Hill Auditorium
Philharmonia Orchestra, London
with Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Season tickets on sale 5/1 for general public.
“The conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali doubled down in this blast of a performance. What a sound he drew from the Philharmonia — the strings were a blaze of scorching sunlight, the wood and brass bold and gleaming.” ― The Times, London
London’s Philharmonia Orchestra returns to Hill Auditorium, with both the exciting young Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson making their UMS debuts.
Rouvali took over the podium at the Philharmonia in 2021. He’ll conduct Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, an emotional rollercoaster that received huge acclaim at its 1937 premiere.
Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has captured public and critical imagination to become one of the most sought-after artists of today, with recordings that have led to over a billion streams. His recent recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations captured the 2025 Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo and served as the only work he toured in the 23/24 season; he performed it 90 times across the world. Ólafsson performs Beethoven’s spirited “Emperor” Concerto, a work that has not been performed at a UMS concert since 2004.
PROGRAM (Fri 10/24/2025: Hill Auditorium)
Gabriela Ortiz Si el oxígeno fuera verde
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73 (“Emperor”)
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 in d minor, Op. 47
Buy Tickets
Philharmonia Orchestra, London
with Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Hill Auditorium
Renewals start 4/22 for current subscribers.
Season tickets on sale 5/1 for general public.
CHOOSE A PERFORMANCE:
Or call the ticket office at 734-764-2538
* Student, Senior and Group Discounts may be available
The 2024/25 season is Santtu-Matias Rouvali’s final as a Chief Conductor of Gothenburg Symphony following a successful eight-year tenure. He continues as a Principal Conductor of Philharmonia Orchestra and a Honorary Conductor of Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra close to his home in Finland.
Deepening his strong relationship with New York Philharmonic, summer 2024 marked Rouvali’s first appearance at Bravo! Vail Festival with the orchestra and soloists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Augustin Hadelich. The summer also saw Rouvali and Philharmonia Orchestra continue their residency in Mikkeli, Finland, and return to Edinburgh International Festival, performing Verdi’s Messa da Requiem.
Throughout this season and last, he continues his relationships with top-level orchestras and soloists across Europe, including Munich Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and he returns to North America for concerts with New York Philharmonic. This season, he also appears with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.
Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has captured public and critical imagination to become one of the most sought-after artists of today. His recordings have led to over one billion streams and he has won numerous awards, including the 2025 GRAMMY for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, BBC Music Magazine Album of the Year, and Opus Klassik Solo Recording of the Year (twice). Other notable honours include Rolf Schock Music Prize, Gramophone’s Artist of the Year, and Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year, the Order of the Falcon (Iceland’s order of chivalry) as well as the Icelandic Export Award, given by the president of Iceland.
In a landmark move, Ólafsson devoted his entire 2023/24 season to a world tour of a single work: J.S.Bach’s Goldberg Variations, performing it 90 times to great critical acclaim. The 2024/25 season will see Ólafsson as Artist-in-Residence with Tonhalle Zürich and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as Artist-in-Focus at Vienna Musikverein. He will tour in Europe with The Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, perform with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the BBC Proms and return to the New York Philharmonic. He joins forces with Yuja Wang for a highly anticipated two piano recital tour across Europe and North America and, in January 2025, will give the world premiere of John Adams’ After the Fall with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, a piano concerto written especially for him. In spring 2025, Ólafsson will perform his new piano recital, an exploration of Beethoven’s Opus 109, on multiple dates across the US and Europe.
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