Beethoven boxset, BSO concertos, Curtis lectures, New York recitals, NEC masterclasses, Marlboro Festivals—Jonathan Biss is a pianist whose performances I made sure to catch during my student years on the US East Coast. His online course exploring Beethoven’s sonatas attracted

In June, the much-beloved 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic toured four cities in China. Their eclectic repertoire attracted a wide following, from classical music enthusiasts to fans of tango and film soundtracks. After hearing James Bond and Jasmine Flower

Matthew Hunter, who majored in philosophy as an undergraduate and did not take up the viola until he was 27, grew up near Boston and learned to speak fluent German. “The viola teacher who had the greatest influence on me

What was a 20-year-old Brahms like? Why was Liszt fascinated by the hell? Kirill Gerstein’s recitals illuminate the early 1850s, when the two met, and their creations fuelled the debates over absolute versus programmatic music. Being the busiest pianist on

1200 seats sold out within seconds. That was how the audience responded to Augustin Hadelich’s only solo recital in mainland China this September. Last year, he closed off the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s season with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Across concert halls

“I am currently reading the Dao De Jing; its ideas about the path (Dao) resonated with the journey in Winterreise.” Mark Padmore thought aloud, while leafing through his worn notebook. The verses of T.S. Eliot, Thomas Hardy, and William Blake

In 2025, the 27-year-old pianist Eric Lu won the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, a contest described by The Washington Post as “the Olympics of classical music.” Lu had first competed in Warsaw in 2015 and returned ten years later

Praised for “extraordinary sensibility and passionate intensity”, London-based pianist Zeju Fan recently presented a sold-out debut recital at St John’s Smith Square in London during an intense summer heatwave, featuring an ambitious and demanding repertoire, including Beethoven‘s Waldstein Sonata, Berg’s