Composer

From a daring maritime adventure to a captivating showcase for the soulful cello – in the company of vibrant Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and exceptional SCO Principal Cello Philip Higham.

EPSG:4326

Schumann Cello Concerto

Aberdeen Music Hall

The Queen's Hall

City Halls

Xinyi Liu, soprano

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

A concert exploring the little-known world of percussion: rhythms, textures, and sound experimentation spanning contemporary music, arrangements of classic repertoire, and new technologies

Percussive Alchemy

Carlo Felice Theater

Debussy, Haydn, & Dvořák

Robinson Center

The opera that Claude Debussy created from Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolist drama stands as one of the greatest achievements in the history of musical theatre. The stage of La Scala recalls productions of exceptional significance: from Victor de Sabata’s conducting in 1948 and 1953, to Herbert von Karajan’s in 1962, and the legendary staging by Antoine Vitez with Claudio Abbado on the podium in 1986, while Georges Prêtre conducted the productions in 1973, 1977, and 2005. In such a prestigious interpretative history, we find the return of Maxime Pascal’s fresh and insightful artistry – one of today’s most compelling French conductors, who has led major contemporary works at La Scala – and the La Scala debut of Romeo Castellucci, a renowned Italian stage director. As one of Italy’s most influential directors—regularly invited to major European theatres and festivals—Castellucci brings a vision of theatre that is both sacred and visionary, deeply rooted in art history, and promises a profound encounter with the symbolism of Debussy’s work.

Pelléas et Mélisande

Teatro alla Scala

This will be a great joy, as we'll be igniting four sonic fireworks. Our energy will be further fueled by two Spaniards – the conductor Roberto González-Monjas and the pianist Javier Perianes. We'll begin with a humorous role-playing exercise: Manuel de Falla's ballet "El sombrero de tres picos" ("The Three-Cornered Hat") from 1919 is set in a small Andalusian town – and for this turbulent comedy of errors, we can create witty onomatopoeia and lively dances. Equally atmospheric is his piece "Nights in Spanish Gardens," completed in 1916: enchanting impressions for piano and orchestra with which the composer wanted to "evoke places, moods, and feelings." This also resonates with Debussy, who preferred to listen to the wind for his music, "which tells us the story of this world" – and who even initially wanted to become a sailor. 

Roberto González-Monjas, Javier Perianes

Bamberger Symphoniker

Driven by a mission to broaden classical music’s reach and armed with the technical means and communicative powers necessary to do so, Randall Goosby has won audience ovations worldwide with the profound personal authenticity of his artistry. The American violinist and his regular duo partner Zhu Wang, gold medallist at the 2024 New Orleans International Piano Competition, explore evocative works from the Old and New Worlds including Harry Thacker Burleigh’s folk-inspired Southland Sketches.

Randall Goosby | Wigmore Hall

Wigmore Hall

Johann Sebastian Bach, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc

3. Chamber Concert / Extreme

Rostock Art Gallery

Enjoy the gentle beauty of Clair de lune —French for “moonlight”— one of the most recognizable pieces in Debussy’s repertoire. This work will immerse you in a dreamlike atmosphere, using open harmonies, unconventional scales, and fluid melodic lines. Just as Impressionist painters captured the fleeting play of light rather than rigid details, the music evokes shifting moods and delicate soundscapes.

Lyrical Landscapes: Mahler, Walton, & Clair de lune

Willson Auditorium

Composed during his final illness before death, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is considered his last masterwork, filled with brilliant, virtuosic writing that challenges each section of the orchestra. Debussy’s La mer is an impressionist masterpiece that captures the sea’s shifting moods–from calm to turbulent–with vivid, atmospheric sound. 

Virtuosic Soundscapes

Alice Pratt Brown Hall

Set sail with ASO as we close the season with a musical voyage that captures the mystery, majesty, and mischief of the sea! Featuring Debussy’s “La Mer,” Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean!”

Pirates and Other Songs of the Sea

Lewis and Clark Community College

Concertini

La Monnaie - De Munt

One of the most sought-after pianists of her generation, Michelle Cann joins your Colorado Symphony to deliver a double-header piano showcase of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue – a uniquely American standard occupying the intersection between classical music, jazz, and Broadway – and Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement. Price’s Late Romantic background and her deep understanding of African-American spiritual combine for stop-in-your-tracks-beautiful moments, which Cann brings to life in a work that was almost lost to time before being reconstructed from manuscripts just fifteen years ago.

Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with Michelle Cann

Denver Performing Arts Complex

Gubaidulina, Prokofiev and Mozart

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Cynthia Hu, soprano

‘One of the most unusual pieces written for cello’ (Bachtrack), Kurtág’s brilliant Double Concerto engages both soloists and an orchestra divided into two sparring sections, physically separated within the performance space, in an intense dialogue. What results is an extraordinary listening experience: surrounded by music from several directions at once.

The Unanswered Question

The Bridgewater Hall

Internationally acclaimed pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, praised by the Los Angeles Times as “a master colorist” whose “every note he plays is a pearl,” brings his unparalleled artistry to Debussy’s complete Préludes, Books I & II. Across 24 luminous miniatures. Each bears a special, evocative title (“The Girl with the Flaxen Hair,” “Footsteps in the snow,” through which Thibaudet conjures wind and water, myth and memory, in a rare full performance of this impressionistic masterwork—an unforgettable journey through Debussy’s sound world.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano

The Music Center at Strathmore

Veronica Leahy, Jazz Alto Saxophone

The Juilliard School

Dénes Várjon and Nicolas Altstaedt compete in Kurtág’s commanding Double Concerto, as Thomas Adès conducts. ‘One of the most unusual pieces written for cello’ (Bachtrack), Kurtág’s brilliant Double Concerto engages both soloists and an orchestra divided into two sparring sections, physically separated within the performance space, in an intense dialogue. What results is an extraordinary listening experience: surrounded by music from several directions at once. Ives’ The Unanswered Question also immerses the listener in sound, with druid-like strings beneath the questioning trumpet and increasingly chaotic woodwind. In contrast, Thomas Adès’ peaceful Lieux retrouvés (Rediscovered Places) explores natural and man-made landscapes whilst Debussy’s revolutionary Images, three orchestral montages combining harmony, texture and colour, creates musical paintings that changed orchestral writing forever.

The Hallé – The Unanswered Question

He’s chairing the jury for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2025, then will make his Cliburn Concerts debut the following spring! Paul Lewis was awarded CBE in 2016 for his services to music, and the sincerity and depth of his musical approach have won him fans around the world. This global popularity is reflected in world-class concert engagements, like Royal Festival Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Konzerthaus, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Concertgebouw, Berlin Philharmonie, and Berlin Konzerthaus, as well as Tanglewood, Ravinia, Schubertiade, Edinburgh, Salzburg, and Lucerne Festivals.

Paul Lewis, piano

Kimbell Art Museum

An engaging journey between the Old and New Worlds, with a program entirely dedicated to music written for violin and piano: from the luminous classicism of Beethoven to the new, evocative, twentieth-century classicism of Debussy, passing through the Bohemian lyricism of Dvořák and the surprising American sounds of Amy Beach and Harry Burleigh. Leading us on this journey through different styles and eras will be virtuoso violinist Randall Goosby—already recognized for his interpretative depth and commitment to the rediscovery of African-American composers—and pianist Zhu Wang.

Randall Goosby | Accademia Filarmonica Romana

Teatro Argentina

Step into a world of shadows and silences with Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande—a hauntingly beautiful dream of an opera where nothing is said outright, but everything is felt. When the mysterious Mélisande marries Prince Golaud and quietly falls for his half-brother Pelléas, love blooms in secret under the surface. But in this misty medieval castle, jealousy festers, words are weapons, and desire leads quietly—inevitably—to ruin.

Garrett Jacobs Mansion

Debussy opened up a new universe of sound in his two books of exquisitely conceived, ravishingly colored musical cameos, and few pianists inhabit that revolutionary universe more fully than Thibaudet. Each of these brief works is painted in subtle shades, hazy harmonies, and daring textures, with inspiration ranging from paintings and travel to Dickens and Peter Pan.

University of Michigan

"It'll be a really fun show with some of the most insanely talented musicians playing some of the best music ever written... All you have to know is - do you like a good tune? Because we're going to be playing a ton of those." - Chris Addison

Chris Addison’s Incomplete Guide to Chamber Music

Cast

Górecki’s Three Pieces in Old Style opens this program, followed by harpist Yumiko Schlaffer performing Debussy’s Danse sacrée et danse profane. After intermission the orchestra performs Metamorphosen by Richard Struass; Richard McKay conducts.

