-19th century such as Clara Schumann to trailblazers at the beginning of the 20th century such as Lili Boulanger, who was the first woman to win the coveted "Prix de Rome" in France and died at the age of just 24, or Mélanie Bonis, who mostly published her works under the pseudonym Mel Bonis in order to conceal her gender, to contemporary composers such as Lera Auerbach.

2.  Sound Images Concert

Museum Behnhaus Drägerhaus

Faculty Recital of Shannon Thomas, violin & Stijn De Cock, piano

Longmire Alumni Building

The young Prokofiev wrote his First Violin Concerto in an age of revolution, but you’d never guess – it’s practically a fairy-tale in sound. And with her ravishing sound and lightning-fast fingers, there’s no more stylish interpreter than the Moldovan violinist Alexandra Tirsu – especially when she’s accompanied by conductor Eun Sun Kim (“a major star” – The New York Times).

Lili Boulanger’s vibrant and playful march, written around the same time as the Prokofiev, makes for an energetic opening; meanwhile, Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony is the orchestral equivalent of a blockbuster movie – a sweeping emotional drama, filled with winter storms, huge sunlit vistas and mile after mile of unforgettable melodies. Is this the ultimate romantic symphony? All we know is that it sounds wonderful, and we can’t wait to share it.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Alexandra Tirsu plays Prokofiev

Cadogan Hall 

The young Prokofiev wrote his First Violin Concerto in an age of revolution, but you’d never guess – it’s practically a fairy-tale in sound. And, with her ravishing sound and lightning-fast fingers, there’s no more stylish interpreter than the Moldovan violinist Alexandra Tirsu – especially when she’s accompanied by conductor Eun Sun Kim (‘A major star’ – The New York Times). Lili Boulanger’s vibrant and playful march, written around the same time as the Prokofiev, makes for an energetic opening; meanwhile, Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony is the orchestral equivalent of a blockbuster movie – a sweeping emotional drama, filled with winter storms, huge sunlit vistas and mile after mile of unforgettable melodies. Is this the ultimate romantic symphony? All we know is that it sounds wonderful, and we can’t wait to share it.

Alexandra Tirsu plays Prokofiev

This season, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt) once again brings its chamber music concerts to the Forum Kultur Heppenheim. In the historic Kursaal, hr solo flautist Sebastian Wittiber and hr oboist Michael Höfele, accompanied by pianist Maria Ollikainen, will present French chamber music for flute, oboe, and English horn. The concert features a selection of distinctive works from the circle of the extraordinary composer Lili Boulanger, who at the age of 19 became the first woman to win the prestigious Prix de Rome and tragically died far too young just a few years later.

Forum Kultur Heppenheim e. V.

In 2024, the Trio con Brio Copenhagen celebrated its 25th stage anniversary: ​​a quarter-century of ensemble history, during which the three have delighted audiences with their characteristic blend of harmonious interplay and instrumental perfection. They have already demonstrated their talent in Duisburg, too, in the 2022/2023 season with works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, among others. This time, the program features Lili Boulanger, one of the most gifted composers of her time: she was the first woman ever to win the famous Rome Prize before her tragically early death from tuberculosis at the age of 24. However, she was still able to complete a pair of unlikely works for trio: one, "D'un matin de printemps," full of enchanting spring colors and hope, the other, "D'un soir triste," full of despair and melancholy. The only piano trio by Maurice Ravel follows in a cheerful and relaxed manner, in which the composer plays with sophisticated sound mixtures and intricate rhythms, while Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Piano Trio No. 2 strikes a particularly passionate tone and is, as the composer himself remarked, "a bit nauseating to play."

Trio con Brio Copenhagen

CityPalais

Three young Turin musicians joined forces to form a piano trio, gave themselves the unusual name Trio Concept, won First Prize at the International Schoenfeld Competition – and were proposed by us, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, as ECHO Rising Stars. At the moment, the commissioned work is being written for the three musicians – this time a very special piece about a frog who just wants to chill on his sofa.

Sunday matinee Rising Stars

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden

Hong-Kong born pianist Tiffany Poon has appeared with orchestras and in recital throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia since she was first accepted to the Juilliard pre-college program at the age of eight where she studied with Emanuel Ax and Joseph Kalichstein.

