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piano
Pianist Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty, and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians, and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances.
Her skill and charisma were recently demonstrated in a marathon Rachmaninoff performance at Carnegie Hall alongside conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra. This historic event celebrating 150 years since the birth of Rachmaninoff included performances of all four of his concertos plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in one afternoon and saw queues around the block for tickets on the day. The 2022–23 season also saw Wang perform the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the San Francisco Symphony, and further performances of the work throughout North America and Europe across the season.
Wang was born into a musical family in Beijing. After childhood piano studies in China, she received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music under Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and recordings. She was named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017, and in 2021 received an Opus Klassik Award for her world-premiere recording of John Adams’s Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.
As a chamber musician, Wang has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists. This season, Wang embarks on a highly anticipated international duo recital tour with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson with performances in world-class venues across North America and Europe, which will once again showcase her flair, technical ability, and exceptional artistry in a wide-ranging program.
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conductor
Petr Popelka has established himself as one of the most beloved and in-demand conductors of his generation. He will become chief conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker in the 2024–25 season and is currently chief conductor and artistic director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. He previously held the position of chief conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.
During the 2023–24 season, he led the Wiener Symphoniker, as chief conductor designate, in a new production of Weinberger’s opera Schwanda the Bagpiper at the Theater an der Wien, followed by concerts in Vienna and two European tours. He also made debuts with the Gewandhausorchester, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, as well as at the Zurich Opera House (conducting Mozart’s Don Giovanni). In addition, Popelka returned to the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
Previous debuts have seen him appear with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, SWR Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also led the annual ORF TV concert Spring in Vienna and the ZDF Advent concert in Dresden. His new productions of Shostakovich’s opera The Nose at the Semperoper and Richard Strauss’s Elektra at Oslo Opera were acclaimed by the press and audiences alike.
In the 2019–20 season, Popelka became the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra’s first conductor fellow. He received his musical education in his hometown of Prague as well as in Freiburg. Between 2010 and 2019, he was deputy principal double bass of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden. Aside from conducting, composition plays an important role in his artistic activities.
Now firmly in its second century, The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year, the ensemble exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.
Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned the ensemble into one of the most admired around the world.
The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including the streaming platform Adella.live and its own recording label. Together, they have captured the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.
The 2025–26 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 24th year as Music Director, a period in which The Cleveland Orchestra has earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra, and a number of celebrated opera presentations.
Since 1918, seven music directors — Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst — have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalog of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.
Composer
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Yuja Wang does double duty in two virtuosic piano concertos: Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand, which transforms an apparent limitation into a jaw-dropping tour de force, alongside Ligeti’s fiendishly playful contribution to the genre. Czech conductor Petr Popelka continues the celebrations for Ravel’s 150th birthday with the composer’s magnificent orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
We offer a variety of concessions before and after the concert, as well as during intermission.
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