Schedule of events - Pierre Boulez Saal

Hear the students of the Barenboim-Said Akademie perform live at the Pierre Boulez Saal.

After performing violin sonatas by Béla Bartók and Johannes Brahms, Michael Barenboim switches to the viola for the second half of his duo recital with Nathalia Milstein, exploring the different characters and colors of these two members of the string instrument family side by side.

Alina Ibragimova is joined by her duo partner Cédric Tiberghien in a program that pairs violin sonatas by César Franck and Claude Debussy with music by Igor Stravinsky and Karol Szymanowski

Andrew Norman’s Suspend is inspired by the life and works of Johannes Brahms. Brahms's late Piano Pieces Op. 118 open Emanuel Ax’s recital program which also includes selected works by Frédéric Chopin.

Radek Baborák and Denis Kozhukhin open their concert, for which they are joined by violinist Dalibor Karvay, with Schumann’s romantic Fantasy Pieces. The remainder of the program focuses on horn music of the 20th century.

Joined by his piano partner Mzia Bachtouridze, Ildar Abdrazakov takes on Shostakovich’s 1974 Michelangelo Suite and selected works by Modest Mussorgsky, including the Songs and Dances of Death.

With performances of more than a thousand newly commissioned works, groundbreaking collaborations with artists from many other disciplines, and a strong commitment to nurturing new generations of musicians, the Kronos Quartet has redefined the role of the string quartet for the late 20th and 21st centuries. The live documentary A Thousand Thoughts employs sound, images, and words to immerse viewers and listeners in this musical cosmos.

Few contemporary performers on the kamancheh, the Persian “spiked fiddle,” have been more influential than Kayhan Kalhor, an acclaimed virtuoso on his instrument for several decades. He is joined by Behnam Samani, one of the undisputed masters of traditional Persian percussion instruments, including the goblet drum tombak.

Two musicians from different generations meet at the Pierre Boulez Saal, challenge each other, and leave their musical comfort zones.

Hear the students of the Barenboim-Said Akademie perform live at the Pierre Boulez Saal.

"As a composer and improviser,” says Uri Caine, “I enjoy the push and pull between structured composed music and free improvisation.” Both aspects of Caine’s artistry will be on display in his first Pierre Boulez Saal appearance.

For his first solo recital at the Pierre Boulez Saal, English tenor Ian Bostridge is joined by Sir Antonio Pappano to perform Schubert’s “spine-chilling songs”—as the composer himself once described his Winterreise.

Hear the students of the Barenboim-Said Akademie perform live at the Pierre Boulez Saal.

"“Parental Leave” concerts are aimed at all new mothers and fathers (as well as uncles, aunts, grandparents…) who would like to experience music together with their babies in a relaxed setting. In seven morning programs, each approximately 45 minutes long, Pierre Boulez Saal artists perform excerpts from their current repertoire."

In December 2019, Maurizio Pollini made his celebrated Pierre Boulez Saal debut with works by Beethoven, Brahms, and Schoenberg. Now the legendary Italian pianist returns to perform another solo recital.

"Following his two performances of the French Suites in April, Sir András Schiff now completes his multiyear cycle with the English Suites, the earliest of Bach’s major collections for keyboard instruments."

Toward the end of the season, the Boulez Ensemble once more explores a range of repertoire, from the 17th century to the present.

Acclaimed around the world for their standard-setting performances of Josquin’s works, the Tallis Scholars and their music director Peter Phillips now bring an extraordinary project to the Pierre Boulez Saal to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the composer’s death and to close the season: Over the course of four days, they will perform Josquin’s complete masses in what will be the ensemble’s first-ever cyclical presentation of these works.