Tiffany Poon

War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

D’un Matin de printemps (“Of a Spring Morning”) was composed during the last months of the composer’s short life. Boulanger had already made a name for herself as the first woman ever to win the Prix de Rome. Stricken with a terminal illness at age 24, her final works convey the intimate and mature compositional voice that explore color and harmony. One of Poulenc’s friends said of him: “There is in him something of the monk and the street urchin.” The Gloria brilliantly expresses these characteristics, with its charismatic fusion of solemnity and mischievous exuberance. Poulenc described the process thus: “While writing it I had in mind those Crozzoli frescoes with angels sticking out their tongues, and also some solemn-looking Benedictine monks that I saw playing football one day.” César Franck Symphony in D minor is perhaps the greatest symphony written by a French person in the latter half of the 19th century. It is best known for its cyclical nature, bringing back melodies from previous movements throughout the piece. Of particular note is a stunning english horn solo buried within.

French Voyage

Duluth Entertainment Convention Center

In the kickoff to our EARTH | Songs Festival, Stravinsky’s revolutionary and even notorious The Rite of Spring bursts with untamed energy and depicts a Russian pagan ritual. The more introspective D’un Matin de printemps by Lili Boulanger and Tan Dun’s percussion concerto – featuring BSO Principal Percussionist Edouard Beyens – offer poignant reflections on humanity’s evolving connection to nature.

The Rite of Spring (EARTH | Songs)

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Back by popular demand, the University Symphony Orchestra performs Stravinsky’s riot-starting Rite of Springand Dani Howard’s Trombone Concerto, featuring faculty trombonist Hana Beloglavec.

University Symphony Orchestra Concert

Florida State University

An afternoon concert in the Kuben with music composed for flute, cello and piano. Philip Gaubert's Trois aquarelles opens with three contrasting movements, followed by Lili Boulanger's D'un matin de printemps and two works by Guillaume Connesson – the energetic Toccata-Nocturne and a movement from Initial dances . 

Chamber Concert #3

Malmo Live Concert Hall

Celebrate love and passion this Valentine’s Day with the remarkable artistry of Saskia Giorgini as she shines on Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2. Giorgini plays as if she “has something to say, and she wears it on her sleeve.” (NativeDSD). Lina González-Granados leads the RPO with Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony, sweeping you away to misty landscapes and heartfelt melodies. Plus, Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps opens the concert with youthful energy and fresh springtime romance

Saint-Saëns & Mendelssohn

Eastman Theatre

This program, entitled "Rooted Voices: Folk, Faith, and the Modern Imagination", invites audiences on a journey through works that explore the intersections of heritage, spirituality, and modern expression. Featuring music by Joseph Bologne, Charles Ives, Lili Boulanger, William Grant Still, and Maurice Ravel, the program reflects how composers across centuries have turned to the spiritual and the vernacular—folk melodies, sacred songs, and cultural memory—to express both individuality and universality in sound.

Guest Artist Recital: Shannon Thomas (violin) and Stijn De Cock (piano)

St Alban's Chapel

The chamber music program by Anna-Maria Barth, concertmaster of the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, and her piano partner Alex Pudmann fulfills a long-held desire to place creative women at the center of a program. This is less about the question of whether a program exclusively featuring works by female composers is still necessary today. We are simply embarking on a musical journey of discovery – and one that goes far beyond well-known names like Clara Schumann (1819-1896) and Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)
. We are discovering romantic, extremely rarely performed violin music not only from Europe but from all over the world:
the Romance Op. 23 by the American Amy Beach (1867-1944), the violin sonata by the Swede Amanda Maier (1853-1894), and the Fantasy No. 1 by the American Florence Price (1887-1953). And last but not least, with Le Grand Tango, the recently deceased Russian Sofia Gubaidulina (1931-2025), inspired by Shostakovich and one of the most honored musicians of our time, will perform. An evening full of elegance, passion, and musical power – dedicated to the great women of music!

18th Wilhelmsbad Chamber Concert

Congress Park Hanau

Our concert hall organ, the "orchestra in one instrument," is at the center of Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto - a work full of contrasts. Sometimes deeply serious, almost sacred, then surprisingly playful, Poulenc combines tradition and modernity in a fascinating way. The soloist of the evening, Anna Lapwood, one of the most exciting organists of her generation, impresses with her virtuosity and her ability to engage people with classical music.

Lapwood with Poulenc

Palace of Culture

Camellia Symphony Orchestra: Dreams and Delirium

C.K. McClatchy High School

Young Georgian pianist Giorgi Gigashvili (born 2000) has quickly made a name for himself on the international concert scene. A major turning point came in 2019 when he won the prestigious Vigo International Piano Competition – with legendary pianist Martha Argerich as jury chair. He was a BBC New Generation Artist 2023–25 and is now nominated for ECHO Rising Stars.