Strauss: Metamorphosen

Moody Performance Hall

Monday at Last is the concert series where Cecilia Zilliacus and Kati Raitinen invite guest artists to join them in performing both new and older music. This time, the guest is Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson.

Monday at Last with Strings and Piano

Stockholm Concert Hall

Since the flute of the 'Faun', music has breathed differently , said Pierre Boulez, referring to the new and beguilingly floating world of sound that made musical history in France at the end of the 19th century with the premiere of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune . Decades later, his compatriot Albert Roussel composed the ballet Bacchus et Ariane and shaped the plot according to the old Ariadne myth with music full of unbridled energy and an overwhelming rush of sound.

8th Philharmonic Concert / New Tracks

Volkstheater Rostock

Superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti joins the Philharmonia in Elgar’s tempestuous and tender Violin Concerto.  

Nicola Benedetti is one of the best-loved violin soloists of our time, and a regular and popular collaborator with the Philharmonia. Her chart-topping recording of this formidable work was praised for ‘a sure sense of direction and lots of heart’ (The Guardian) – an accurate description of Benedetti’s approach to everything she does. 

Nicola Benedetti plays Elgar

Southbank Centre

Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer and conductor Tan Dun makes his fourth appearance with TŌN. The program comprises Debussy’s dreamy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Ravel’s second suite of music from his pastoral ballet Daphnis and Chloé, as well as two works by the conductor: the world premiere of his expressive 2014 piece Ten Thousand Galloping Horses and the Concerto for 12 Cellos and Orchestra, which the composer has called “a soulful search of cultural harmonies.”

Tan Dun Conducts

Fisher Center at Bard

Superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti joins the Philharmonia in Elgar’s tempestuous and tender Violin Concerto.  

Nicola Benedetti is one of the best-loved violin soloists of our time, and a regular and popular collaborator with the Philharmonia. Her chart-topping recording of this formidable work was praised for “a sure sense of direction and lots of heart” (The Guardian) – an accurate description of Benedetti’s approach to everything she does. 

Basingstoke: Nicola Benedetti plays Elgar

The Anvil

Mother of the Sea
A captivating and climate-relevant story in music and images about the ocean – and about our shared connection to life below the surface.
The myth of Sassuma Arnaa (Mother of the Sea) is a story about the Greenlandic Inuit people's relationship with nature, the sea and the animals they hunt: When the catch failed due to people's greed and lack of gratitude, the village's Angakok (spiritual healer) had to make the dangerous journey down to Sassuma Arnaa to untangle her tangled hair, where seals, whales, grouse, polar bears and fish were trapped. Only in this way could the people survive.

Mother of the Sea

Aarhus Music Hall

Elgar thought his Violin Concerto among the best of all his works. It highlights the lyrical and expressive powers of the instrument across all three movements, with an unexpected twist in the finale leading to a breathtaking cadenza accompanied by softly plucked strings in the orchestra.

Philharmonia Orchestra

The always superlative Takács Quartet performs works by Franz Joseph Haydn and Claude Debussy, as well as a UMS co-commission by U-M alumna Clarice Assad, who is working on her second piece for the Quartet.

Takács Quartet

Join Jun Märkl and four of ISO’s newest principals for a concert of French elegance with Debussy’s Sacred and Profane Dances and selections from Images and Ravel’s virtuosic Tzigane. This concert is a feast for the senses, celebrating French music’s nuanced textures and colors.

French Images: Debussy, Ravel & Fauré

Hilbert Circle Theatre

Up-and-coming Colburn School artists Martha Chan, Andrea Caputo, and Chi-Jo Lee come together for a stunning evening of flute, clarinet, and piano. Featuring Debussy’s Première rhapsodie, Weber’s Grand duo in Concertant, Shostakovich’s Four Waltzes, and more!

Colburn Concerts: Trio Aeris

Boston Court Pasadena

Join the ISO for Into the Music, a free series featuring a lively discussion followed by a performance—with full orchestra—of the highlighted classical work. Maestro Jun Märkl will co-host an on-stage discussion joined by Ryan Ahlwardt, who serves as co-host of Indy Now on FOX59.

