This week offers our region performances from three different orchestras, two chamber music tours, and one solo violin recital. You’ll have chances to see musicians in all stages of their careers: in training programs, middle aged wizards, and legendary sages. A great week to get out of the house as the snow continues to melt!
Spotlight: Johnny Gandelsman: This is America — Saturday at Christ Church, Sunday at Harold Prince Theatre
Of all the concert events happening this season in Philadelphia, only a few will be as unique as Johnny Gandelsman’s solo violin offering, presented by Penn Live Arts. As a 2024 MacArthur Fellow, and member of groundbreaking ensembles such as the string quartet Brooklyn Rider and the Silkroad Ensemble, his resume is about as stacked as it could be.
Since 2020 he has commissioned more than 20 composers to write works that offer commentary about our current times, and are part of an anthology he calls This is America. There is no fixed program of any given performance of these works, and he chooses them depending on the current location or mood. However, audiences this weekend are guaranteed to hear a world premiere of the most recent of these commissions from Tyshawn Sorey, a Penn music professor and one of the most in-vogue composers and instrumentalists of today. This week alone includes two major performances of his works in Philadelphia, the other of which is mentioned below.
Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m., Christ Church, 20 N American Street, $55; tickets and information.
Feb. 15 at 3 p.m., Harold Prince Theatre, Annenberg Center, $55; tickets and information.
Musicians from Marlboro II — Tuesday, Perelman Theater
Marlboro Music Festival has operated for over seven decades as a breeding ground for some of the best chamber musicians in the world. Although the festival proper happens over the summer in Vermont, they send groups of their musicians on tour during the rest of the year to showcase their deep collaborations and connections. This week, audiences are treated to the second of three groups to come to Philadelphia this season. The group of musicians includes five string players and three wind players, seven of which will meet on stage for Beethoven’s quasi-symphonic Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20. Also on the program is one of Beethoven’s Razumovsky string quartets, and a repeat performance of a work from 2023 by Tyshawn Sorey, which was commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m., Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S Broad Street, $32; tickets and information.
Hilary Hahn Plays Prokofiev — Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Marian Anderson Hall
Hilary Hahn is one of the most sought-after violin soloists of our era, an accolade she whole-heartedly deserves. This weekend she will bring her appropriately precise and intense interpretation to Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto with The Philadelphia Orchestra in a concert full of crowd-pleasing moments. Finnish Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali leads two other works on this all-Russian program: Tchaikovsky’s raucous and fun Capriccio Italien and Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. The latter work is arguably Shostakovich’s most optimistic and light installment out of his 15 symphonies.
Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 13 at 2:00 p.m., and Feb. 14 at 8:00 p.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 S Broad Street, $34-$241; tickets and information.
Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia: Baroque Inspirations — Friday and Sunday, Church of the Holy Trinity
The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia presents a program of two works written by the Bach family (Johann Sebastian and his son Carl Philipp Emanuel) and two works from the 20th Century inspired by the Baroque era. The more modern ones are homages by Ottorino Respighi and Richard Strauss based on keyboard music written around the same time as the Bachs. In this way they aim to connect the early masters to our modern era. Only an ensemble of this size and versatility is able to pull off a program that has works written hundreds of years apart but requires a cohesive vision.
Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 15 at 2:30 p.m., Church of the Holy Trinity, 1904 Walnut Street, $30-$90; tickets and information.
Bernstein, Bruch, and Schubert –– Friday, Field Concert Hall
The Curtis Institute of Music is famous for attracting some of the best music students in the world. Part of the training for select students includes being invited on tours to perform chamber music with recent alumni and established faculty members. This month the tour includes the president of Curtis, renowned violist Roberto Díaz, and soprano Juliette Tacchino, a recent alum. They are joined by two students, pianist Adrian Zaragoza and clarinetist Tzu-Yi Yu, in a bit of an uncommon instrumentation. We luckily have a chance to hear them on their home court here in Philly on Friday before they head out on the road. The program includes mostly duo and trio combinations of these instruments and features a wide array of composers including Bernstein, Bruch, Schubert, and Poulenc.
Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m., Field Concert Hall, Curtis Institute of Music, $34; tickets and information.
Emanuel Ax Plays Beethoven—Saturday and Sunday, Miller Symphony Hall, Allentown
Emanuel Ax is a living legend in the world of classical music. In addition to winning eight Grammy awards during his illustrious career, he was recently named Musical America’s 2026 Artist of the Year. Those in our listening area from the Lehigh Valley are in for an absolute treat as he joins the Allentown Symphony on Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto. The second half features Rachmaninoff’s deeply romantic Second Symphony, which will fit the mood perfectly for Valentine’s Day. The orchestra is led by their longtime music director Diane Wittry, who recently announced her plan to retire from the ensemble two seasons from now.
Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 15 at 2 p.m., Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth Street, Allentown, PA, $30-$81; tickets and information.