Piano Solo – Giorgi Gigashvili

Konserthuset Stockholm

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 Saxophone Quartet

Stockholm Concert Hall

Alexandra Dariescu has made it her mission to create concert programmes that give underrepresented female composers equal billing with their better-known male colleagues.

Alexandra Dariescu

Southbank Centre

Rebirth & Revolution

Robinson Center

Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók sits somewhere between a gothic tale of horror and a psychological dissection of a twisted relationship. Alone in a castle, Judith follows a trail of ever more compelling and grisly clues to unlock the truth about her new husband, horror by horror, door by door.

Bluebeard’s Castle

Seven doors, and behind each one, a crucial piece of a gruesome puzzle…
Bluebeard’s Castle by Béla Bartók sits somewhere between a gothic tale of horror and a psychological dissection of a twisted relationship. Alone in a castle, Judith follows a trail of ever more compelling and grisly clues to unlock the truth about her new husband, horror by horror, door by door.

BBC Philharmonic - Bluebeard’s Castle

This special performance by the BBC Philharmonic is a rare opportunity to hear Bartók’s gripping one-act opera, Bluebeard’s Castle, in an atmospheric concert hall staging with theatrical lighting. An impulsive young bride has turned her back on her family, only to uncover the gruesome truth about her new husband lurking behind every locked door of his imposing citadel. With sinister strings, strident winds and commanding brass, it’s both a compelling psychological drama and a masterpiece of orchestral scene painting. The spectacular opening of the fifth door, revealing both the vast expanse of Bluebeard’s realm and his overbearing power, remains one of the most spine-tingling moments in all music.

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: Bluebeard's Castle

Royal Concert Hall Nottingham

Despite dying at the age of just 26, French composer Lili Boulanger left behind a wealth of fantastic music. Among the highlights is the buzzing, lively spring morning she evokes in the short tone poem D'un matin de printemps , which she composed just a few months before her death.

Søndergaard & Ravel

DR Koncerthuset

There are countless string quartets—both ensembles and works—but saxophone quartets? With this lineup, the MAAT Saxophone Quartet is making a name for itself. As the European Concert Hall Organization's "Rising Star," they will tour throughout Europe in the 2025/26 season. After eight sold-out children's concerts in 2024, they will also return to the Elbphilharmonie with a program that showcases the quartet's diversity, with arrangements ranging from string quartets to piano concertos.

Size Saxophone Quartet

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

A most heart-stirring concert awaits you, portraying vastly different approaches to grief and memory. In the “Eroica,” grief turns into fury, when the original dedicatee, Napoleon, crowns himself emperor and the enraged Beethoven now celebrates only “the memory of a great man.” From two bolts-out-of-the-blue chords to exhilarating finale, the Symphony’s majesty and drama, extraordinary scope, and bold harmonies all proclaim a new era in music. Turning his grief into sorrow, Berg inscribes his heartbreaking Concerto, sensitively performed by our concertmaster, “To the memory of an angel”—a vivacious 18-year-old girl struck down by polio. He paints her portrait in the first movement, and, in the emotional heart of the Concerto, incorporates Bach’s chorale, “It is enough; Lord, if it pleases you/Unshackle me.”

Beethoven’s Eroica

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Willamette University

A cold and glassy opener, Saariaho’s Winter Sky emanates the clarity, sense of mystery and ethereal beauty of a clear sky on a winter’s day. Next, to Lili Boulanger’s d’un matin de printemps which effortlessly captures the fresh energy of a spring morning. Representing summer, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream captures the frivolous nature of the mischievous Puck, causing havoc during a hot summer night. Finally, Grieg’s In Autumn conjures a sweeping storm with bold brass breaking through the clouds.

Four Seasons in a Day

MediaCityUK

The programme juxtaposes the elegance of early 20th century French composition, from Lili Boulanger and Maurice Ravel and Alfredo Casella, with the innovation of contemporary voices - including a new work by German composer Clemens Thomas.

ECHO Rising Stars: Trio Concept

LSO St Luke's

Founded in 1937, the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra brings together the area’s most gifted young orchestral musicians to study and perform a broad range of orchestral repertoire. The ensemble performs three times a year, beginning with their winter concert. Don’t miss this opportunity to witness the future of classical brilliance!

Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra: Sunrises and Storms

University of Dayton

Enjoy four magnificent works of music by three composers from near the turn of the 20th century, yet each one unique in their own right: the French Lili Boulanger and Camille Saint-Saëns and the Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Zuill Bailey, one of the top cellists in the world, will join the CSO as guest soloist. Also featured will be Yuriy Bekker, who in addition to other roles, has been Concertmaster of the CSO since 2007.

Scheherazade

Gaillard Center

Lili Boulanger was a versatile child prodigy. At 19, she became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome, France's highest composition award. Unfortunately, Boulanger was chronically ill and plagued by pain—she died at the early age of 24. "D'un soir triste" (One Sad Evening...) was one of her last compositions, a modern, fascinating sound sculpture, somber, dramatic, then mystically light. The composer was unable to write the work herself. She dictated it to her sister Nadia, who would become a famous piano and composition teacher.

Enthusiastic

Bochumer Symphoniker

Three powerful works explore beauty, desire and loss in strikingly different ways. 
A fleeting and vivid portrait of spring, “D’un matin de printemps” offers one of the few glimpses of Lili Boulanger’s remarkable talent, written shortly before her untimely death at the age of 24.

Fulham Symphony Orchestra

Three powerful works explore beauty, desire and loss in strikingly different ways.
A fleeting and vivid portrait of spring, “D’un matin de printemps” offers one of the few glimpses of Lili Boulanger’s remarkable talent, written shortly before her untimely death at the age of 24.

Boulanger, Strauss and Zemlinsky

Three great composers have been brought together for this concert, who turn formative biographical stages – whether wrestling with death or saying goodbye to loved ones or working through role models – into music.

3rd Symphony Concert

Staatstheater Mainz

RDAM Gala Concert 2025

Konservatoriets Koncertsal

Sacred music was never meant to be this much fun! ‘Part monk, part hooligan’ was how one contemporary described the French composer Francis Poulenc, and they might have been talking about his Gloria, too: a huge, irreverent shout of joy for a great chorus. The City of London Choir joins the RPO and conductor Daniel Hyde to raise the roof today; first, though, there’s another choral blockbuster from France (this time by Lili Boulanger), music reminiscent of a holiday in Provence from the composer of Carmen and Debussy’s beautiful moonlit serenade. We also hear not one but two musical letters from America. Everyone loves the deep emotion of Barber’s Adagio – but when you hear soprano Sally Matthews sing Knoxville, his tender memoir of a vanished youth, we think you’ll fall in love all over again.

Poulenc's Gloria

Sacred music was never meant to be this much fun! “Part monk, part hooligan” was how one contemporary described the French composer Francis Poulenc, and they might have been talking about his Gloria too: a huge, irreverent shout of joy for a great chorus.

The City of London Choir joins the RPO and conductor Daniel Hyde to raise the roof today; first, though, there’s another choral blockbuster from France (this time by Lili Boulanger), music reminiscent of a holiday in Provence from the composer of Carmen, and Debussy’s beautiful moonlit serenade.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

DYNAMIKfest and the renowned Fondation Gautier Capuçon join forces to present a tribute to Maurice Ravel, whose 150th birthday is celebrated this year. The program explores masterpieces by important composers who influenced Ravel in very different ways—whether through cultural heritage or compositional diversity.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ravel! FONDATION GAUTIER CAPUÇON DYNAMIKfest 2025

Mozarteum Foundation

Venture beyond Kurt Weill’s irresistible ballad Mack the Knife and you’ll find there’s lots to explore. That includes his Second Symphony, commissioned by Winnaretta Singer, an heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune and generous patron of the arts. Bookending that are contrasting voices of three extraordinary French composers.

David Afkham Returns

Orchestra Hall

Take a step out of the every day and visit worlds of the imagination. In Ravel’s Ma mère l’oye, we look into the world of much-loved fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast and Tom Thumb. Michael Gallen’s Bád on Alltár, which translates as ‘Boat From Beyond’, is a fusion of Irish Traditional and classical musics drawing on the Celtic idea of the ‘thin veil’ between reality and the otherworld, bringing something new and previously unimagined to change our lives. Kenneth Hesketh’s arrangement of Lili Boulanger’s Three Pieces for Piano takes us to two imagined gardens and a cheerful parade, while Debussy’s Nocturnes evocatively depict the procession of clouds across the sky, the bustle of a festival and the sea-songs of the mythical sirens, all inspired by paintings by James McNeill Whistler.

