National State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine / Raphaela Gromes / Volodymyr Sirenko

Eurasian Student Symphony Orchestra of the Kazakh National University of the Arts

Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Khatia Buniatishvili / Fabio Luisi

Glamorous appearance, outstanding talent, deep artistic seriousness: star pianist Khatia Buniatishvili effortlessly combines all of these facets – and delights audiences all over the world. With Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto, she brings a work to the stage at her ProArte concert that is one of the most demanding in the Romantic piano literature. Deep emotion, dramatic outbursts, incredible virtuoso speed: »Rach 2« demands everything from its interpreters. No problem for Khatia Buniatishvili: she masters the technical and emotional demands of this Romantic masterpiece with ease. She is supported by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its chief conductor Fabio Luisi – who celebrates nothing less than life itself in the second half of the concert with Carl Nielsen’s enchanting Fourth Symphony – subtitled »The Inextinguishable«.

Romantic programme by the Korean National Symphony Orchestra

It will be the first time the Korean National Symphony Orchestra will perform in Amsterdam. It will offer the Dutch audience the opportunity to come together and to celebrate National Foundation Day. In South-Korea this day is celebrated with huge fireworks displays throughout the country. In Seoul, it takes place in Yeouido Han River Park and is very popular. The orchestra will bring world famous soloists from South-Korea.Bellini's aria Casta diva is one of the three well known, and virtuoso arias that star soprano Sumi Jo will perform. The long flowing lines of the melody require incredible control and expressive nuance. Tonight's instrumental repertoire also includes brilliant melodies, as in the Overture to Mozart's Zauberflöte and in Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations for cello and orchestra, performed by the eighteen-year-old cello virtuoso Jaemin Han. Schumann's Fourth Symphony has a dramatic structure, in which melody lines keep returning, but played by different instruments. Slowly, a story unfolds. The opening movement sets a dramatic tone with its dark and brooding themes, while the following movements explore a range of emotions, from the lyrical Romanza to the spirited and energetic Scherzo. Conductor David Reiland is an expert in this field, as he serves as the Schumann Guest of the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra.

El Sistema National Orchestra

El Sistema National Orchestra is a youth orchestra with members ranging in age from 11 to 19 years old, from arts schools and El Sistema programmes throughout Sweden. This autumn concert is traditionally the conclusion of a music camp held in Södertälje and Stockholm. The orchestra has now grown to over 60 members, supported by professional musicians from, among other ensembles, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. “Our vision is to show through the orchestra how far El Sistema in Sweden has come,” says Ron Davis Alvarez, conductor of the El Sistema National Orchestra. El Sistema is a model for choral and orchestral training that was developed in Venezuela. It is based on the vision of music’s capacity to help people grow socially, and to strengthen community as well as children and young people’s self-confidence and sense of identity. In Sweden, El Sistema has been present as an educational programme since 2009 and has continuously grown ever since.

National Youth Orchestra of Germany / Wayne Marshall

Together with the German-British Choral Academy conducted by Wayne Marshall, Germany’s top young orchestral players present a programme dedicated to Britten, Holst and Gershwin – »very British«, in other words. The evening begins with Britten’s classic »The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra«, a piece that continues to playfully familiarise young audiences with the full range of orchestral instruments – and which also skilfully showcases the talent of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany this evening. Gershwin’s »Rhapsody in Blue« forms the centrepiece, and not altogether surprisingly: Gershwin is a speciality of Wayne Marshall’s. A classic that skilfully combines jazz elements with blues and concertante symphonic music and perhaps the composer’s most famous piece, which celebrated its world premiere in New York’s Aeolian Hall some 100 years ago.The evening ends with Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite »The Planets«, which is considered with good reason the forerunner of many a film score. The German-British Choir Academy participates as a cosmically enchanting distant choir.

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra visits Konserthuset under the baton of its Chief Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali. They are joined by the celebrated Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, internationally acclaimed by both audiences and critics for his beautiful touch and boundless virtuosity.Together, they present Frédéric Chopin's beloved First Piano Concerto. For Chopin, the piano always took centre stage. His nocturnes, études, mazurkas, polonaises, and impromptus have captivated listeners ever since he charmed audiences in the salons of Paris, or at the few concerts he gave during his all-too-short life. The orchestra plays a subordinate role even in the piano concerto – it is the soloist who shines with imaginative passages, beautiful bel canto melodies, and swirling dances.Regarding what would become his final symphony, Tchaikovsky wrote in a letter to his brother Anatoly: "I am now completely absorbed in the new work and find it difficult to tear myself away from it. I believe it will be one of my best works. I must finish it as soon as possible." The symphony indeed became one of the great musical masterpieces, filled with profound darkness and exalted beauty.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Westdeutsche Konzertdirektion celebrate their long-standing artistic friendship with an opening concert for this year's anniversary season. Mutter, alongside the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, will perform Mendelssohn's captivating violin concerto, promising an unforgettable evening.

Polstjärnepriset Symphony Orchestra

The Polstjärnepriset Symphony Orchestra is one of the leading symphony orchestras for young musicians in the Nordic region. It comprises some of the most talented young musicians of today. The soloist who wins the Polstjärnepriset competition will represent Sweden in Eurovision Young Musicians – Europe’s largest competition for young classical musicians, watched by millions of TV viewers across the continent.In recent years, the orchestra has enjoyed a series of successes – including a performance at the 2023 Baltic Sea Festival in Berwaldhallen, conducted by none other than Esa-Pekka Salonen. The Polstjärnepriset is both a soloist competition and a course for young musicians aged 14–18, alternating each year between a Nordic and a Swedish edition. All twenty competitors and sixty course participants in the most recent Nordic edition make up the symphony orchestra. After the competition’s grand final at the Gothenburg Concert Hall, it is now time to present themselves in Stockholm.In addition to solo performances by the winner of the 2025 competition and other finalists, the programme includes Antonín Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World, and music for string orchestra by Béla Bartók and Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel. The Polstjärnepriset Symphony Orchestra is led by Swedish conductor Andreas van Tol.

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra: An Alpine Symphony

Join Guildhall Symphony Orchestra for an awe-inspiring evening of music in Barbican Hall, conducted by alumnus Roberto González-Monjas.

Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra / Andreas Staier

The innately humanistic sound ideal of Johann Sebastian Bach and his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach meets the youthful, romantic gesture of Felix Mendelssohn: the 4th Academy Concert continues the series of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos that began with the 1st Academy Concert. It is music so popular and widely admired that it was launched into space on a data disk aboard the »Voyager 2« space probe in 1977. Now it is back in Hamburg. His Symphony No. 6, nicknamed the »Hamburg Symphony« is a clear sign that Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach has no reason to be disconcerted by any overbearing legacy of his famous father.