Hill Auditorium
Orchestre de Paris
Sign up to be notified if seats become available.
“Here was something truly special: a conductor who reveled in freshly imagining each sound.” (The Times, London)
At 28, the young Finnish conductor Klaus Mäkelä already has an impressive resume: music director of the Orchestre de Paris, chief conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic, and artistic partner of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, a role that will turn into chief conductor in 2027.
For his UMS debut, he conducts the orchestra in Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Stravinsky’s complete Firebird, with 2022 Van Cliburn winner Yunchan Lim performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The 18-year-old Lim’s ascent to international stardom has been meteoric; he is the youngest person to win gold at the Van Cliburn Competition and also won both the Audience Award and the award for Best Performance of a New Work.
Program
Claude Debussy Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in c minor, Op. 18
Encore: Frédéric Chopin 12 Études, Op. 25, No. 1 in A-flat Major (“Aeolian Harp”)
Igor Stravinsky The Firebird (complete version)
Join host Doyle Armbrust for “The Society of Disobedient Listeners” — a special pre-performance talk, 6:30 pm in the lower lobby of Hill Auditorium. This evening’s special guest will be Hannah Edgar, classical critic for The Chicago Tribune.
Thank You to Our Sponsors
PERMANENTLY ENDOWED SUPPORT
- Menakka and Essel Bailey Fund for International Artistic Brilliance
PRINCIPAL SPONSOR
- Jon and Sandy Willen (in honor of Brian Willen, UMS Board Co-Chair)
- Laura Chang and Arnold Chavkin
SUPPORTING SPONSOR
-
- Donald and Antoinette Morelock
MEDIA PARTNERS
Klaus Mäkelä is Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of Orchestre de Paris and, since Autumn 2022, Artistic Partner of the Concertgebouworkest. An exclusive Decca Classics Artist, he has recorded the complete Sibelius Symphony cycle with the Oslo Philharmonic as his first project for the label.
For his second season as Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä has chosen to spotlight composers Pascal Dusapin, Betsy Jolas, Jimmy López Bellido, Magnus Lindberg and Kaija Saariaho, the latter featured with three different works. There is also a focus on the Ballets Russes, with two key Diaghilev scores: Stravinsky’s The Firebird and Rite of Spring.
In June 2022, Yunchan Lim became the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; his performances throughout showcased a “magical ability” and a “natural, instinctive quality” (La Scena) that astounded listeners around the world. Marin Alsop expressed: “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together.” The depth of his artistry and connection to listeners also secured him the Audience Award and Best Performance of a New Work.