Distant Shores

Belfast

Take a step out of the every day and visit worlds of the imagination. In Ravel’s Ma mère l'oye, we look into the world of much-loved fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast and Tom Thumb. Michael Gallen’s Bád on Alltár, which translates as ‘Boat From Beyond’, is a fusion of Irish Traditional and classical musics drawing on the Celtic idea of the ‘thin veil’ between reality and the otherworld, bringing something new and previously unimagined to change our lives. Kenneth Hesketh’s arrangement of Lili Boulanger’s Three Pieces for Piano takes us to two imagined gardens and a cheerful parade, while Debussy’s Nocturnes evocatively depict the procession of clouds across the sky, the bustle of a festival and the sea-songs of the mythical sirens, all inspired by paintings by James McNeill Whistler.

Ulster Orchestra: Distant Shores

Ulster Hall

Paris, 1913: and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring changes the course of modern music. It wasn’t just that a riot broke out at the premiere, either – the rhythmic power and primal energy of Stravinsky’s volcanic score are so explosive that over a century later, we’re still reeling from the aftershock. But then, things do tend to catch fire when Principal Guest Conductor Karina Canellakis conducts the LPO. Expect grand passions in Lili Boulanger’s sensuous Faust et Hélène, written the same year as The Rite of Spring, and dark emotion in Stravinsky’s Funeral Song.

It wasn’t just that a riot broke out at the premiere, either – Stravinsky’s volcanic score is so explosive that over a century later, we’re still reeling from the aftershock.

A musical journey connecting Sister Cities St. Louis and Lyon.

“French Impressions: A Tale of Two Cities”

Washington University in St. Louis

Karina Cannellakis leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra along with soprano Johanna Wallroth in a program that with the overture to Felix Mendelssohn's ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream, followed by Lili Boulanger's piece about a spring morning and arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Finally, Sergei Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony, known for being both technically challenging and emotional.

Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony

Berwaldhallen

What else would Lili Boulanger have created if she hadn't died so young? Her sister Nadia, who was also a composer, always emphasized that Lili was the more talented. We'll never know, but we can place some of her works in the context of their time and build a bridge to the present.

Speaking of Lili Boulanger

Musikverein Wien

We have enjoyed our long-standing collaboration with the Folkwang University of the Arts.

Folkwang Gala 2025

Tabea Zimmermann and the Ensemble Resonanz explore the music of the first half of the 20th century – a time of change, full of ruptures, contrasts and new possibilities. Three works by George Enescu, Lili Boulanger and Béla Bartók reflect the diversity and richness of this era: between impressionism and folkloristic inspiration, between dazzling beauty and impending doom.

Ensemble Resonanz / Tabea Zimmermann

The ultimate Romantic symphony, Rachmaninov’s Second has it all: heart-on-sleeve emotions, endless melodies, a slow-movement whose two rival themes eventually find themselves locked in a passionate embrace and a radiant finale. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor Designate Delyana Lazarova are joined by former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and ‘unrivalled musician’ Anastasia Kobekina for Shostakovich’s supremely demanding Cello Concerto No. 1. The Prom opens with dawn breaking on a spring morning in Lili Boulanger’s vivid tone-poem D’un matin de printemps.

Royal Albert Hall

Anniversary celebrations are taking place everywhere. The young North German Philharmonic is also celebrating its 15th anniversary! The orchestra has invited Festival Prize winner Noa Wildschut to perform as soloist for its two anniversary concerts at the MV Festival.

The young North German Philharmonic celebrates its birthday

Niendorf Manor Barn

Volkstheater Rostock / Halle 207

Join Interlochen Arts Camp's premiere wind ensemble for their weekly concert. Under the direction of Steve Davis, the ensemble will present a program of wind band classics, contemporary compositions, and orchestral transcriptions

Sarah McKoin conducts Alfred Reed's "El Camino Real"

Interlochen Center for the Arts

Mary Bevan released her debut solo disc, Voyages, in 2017 (with pianist Joseph Middleton on the Signum label), which explores the music of eminent French composers and the settings they wrote for the poems of Charles Baudelaire. For this recital, Mary revisits her favourite repertoire from Voyages, including songs by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy, Chabrier, and more, but this time, each song is paired with another by a female composer writing around the same time. In this way, the recital seeks to bring the female composers from out of the shadow of their male counterparts and restore them to their rightful places as composers of equal quality and interest.