Into the Music: Debussy

“Every year, a string quartet comes to the Bay Area and wows me. In 2024, that group was the Quatuor Ébène” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Energy and exhilaration are words that are often used to describe their performances, with critics like Bachtrack’s proclaiming it “hard to imagine string quartet playing at once more diverse and more brilliant than this…the possibilities of a string quartet were shown to be boundless.”

Ébène Quartet

War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

The premiere of Opera Atelier’s distinctive production of Debussy’s dreamlike masterpiece, Pelléas et Mélisande. The production will take place fully staged in Koerner Hall TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, which will be transformed into a unique performance space with major architectural additions thanks to the Jerry and Joan Lozinski Opera Atelier Reimagined Project at Koerner Hall.

Telus Centre For Performance And Learning

The concert is centered on Beethoven's Piano Trio "The Archduke". It is surrounded by the sparkling, grand Bach E major sonata for harpsichord and violin, which is a trio sonata where the piano has two voices and is thus a worthy portal to Beethoven's great manifesto of a trio.

The Archduke – in good company

Unitarisk Kirkesamfund

Emmalena Huning, violin

Curtis Institute of Music

Chamber Music Tuesday welcomes celebrated cellist Clive Greensmith. From 1999 until its final season in 2013, Clive Greensmith was a member of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, giving over one hundred performances each year in the most prestigious international venues. This performance is presented in collaboration with SFCM alumni, faculty, and students.

Chamber Music Tuesday with Clive Greensmith

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

This Parisian quartet is among one of the best in the world and is always a “circle-the-date” concert on the series. The Ébène shows off its scintillating technique, lush sound, and awe-inspiring togetherness in masterworks of the literature.

Ébène Quartet Union College

Union College

Superstar violinist Randall Goosby returns to Calderwood Hall for an intimate recital of epic music. Two major sonatas bookend the program: Debussy’s elusive and gorgeous sonata is paired with Beethoven’s sunny F major essay in the form. Harry Burleigh was key in forging a quintessential American musical language, which modified the gorgeous modal inflections of spirituals with the chromatic ambiguities of Wagner’s harmony. The Romance of Boston’s Amy Beach—the best of the "Second New England School" of composers—gorgeously drinks from a similar Wagnerian well.

Randall Goosby | Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Hear Taylor Shorey and the jazzy, off-the-rails surprise of Wynton Marsalis’ Meelaan for Bassoon and String Quartet in an extraordinary musical conversation not to be missed. Plus, savor the dawn of modernism in an evening centered on the comforting serenades and old-world charm of Dvořák’s famous Wind Serenade and Debussy’s propelling and compelling String Quartet.

Chamber 5: Dvořák to Debussy

Tougaloo College

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

EXPRESS CONCERT: Andrew Brady and Sang Yoon Kim Play Strauss’s Duet-Concertino

St. Paul's United Church of Christ

Annie Li, flute

A whole world

Bochumer Symphoniker

Whenever an important statesperson is buried in the USA, Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is played. It is one of the best-known works of classical music – and will be presented here together with the equally popular Clair de Lune. To conclude the program, a four-movement masterpiece: Dvořák's legendary "American" String Quartet.

Alma Quartet

Maison Messmer Baden-Baden

Debussy’s La mer gushes into Severance on a wave of shimmering orchestral color, ebbing and flowing through three symphonic pictures that evoke the ocean’s power and majesty. Grammy-winning organist Paul Jacobs pulls out all the stops in Poulenc’s thundering Organ Concerto, and Daniele Rustioni leads The Cleveland Orchestra in a folkloric rhapsody by Alfredo Casella as well as Fauré’s breezy incidental music for Pelléas et Mélisande.

Debussy’s La Mer

Severance Music Center

Having displayed all his conducting finesse in Debussy's luminous hedonism, Esa-Pekka Salonen transforms himself into a composer for an exceptional premiere, before celebrating Finland's eternal bard in Sibelius.

Orchestre de Paris / Esa-Pekka Salonen

Philharmonie de Paris

This recital by Bomsori brings together French and Polish violin classics, including brooding, bluesy sonatas by Ravel and Debussy and opera-inspired works by Massenet and Wieniawski. Bomsori, a Deutsche Grammophon artist, also dusts off Szymanowski’s Nocturne and Tarntella, a fanciful take on Arabic and Spanish music that was once a favorite of 20th-century virtuosos.

