Presenting Sponsor of The Great Performers Series
These concerts are generously sponsored by the Athena T. Blackburn Endowed Fund for Russian Music.
GREAT PERFORMERS SERIES
Yuja Wang & Víkingur Ólafsson Duo Piano Recital
March 02, 2025
Overview
Settle in as the world’s most electrifying artists and ensembles converge at Davies Symphony Hall. Two of today’s leading pianists join forces for a wide-ranging duo recital.
Program
Luciano
Berio
Wasserklavier
Franz
Schubert
Fantasia in F minor, D.940
John
Cage
Experiences No. 1
Conlon
Nancarrow (arr. Thomas Adès)
Study No. 6
John
Adams
Hallelujah Junction
Arvo
Pärt
Hymn to a Great City
Sergei
Rachmaninoff
Symphonic Dances, Opus 45
Sponsors
Víkingur Ólafsson
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Piano
Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson has captured the public and critical imagination with profound musicianship and visionary programs. One of the most sought-after artists of today, Ólafsson’s recordings for Deutsche Grammophon have led to almost one billion streams and garnered numerous awards, including BBC Music Magazine Album of the Year and Opus Klassik Solo Recording of the Year, twice. Other notable honors include Rolf Schock Music Prize, Gramophone’s Artist of the Year, 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 88 times to great critical acclaim. The 2024–25 season will see Ólafsson as artist in residence with the Tonhalle Zurich and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as “artist in focus” at Vienna Musikverein. He will tour in Europe with the Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra; perform with the Berlin Philharmonic at the BBC Proms; and return to the New York Philharmonic. In January 2025, will give the world premiere of John Adams’s After the Fall with San Francisco Symphony, a piano concerto written especially for him. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in June 2022 performing Adams’s Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?. In spring 2025, Ólafsson will perform his new piano recital, the last three sonatas of Beethoven, on multiple dates across the United States and Europe.
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 88 times to great critical acclaim. The 2024–25 season will see Ólafsson as artist in residence with the Tonhalle Zurich and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as “artist in focus” at Vienna Musikverein. He will tour in Europe with the Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra; perform with the Berlin Philharmonic at the BBC Proms; and return to the New York Philharmonic. In January 2025, will give the world premiere of John Adams’s After the Fall with San Francisco Symphony, a piano concerto written especially for him. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in June 2022 performing Adams’s Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?. In spring 2025, Ólafsson will perform his new piano recital, the last three sonatas of Beethoven, on multiple dates across the United States and Europe.
Yuja Wang
Piano
Yuja Wang is celebrated for her charismatic artistry, emotional honesty, and captivating stage presence. She has performed with the world’s most venerated conductors, musicians, and ensembles, and is renowned not only for her virtuosity, but her spontaneous and lively performances.
Recent performances include a play-direct tour of Europe and South America with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, where she has been artist in residence, as well as her return to the United States where she is in residence with the New York Philharmonic. Her skill and charisma were demonstrated in a marathon Rachmaninoff performance at Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra, including all four of his concertos plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. In 2022, she gave the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the San Francisco Symphony.
Wang was born into a musical family and began studying the piano at the age of six. She received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and albums. Her recordings have garnered multiple awards, including five Grammy nominations and her first Grammy win for Best Classical Instrumental Solo with her 2023 release The American Project. For this she also won an Opus Klassik award in the concerto category.
As a chamber musician, Wang has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists. She recently embarked on an international duo recital tour with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. In addition to tonight’s SF Symphony Opening Gala, she opens Carnegie Hall’s 2025–26 season next month. Wang made her San Francisco Symphony debut in February 2006 and became a Shenson Young Artist later that year. She will return to Davies Symphony Hall next April for a Great Performers Series concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
Recent performances include a play-direct tour of Europe and South America with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, where she has been artist in residence, as well as her return to the United States where she is in residence with the New York Philharmonic. Her skill and charisma were demonstrated in a marathon Rachmaninoff performance at Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra, including all four of his concertos plus the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. In 2022, she gave the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the San Francisco Symphony.
Wang was born into a musical family and began studying the piano at the age of six. She received advanced training in Canada and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Gary Graffman. Her international breakthrough came in 2007, when she replaced Martha Argerich as soloist with the Boston Symphony. Two years later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has since established her place among the world’s leading artists, with a succession of critically acclaimed performances and albums. Her recordings have garnered multiple awards, including five Grammy nominations and her first Grammy win for Best Classical Instrumental Solo with her 2023 release The American Project. For this she also won an Opus Klassik award in the concerto category.
As a chamber musician, Wang has developed long-lasting partnerships with several leading artists. She recently embarked on an international duo recital tour with pianist Víkingur Ólafsson. In addition to tonight’s SF Symphony Opening Gala, she opens Carnegie Hall’s 2025–26 season next month. Wang made her San Francisco Symphony debut in February 2006 and became a Shenson Young Artist later that year. She will return to Davies Symphony Hall next April for a Great Performers Series concert with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
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