TSM presents Bevan & Vignoles

The Royal Conservatory of Music

A thrilling programme that weaves together two festival threads — Mealor @50 and La Belle Époque — while marking three major composer anniversaries: the 100th of Eric Satie’s death, Jonathan Dove’s 65th birthday and Paul Mealor’s 50th. Mealor’s Symphony No.2, written after a visit to the Canadian Rockies, reveals the composer at his creative best, extracting extraordinary colour from strings, piano, and percussion.

Jam On The Marsh

St Nicholas Church, New Romney

What about the musical family? I’m not talking about the Mozarts, the Bachs or the Kanneh-Masons. But rather the musicians with whom, without any help, a special bond is formed, with whom you are always happy to get together. For Dirk Kaftan, Tetiana Miyus and Alexandre Tharaud definitely belong to this circle of people. He has performed countless opera evenings with Tetiana Miyus in Graz, she was the soloist in a guest performance by the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra in Taiwan and she has also performed twice in Bonn, both times on a smaller scale. Now she sings the final movement of Gustav Mahler’s pastoral, heavenly, enigmatic 4th Symphony in G major as part of a Freitagskonzert at the end of the season. There is talk of saints and angels, of the little lamb and Herod. A great »as if«, so it is said of this symphony. Maurice Ravel was also a master of the »as i«. As a tribute to his 150th birthday, we are playing his groovy, humorous Piano Concerto in G major after the intoxicating Daphnis and Chloé in the second symphony concert. A request from Alexandre Tharaud after he performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with the Beethoven Orchestra in 2018. G major: What a difference between the playful lightness and bite of Ravel’s concerto and Mahler’s symphony in the same key, smiling with tears (or crying with a smile) … Two masters of modernism with different views of the world. Incidentally, Lili Boulanger – unlike Maurice Ravel – was the first composer to win the coveted Prix de Rome, which was to pave the way for a great career for French composers. Unfortunately, she was already seriously ill at the time and died far too young. The inscription on Franz Schubert’s grave could also have been dedicated to her: » The art of music buried here a rich possession; but even more beautiful hopes. «

The Great Clarity

Theater Bonn Opera House

It is tradition for the Czech Philharmonic to end its season with a free Open Air Concert on Hradčany Square. The orchestra will be joined by the winner of the Jiří Bělohlávek Prize, clarinetist Anna Paulová. She will shine especially in the world premiere of Pauliana for clarinet and orchestra by Jiří Gemrot. After a successful debut last year, conductor Dalia Stasevska will take up the baton.

Czech Philharmonic • Open Air Concert

Hradcany Square

Intensity, emotionality, captivating joy in playing, and a generous dose of curiosity and a desire for new things—that's what Trio Orelon exemplifies. In their innovative thematic programs, the three musicians focus particularly on the works of lesser-known female composers. Under the motto "Beethoven's Daughters," the ensemble combines these rarely performed pieces with well-known works by Ludwig van Beethoven. Thus, this evening, alongside Beethoven's "Archduke Trio," they will perform music by Lili Boulanger and Dora Pejačević.

YOUNG ELITE Trio Orelon

Schloss Schwiessel

Dive into the swirling colour of Saint-Saëns with global sensation Lang Lang, and the Sydney Symphony performing some of the greatest Romantic pieces ever written. Don’t miss out on a ticket to see this superstar in his only performance with orchestra in Sydney.

Lang Lang and the Sydney Symphony

Sydney Opera House

‘There is still no music that is closer to my heart than Schubert's,’ says Joana Mallwitz. This composer and his works were the ‘initial spark’ for her to become a conductor. ‘I'm really looking forward to conducting Schubert's “Great” in C major not in front of cameras and an empty hall, as I did in 2020 when I made my debut with the Konzerthausorchester due to the coronavirus, but in front of an audience. I think it's one of the best pieces ever,’ says our chief conductor.

Composer

Lili Boulanger

Events

Upcoming events

May 4, 2026

James Ehnes, violin and Andrew Armstrong, piano · Grand Theatre

May 9, 2026

4. Congress Park Symphony 2025/2026 · Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt

May 10, 2026

Classical Mornings · Musikhuset Aarhus

May 13, 2026

The Organ Symphony · Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

May 13, 2026

ECHO Rising Stars: Giorgi Gigashvili · Barbican Centre

Past events

Apr 24, 2026

Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra · Northwestern Bienen School of Music

Apr 23, 2026

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra · Anvil Arts

About

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