Bomsori Kim

Stanford University

“She was such a quiet creature, wrapped in mystery as we all are…” In an ancient castle by a darkening sea, the princess Mélisande falls in love—and unlocks passions as deadly as they are beautiful. Moving, mysterious and heartbreakingly gorgeous, Debussy’s opera is woven from delicate emotions and violent rage; from sorrow entwined with wonder, and sounds so lovely that they can tear open your soul. If you’ve only heard it in the theatre, you haven’t heard it all, and this concert performance will bring out every shimmer and sigh of Debussy’s astonishing score. Sophie Bevan and Huw Montague Rendall play the tragic lovers, heading a cast of singers who know Images: Huw Montague Rendall, tenor by Simon and love this music from the inside out.

Debussy’s Pelléas Et Mélisande

Usher Hall

Autier Capuçon has long since established himself as one of the leading cellists of his generation and regularly attracts attention with his recordings and concerts. Born in Chambéry in 1981, Capuçon began playing the cello at the age of five. He studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris with Philippe Muller and Annie Cochet-Zakine and then in Heinrich Schiff's master class in Vienna. The winner of numerous first prizes in international competitions, including the International André Navarra Prize, Capuçon was named Young Artist of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique in 2001 and received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2004. Since then, he has also received several ECHO Klassik awards, most recently for his recording of Fauré's complete chamber music.

Recital of the Capell Virtuoso

Semperoper Dresden

Today we immerse ourselves in the world of ancient myths. But don't worry! It's not about fear and terror, but about the forest and the fields. A large piece of nature is making its way into the cultural palace - and in the midst of it all: the flute, with which many composers have told wonderful stories. Claude Debussy already wondered: What does a faun experience on an afternoon? And Gabriel Fauré wrote wonderfully melancholic melodies for the flute, which one may have heard somewhere before. But who are the nymph Syrinx and the Pan, who chases after her? Phili wants to know exactly - and Malte surely has the right answers once again.

phil to explore ...with delicate flute colors

Palace of Culture

Through his thrilling concerts and highly acclaimed recordings, Gautier Capuçon has already established a solid reputation as one of the leading cellists of his generation. Born in the French city of Chambéry in 1981, Capuçon first took cello lessons at age five. He went on to study at the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris under Philippe Muller and Annie Cochet-Zakine, later attending a masterclass of Heinrich Schiff in Vienna. A prize-winner at numerous international competitions, Capuçon was named »Young Artist of the Year« at the Victoires de la Musique ceremony in 2001. In 2004 he was awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and has also received several ECHO Classical Music Awards. In addition to his work as a soloist, Gautier Capuçon is an enthusiastic chamber musician, performing with Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim and, naturally, his brother, Renaud.

Recital of the Capell virtuoso

Chamber music visionaries, ambassadors, impresarios, and virtuosos—as co-directors of both Music@Menlo and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han are a ubiquitous presence on both coasts. The energy they bring to their leadership in the arts is matched only by the powerful synergy of their duo performances.

David Finckel, cello Wu Han, piano

University of California, Berkeley

This evocative program explores the intersection of literature and music. Debussy’s “La Cathédrale Engloutie” inspired by medieval legend and Albert Le Grand’s writings, conjures the image of a sunken cathedral rising from the sea. Schwantner’s “New Morning for the World: Daybreak of Freedom” weaves excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches into a stirring orchestral tribute. The concert concludes with Corigliano’s “Mr. Tambourine Man,” a unique and powerful reinterpretation of Bob Dylan’s iconic lyrics.

Concert III: Voices of Freedom

Proctors Theatre

Vivez la magie! This concert will take you on a sublime musical journey to France. You’ll bathe in the sensuous instrumental colors of Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and the composer’s most famous work—Bolero.

Vive la France!

Florida State University

Led by the highly qualified conductor Pierre Bleuse and the penetrating sound of mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova, the evening concert of this happening explores a multitude of musical and philosophical themes. Central to it is the play of contrasts: light and dark, revelation and concealment. Thomas Larcher tackles the sense of time: sometimes it seems to slow down, and sometimes it seems to go faster. In Debussy's ‘poème dansé’, the ballet is contained in the music, even without dancers on stage. With Berio, the rather floaty wanderings then give way to expressive vocal fireworks, and to top it all off, Andrew Gourlay reduces Wagner's grandeur to its essence, in a version without vocals. As a listener, you rediscover what rustles at the margins and remains hidden from the naked eye.

