Pianist

Jazz meets classical as pianist Makoto Ozone joins conductor Jun Märkl for Rachmaninoff’s spirited Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Ozone’s own O’Berek, and Schumann’s “Spring” Symphony complete a concert that features vivacity and charm.

EPSG:4326

Season Finale: Makoto Ozone plays Rachmaninoff

Hilbert Circle Theatre

A clarinet soars upwards – and immediately, you can picture the skyscrapers of jazz-age Manhattan. There’s nothing quite like Rhapsody in Blue, and few living pianists play Gershwin with more flair than our soloist today, Japanese jazz legend Makoto Ozone. And with RPO Conductor-in-Residence Kevin John Edusei conducting, there are endless pictures to be painted and stories to be told. High in the mountains of Transylvania, György Ligeti hears a shepherd blow his horn, and gypsy fiddles flash around the campfire. And far from his Hungarian homeland, composed in the USA, Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra sets out to put a great orchestra through its paces and ends up by punching the air with glee. This is music that loves life – and believe us, you can feel it.

Makoto Ozone plays Gershwin

Cadogan Hall 

A clarinet soars upwards – and immediately, you can picture the skyscrapers of jazz-age Manhattan. There’s nothing quite like Rhapsody in Blue, and few living pianists play Gershwin with more flair than our soloist today, Japanese jazz legend Makoto Ozone. And with RPO Conductor-in-Residence Kevin John Edusei is conducting, there are endless pictures to be painted and stories to be told.

High in the mountains of Transylvania, György Ligeti hears a shepherd blow his horn, and gypsy fiddles flash around the campfire.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Makoto Ozone plays Gershwin

John Harbison, one of Boston’s musical luminaries for the fifty-odd years that he has lived here, is the composer of a large, extraordinarily varied body of work. Many of music’s highest honors have come his way—the Pulitzer Prize for music and a commission from the Metropolitan Opera among them. The BPYO plays his incandescent Remembering Gatsby (Foxtrot for Orchestra) for the first time since the senior Boston Philharmonic Orchestra played it in 1995.

Harbison / Gershwin / Copland

Boston Symphony Hall

What would you do for love? Romeo and Juliet risked everything, and Tchaikovsky poured all of this passion into his music. The Little Mermaid also followed her heart, and Zemlinsky’s gorgeous retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale is a colourful – and gripping – masterpiece. Kevin John Edusei conducts, Gillian Moore hosts, and RSNO favourite Makoto Ozone is the soloist in Rachmaninov’s dazzling, deliriously romantic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The perfect date night? We think so!

Love & Fairy Tales Rachmaninov & The Mermaid

Usher Hall

What would you do for love? Romeo and Juliet risked everything, and Tchaikovsky poured all of this passion into his music. The Little Mermaid also followed her heart, and Zemlinsky’s gorgeous retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale is a colourful – and gripping – masterpiece. Kevin John Edusei conducts, Gillian Moore hosts, and RSNO favourite Makoto Ozone is the soloist in Rachmaninov’s dazzling, deliriously romantic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. The perfect date night? We think so! 

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Music Hall, Aberdeen

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Hailed by The New York Times as “thrilling and unabashedly personal,” the virtuosity and dynamic stage presence of pianist Makoto Ozone on Rachmaninoff’s stunning Paganini Variations would be enough to excite any listener, but seasoned guest conductor Jun Märkl has even more up his sleeve for this weekends’ audiences.

Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Denver Performing Arts Complex

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra Europe Tour 2025

Berliner Philharmonie

Müpa Budapest

The 174th Subscription Concert in Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall

Tokyo Opera City Tower

The 1025th Subscription Concert in Suntory Hall

ARK Hills

The 1024th Subscription Concert in Bunkamura Orchard Hall

Bunkamura

Makato Ozone delivers his "thrilling, unabashedly personal rendition" (New York Times) of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue — a jazzy, kaleidoscopic tribute to the kinetic energy of America's cities in the 1920s. And composed the same year as the Gershwin, Bartók's Miraculous Mandarin channels the turmoil of post–World War I Europe in a scandalous tale of sex, violence, and the supernatural.

