The world premiere of Billy Childs’ Concerto for Orchestra will take place Jan. 31-Feb. 1 with the San Diego Symphony under Rafael Payare. Alexander Malofeev will play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and the program ends with Beethoven’s Third Symphony, Eroica. https://www.sandiegosymphony.org/performances/orchestral-evolution-childs-premiere-and-beethovens-eroica/
As part of its 30th-anniversary season, Opera Lafayette, in collaboration with OperaCréole, will give the world-premiere concert performance of Edmund Dédé’s Morgiane, the first complete opera by a Black American. The four acts in French cover themes from Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. Patrick Quigley directs a transcription co-written by OperaCréole founder Givonna Joseph […]
Fabio Luisi and the Dallas Symphony will give the world premiere of a new work by Native American, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Raven Chacon Feb. 6-9; it will be Chacon’s first major composition for orchestra. In that same program, Alexander Kerr will play the Bruch Violin Concerto, and Luisi will lead Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. https://www.dallassymphony.org/productions/beethovens-5th-symphony/
Opera Theatre of St. Louis presents its New Works Collective, a trio of new short operas: Black Coffee, by Concert Black and Alicia Revé Like, deals with building a life after a move. Family Style, by Meilina Tsui and Melisa Tien, deals with sacrifices made by immigrant parents. Tim Amukele and Jarrod Lee’s Kandake takes […]
Toledo Symphony will play the U.S. premiere of Steward Goodyear’s Life, Life, Life, a tribute to his mother, on Feb. 7-8. Goodyear will also be the piano soloist for Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Alain Trudel also conducts Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Liszt’s Les Préludes. https://www.artstoledo.com/masterworks-24-25
Theatre of Voices’ Feb. 11 program at Carnegie Hall features two U.S. premieres: a new work by Julia Wolfe and A Brief Descent into Deep Time by John Luther Adams. Michael Gordon’s A Western opens this program conducted by Theatre of Voices founder Paul Hillier. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2025/02/11/theatre-of-voices-0730pm
The Escher Quartet with Jordan Bak, viola, will play the world premiere of a new Viola Quintet by Chris Rogerson, presented by Chamber Music Houston, which commissioned the work. Also on the Feb. 11 program are Mendelssohn’s Quartet in F minor and Brahms’ Viola Quintet No. 2. https://chambermusichouston.org/concerts/2025-02-11-escher/
PALETTE, a new work by Anna Clyne, will receive its world premiere by the St. Louis Symphony under conductor Stéphane Denève. Nikolai Lugansky will solo in Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and the program closes with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy (appropriate for the Feb. 14 concert). https://shop.slso.org/8095
Joining the Vermont Symphony on Feb. 15, Stephen Hough will play his own first piano concerto (The World of Yesterday, an East Coast premiere) as well as that of Mendelssohn. The program also includes a symphonic poem by Wojciech Kilar and a piece by Anna Clyne. Music director Andrew Crust conducts. https://www.vso.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Feb-1.png
On Feb. 20 at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, pianist Juho Pohjonen will give the world premiere of Jyrki Linjama’s Prélude oublié. Other works in this recital include two sonatas by Scriabin, Liszt’s Après une Lecture du Dante, and Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 27, No. 1. https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/our-concerts/at-lincoln-center/events/24-25/juho-pohjonen/
Allison Loggins-Hull’s Can You See?, originally a chamber work, will receive a performance of its new version for full orchestra by the New Jersey Symphony on Feb. 20-23. Christoph König conducts pianist Tony Siqi Yun in Chopin’s Concerto No. 1, and the program concludes with Brahms’ dramatic First Symphony. https://www.njsymphony.org/events/detail/brahms-and-chopin
On Feb. 21-23, the San Francisco Symphony will present the world premiere of a new work by Xavier Muzik, winner of the 2023 Emerging Black Composers Project Michael Morgan Prize. Daniil Trifonov will solo in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and music director Esa-Pekka Salonen will close the program with Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. https://www.sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2024-25/salonen-trifonov
The world premiere of a new work by Hannah Ishizaki will be played by the Pittsburgh Symphony Feb. 21-23. In this program conducted by Manfred Honeck, Emanuel Ax will be the soloist for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25, and the evening concludes with Korngold’s Symphony in F-Sharp Major. https://www.pittsburghsymphony.org/production/92957/emanuel-ax-plays-mozart-plus-world-premiere
On Feb. 24 at Chamber Music Pittsburgh, Grammy-nominated vocalist Nicholas Phan and early music ensemble Les Délices weave together Baroque masterpieces with the world premiere of a new work by Vietnamese-American composer Viet Cuong. The program also includes works by Michel Pignolet de Montéclair, Marin Marais, and François Couperin. https://www.chambermusicpittsburgh.org/lesdelices-nicholasphan/
Thomas Adès will conduct Kirill Gerstein and the Toronto Symphony in the Canadian premiere of his Piano Concerto on Feb. 26-March 1. The program opens with “Paradiso” from Adès’ Dante and closes with Holst’s The Planets. https://www.tso.ca/concerts-and-events/events/holsts-the-planets/
In its third installment of the Sonic Spectrum series this season, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will present the world premiere of a new work for flute, piano, and percussion by Philadelphia-based composer Elise Arancio. Other composers on the Feb. 27 bill are Liza Lim, Tonia Ko, Elaine Lillios, and more. https://www.chambermusicsociety.org/our-concerts/at-lincoln-center/events/24-25/sonic-spectrum-iii-2425/
Every work on Third Coast Percussion’s Feb. 27 Carnegie Hall program will be a New York City premiere. These include pieces by Tigran Hamasyan, Jessie Montgomery, and Zakir Hussain; a master on Indian tablas, Hussain will be on hand to solo in his composition. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2025/02/27/third-coast-percussion-0730pm
Na’Zir McFadden conducts the world premiere of a new work by (and featuring) DSO trumpeter Kris Johnson. The Feb. 28-March 1 program, called Classical Roots, also features two pieces by Jessie Montgomery: Snapshots and Rounds, the latter featuring pianist Awadagin Pratt. https://www.dso.org/events-and-tickets/events/24-25-winter/classical-roots
In a March 1 Carnegie Hall program called Noche de Fantasías, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will give the New York premiere of a new work by Jorge Amado. The Orpheus will also play pieces by Gabriela Ortiz and M. Ponce, and guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas will solo in Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un gentilhombre. https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2025/03/01/orpheus-chamber-orchestra---pablo-sainz-villegas-0700pm
The New England Philharmonic plays two Boston premieres to celebrate composer Yehudi Wyner’s 95th birthday on March 2: Chaya Czernowin’s Once I Blinked Nothing Was the Same and Bobby Ge’s Remember to Have Fun. Wyner’s own Prologue and Narrative is also on the program, along with works by Keeril Makan and Marti Epstein. https://nephilharmonic.org/concerts/new-music-new-england-2025