Happening: Evening concert 'Parsifal'

Queen Elisabeth Hall

Gastkonzert in Dresden

Kulturpalast

William Grant Still wrote more than 150 compositions, merging musical aspects of his African American heritage with traditional European classical forms. Originally composed for solo piano, Summerland (1937) is a short, intensely expressive elegy — dreamy and atmospheric, suggesting the summer of its title, with hints of the blues and a nod to his fellow composer Debussy. Motivated by the poems of Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), Debussy’s 1889 Petite Suite (Small Suite) was originally composed for piano duet and later orchestrated by his colleague Henri Büsser. The four movements of this whimsical tone poem paint musical pictures of 18th-century aristocrats on country outings, a romantic boat ride at dusk on a dark lake, a playful menuetto, and a sparkling ballet.  Mahler’s fourth symphony is a contrapuntal, folk-tune inspired musical journey from experience to innocence, from complexity to simplicity, and from earthly life to heaven, complete with tender string passages, brass chorales, and lilting soprano lines. Klaus Simon’s 2007 chamber arrangement retains Mahler’s unmistakable orchestral sound in a way that enables chamber orchestras to perform this intimate and tender symphony.

Classics III: Dreams of Heaven & Earth

West Ottawa High School Performing Arts Center

Claude Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune" is a masterpiece of Impressionism. Inspired by a poem by the Symbolist Stéphane Mallarmé, the music paints the picture of a dreaming faun on a warm afternoon. With floating flute sounds and gentle harmonies, Debussy transports us into a world between dream and reality – a sensory delight in sound. Not many works of the 20th century are as naturally included in concert programs today as the music of Maurice Duruflé, who passed away in 1986. Particularly his sacred vocal music continues to enjoy enduring popularity, surely also due to its accessible musical language. Duruflé had little interest in breaking with tradition; in his 1947 Requiem, he engaged with the model of the two generations older Gabriel Fauré and let his enthusiasm for Gregorian chant run free. However, the work is not backward-looking: Contrary to the operatic settings of the Requiem in the 19th century, Duruflé focused less on the pains of the Last Judgment and more on the otherworldly redemption. Chief conductor Sir Donald Runnicles and the MDR Radio Choir infuse this work with a special intensity through their sensitivity and beauty of sound.

Sir Donald with Debussy

ROCO joins the global celebration of the 2025 World EXPO in Osaka with Beyond the Rising Sun – A Musical Voyage, a cross-cultural evening honoring innovation, tradition, and international exchange. Hosted at Asia Society Texas Center, this concert features ROCO musicians Kana Kimura (violin), Maiko Sasaki (clarinet), Shino Hayashi (cello), and guest pianist Kana Mimaki in a program that bridges East and West.

The centerpiece is a new ROCO-commissioned quartet by Hiroaki Tokunaga, inspired by the reflections of Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will join the ensemble as a guest speaker at the event. Paired with a Japanese fashion collection curated by Houston City College and a Suntory Toki whisky tasting, the evening promises a vibrant tapestry of sound, visual art, and Japanese culture.

ROCO Connections: Beyond the Rising Sun – A Musical Voyage

Asia Society Texas Center

From great romance to revolutionary fervour, France doesn’t do things by halves. Passion and flair pulse through every corner of French cultural life, whether in the cool sophistication of its cinema, the rich flavours of its cuisine or the vibrant sounds of its music.

The Hallé: Vive La France!

Royal Concert Hall Nottingham

“She was such a quiet creature, wrapped in mystery as we all are…” In an ancient castle by a darkening sea, the princess Mélisande falls in love – and unlocks passions as deadly as they are beautiful. Moving, mysterious and heartbreakingly gorgeous, Debussy’s opera is woven from delicate emotions and violent rage; from sorrow entwined with wonder, and sounds so lovely that they can tear open your soul.

Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande

Renowned for his searching interpretations of French classical music as well as his genre-defying jazz records, pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 5, Egyptian. The concerto’s nickname didn’t originate with Saint-Saëns; it came about because he composed most of it while on vacation in Luxor. But no single country could contain his restless imagination: the “Egyptian” compiles a world-traveler’s far-flung impressions. Debussy’s dreamy Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun and Berlioz’s hellacious Symphonie fantastique round out this program of French favorites led by Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan.