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

It's not just the champagne corks that pop at the turn of the year: Makoto Ozone and the WDR Funkhausorchester transform the stage into a dazzling cosmos of sound with masterpieces by George Gershwin. From "Rhapsody in Blue" to rousing Broadway hits - a musical fireworks display to usher in the new year!

New Year's Eve concert

Philharmonic Essen

A dream-come-true collaboration of  two of the leading figures in contemporary music today. The ‘ Amity ‘ Duet,  inspired through Friendship, Peace , Harmony and Mutual understanding. Makoto Ozone and Avishai Cohen, are both unique creators of jazz in the world today with substantial paths and careers forged, who are also both closely intertwined to belated jazz legend Chick Corea. They will join forces presenting a series of  intimate acoustic performances  throughout the globe during 2023 - 2024.


The 'Amity Duet’ Avishai Cohen & Makoto Ozone

Blue Note Jazz Club

At times pulse-pounding and at others overflowing with lush sounds of longing, the “New World” Symphony blends the diverse ideas of America into memorable musical atmospheres and unforgettable melodies. National Medal of Arts awardee Leonard Slatkin leads the LA Phil in Dvořák’s timeless favorite.

Japanese jazz pianist Makoto Ozone has had a prolific and celebrated career, recording more than 40 albums with jazz royalty including Branford Marsalis and Chick Corea. When he brought his limitless energy and creativity to a performance of Rhapsody in Blue with orchestra, The New York Times raved that it was “a thrilling, virtuosic, and unabashedly personal rendition” that above all else was just plain fun for both the musicians on stage and everyone in the audience.

Rhapsody in Blue

Hollywood Bowl

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and pianist Makoto Ozone join the Kleio Quartet for this unusual programme.

Kleio Quartet, Makoto Ozone & Sheku Kanneh-Mason

The Queen's Hall

Internationally acclaimed pianist Makoto Ozone has been one of Japan's leading jazz musicians for more than four decades. Since making his international debut at Carnegie Hall in 1983, he has collaborated with artists including Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis and Christian McBride earning a reputation for combining dazzling virtuosity with infectious swing and boundless musical imagination.

Makoto Ozone Trio: TRiNFiNiTY

Ronnie Scott's

Grammy-nominated Miho Hazama, chief conductor of the Danish Radio Big Band, brings an effortless swagger to her debut at the Bridgewater Hall.

The Bridgewater Hall

Pianist Makoto Ozone makes his RPO debut in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, an iconic fusion of jazz and classical style that remains one of the most beloved works in American music. Andreas Delfs leads a sweeping second half with Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2, a lush and expansive Romantic masterpiece filled with soaring melodies and dramatic intensity. This program pairs Gershwin’s brilliance with one of the great symphonic showpieces of the repertoire.

Pianist

Makoto Ozone

Events

Upcoming events

Aug 19, 2026

Kleio Quartet, Makoto Ozone & Sheku Kanneh-Mason · Edinburgh International Festival

Nov 8, 2026

Makoto Ozone Trio: TRiNFiNiTY · Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club

Nov 28, 2026

Rhapsody in Blue · BBC Philharmonic

27 - 29 May, 2027

Season Finale: Makoto Ozone Plays Rhapsody in Blue · Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

Past events

18 - 20 Jun, 2026

Season Finale: Makoto Ozone plays Rachmaninoff · Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

May 27, 2026

Makoto Ozone plays Gershwin · Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Piano in Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin

BBC Philharmonic

Piano in Concerto for Orchestra by Bartók

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Piano in Petrushka by Stravinsky

Colorado Symphony

Piano in España by Chabrier

Colorado Symphony

Piano in Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

Piano in Concert Românesc by Ligeti

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Piano in String Quintet by Schubert

Edinburgh International Festival

Piano in Piano Quintet in C major by Bartók

Edinburgh International Festival

Piano in Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Piano in Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff

Colorado Symphony

Piano in Symphony No. 3 by Copland

Boston Philharmonic Orchestra

Piano in West Side Story by Bernstein

Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

Piano in Printemps by Debussy

Colorado Symphony

Piano in Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin

Cadogan Hall

About

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