Symphonie fantastique & Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Davies Symphony Hall

Sir Simon Rattle & Kirill Gerstein

Munich Residence

John Cage’s Sonatas and Interludes — a pinnacle of his work with prepared piano — meets the effervescence of Debussy’s Préludes, in this program performed by Boris Berman.

Boris Berman, piano

Yale University

Brahms and Buniatishvili – a truly divine combination. The openness and timelessness inherent in the broad outlines of Johannes Brahms's Second Piano Concerto meet in Khatia Buniatishvili an interpreter who considers freedom the highest good: "It's as if you're in a trance, alone with the piano, simply following the music and suddenly feeling a great harmony within. The freedom of interpretation goes hand in hand with the freedom from yourself," she once described her ideal state. Artist and private person, orchestra and soloist, musical text and sound merge in this way into an inseparable unity. This can succeed when you understand your musical partners as seamlessly as the Parisian does with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, which unpacks its vast array of tonal colors in the second half of the concert with Debussy's "Images" for orchestra and its famous middle section, "Ibéria."

Orchestra of French-speaking Switzerland / Khatia Buniatishvili / Jonathan Nott

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Riccardo Minasi and the Ensemble Resonanz have already proven with their Mozart interpretations that they can charge classical music with the energy of a rock concert and also show temperament and depth in other masterpieces. Together with the celebrated violinist Alena Baeva, they ignite a firework of sound colours and emotions: from Debussy’s dazzling colours to Bruch’s passionate violin concerto and Mozart’s »Little G minor Symphony« to Ravel’s elegant homage to baroque dance forms.

Ensemble Resonanz / Alena Baeva / Riccardo Minasi

In the music world, the opinion of music critic Eduard Hanslick had a major influence at the time. Writing about Johannes Brahms' Second Piano Concerto, he said that the musical idea behind the work would develop ‘an undreamt-of richness, not according to the dry recipes of academic art, but in lively blossoming and growth’. It was fortunate for Brahms that this emotionally gripping, densely woven work with its great diversity was able to secure its place in the classical music world – and that we can experience it this evening in the sensitive interpretation of star pianist Khatia Buniatishvili and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under the baton of Jonathan Nott. The orchestra will accompany the concert at the Alte Oper with Claude Debussy's ‘Images pour Orchestre’, whose three parts are inspired by musical forms and traditions from England, Spain and France, taking the audience on a journey through the musical culture of these three countries. (Pro Arte Frankfurt)

Orchestra of French-speaking Switzerland

Alte Oper

Step into the enchanting world of Paris with A Night in Paris!—a captivating concert that will transport you straight to the City of Light. Join us for an unforgettable evening, featuring the sensational guest soloist Rosana Eckert, as we journey through the heart of French music. From Offenbach’s lively Can-Can to the lush melodies of Piaf’s La Vie en Rose and Sous le Ciel de Paris, the night will be filled with passion and beauty. Experience the haunting Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns, the dreamy Clair de Lune by Debussy, and the mesmerizing Daphnis & Chloe, Suite No. 1 by Ravel. With powerful orchestral works like Bizet’s L’Arlésienne and Berlioz’s Le Corsair Overture also on the program, every note will be a celebration of French artistry. Let the music sweep you away on a magical night in Paris you’ll never forget!

A Night In Paris!

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

The line from Mozart to Debussy and Ravel is usually straighter than that to their German-speaking contemporaries. For all three share a playful quality – a delight in sound that delights the ear and yet never remains superficial. But when things get serious, Mozart transcends the player and shows in his great church works that beauty and reverence are not mutually exclusive. His Great Mass in C minor is one of those masterpieces that has something tragic and, at the same time, stately about it.

Composer

Claude Debussy

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 21, 2025 - May 10, 2026

Chamber Concert / Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra · Elbphilharmonie

Jan 11 - Nov 15, 2026

Members of the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra · Teatro alla Scala

Feb 22 - Jul 7, 2026

6th Philharmonic Concert · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 24 - Jun 19, 2026

Concertini · La Monnaie / De Munt

Apr 30 - May 9, 2026

Pelléas et Mélisande ·

Past events

7 - 9 May, 2026

Schumann Cello Concerto · Scottish Chamber Orchestra

May 7, 2026

Xinyi Liu, soprano · Northwestern Bienen School of Music

About

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