Libertango, the Ritual Fire Dance, and Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise: Jan Lisiecki Takes Portland Piano International Around the World in Dance November 8
The Canadian pianist and Deutsche Grammophon artist brings waltzes, tangos, polonaises, and folk dances from across Europe and the Americas to Lincoln Performance Hall in “a whole dancing world.”
PORTLAND, OR — Piazzolla’s Libertango. Falla’s “Ritual Fire Dance.” Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise. On Sunday, November 8 at 4:00 PM, Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki brings dances listeners would immediately recognize to Lincoln Performance Hall for Portland Piano International (PPI). His program, “a whole dancing world,” continues PPI’s 49th season, “Seven Sundays of Discovery,” curated by Guest Artistic Curator Boris Giltburg: a passport around the world in a single recital, from Bohemia and Andalusia to Vienna, Transylvania, and Buenos Aires.
Lisiecki signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon at 15 and now gives roughly 100 concerts a year, with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; he made his Berlin Philharmonic debut in 2024. At 18 he received the Leonard Bernstein Award and became the youngest-ever recipient of the Gramophone Young Artist Award. His recordings include Chopin’s Études (2013), the complete Chopin Nocturnes (2021), and, this spring, Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 9 and 22 with Manfred Honeck and the Bamberger Symphoniker. BBC Music Magazine has called him “perhaps the most ‘complete’ pianist of his age.” Portland hears the same dance program he is touring this season to the Tonhalle Zürich, the Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, and the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
The afternoon crisscrosses the globe. Martinů’s Three Czech Dances and Falla’s Danza española No. 1 from La vida breve open the program, followed by Szymanowski’s Four Polish Dances, Schubert’s 16 German Dances, Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances, and Ginastera’s Danzas argentinas. At the center is the waltz, with Chopin’s Grande valse brillante and two waltzes from his op. 34 set beside two of Brahms’s op. 39 waltzes. Then come the tangos, Piazzolla’s Libertango and Albéniz’s Tango from España, and Falla’s “Ritual Fire Dance” from El amor brujo. Chopin’s Polonaise in A-flat Major, op. 53, the “Heroic,” closes the recital on the Polish dance closest to Lisiecki’s own story: he was born in Calgary to Polish parents.
Waltz, tango, polonaise: these are dances an audience already knows how to hear, now in the hands of one of the most celebrated pianists of his generation.
Beyond the Concert Hall
Every recital opens with a free Pre-Concert Conversation 45 minutes beforehand, at 3:15 PM, hosted by executive director Bill Crane and resident musicologist Amelia de Vaal. The recital is sponsored by John Barker.
Jan Lisiecki, Program
Bohuslav Martinů — Three Czech Dances, H. 154
Manuel de Falla — Danza española No. 1, from La vida breve
Karol Szymanowski — Four Polish Dances
Franz Schubert — 16 German Dances, D. 783
Béla Bartók — Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56
Alberto Ginastera — Danzas argentinas, Op. 2
Frédéric Chopin — Grande valse brillante in E-flat Major, Op. 18
Johannes Brahms — Waltz in G-sharp Minor, Op. 39, No. 3
Frédéric Chopin — Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1, and Waltz in A Minor, Op. 34, No. 2
Johannes Brahms — Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 39, No. 15
Astor Piazzolla — Libertango
Isaac Albéniz — Tango, from España, Op. 165, No. 2
Manuel de Falla — “Ritual Fire Dance,” from El amor brujo
Frédéric Chopin — Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53
Tickets and Information
Tickets & Information: portlandpiano.org/jan-lisiecki or 503.228.1388. Student and Arts for All tickets are available at the door, subject to availability.
Venue: Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Date & Time: Sunday, November 8, 2026 · 4:00 PM
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About Jan Lisiecki
Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki has performed on the world’s major stages for some fifteen years and gives roughly 100 concerts a year. Born in Calgary in 1995 to Polish parents, he trained at The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon at 15. Recent and return engagements include the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, and the Staatskapelle Dresden; he made his Berlin Philharmonic debut in 2024 and has appeared at the Salzburg Festival and the BBC Proms. His recordings have earned a JUNO Award, an ECHO Klassik, a Gramophone Critics’ Choice, a Diapason d’Or, and an Edison Klassiek. At 18 he received the Leonard Bernstein Award and the Gramophone Young Artist Award, its youngest-ever recipient, and in 2012 he was named a UNICEF Ambassador to Canada.
About Portland Piano International
Portland Piano International has presented more than 260 pianists in recital and through outreach activities. Some of the greatest pianists in the world of music have played for Portland audiences because of this organization. While pianists have many opportunities to play the concerto repertoire, this is one of only a handful of recital series that remains devoted to the solo piano recital. Portland Piano International is a vital part of Portland’s quality cultural life and has consistently garnered praise from both the local and national media, heralded a “consistently brilliant Piano Recital Series” (Willamette Week) and “one of this city’s musical treasures” (The Oregonian).
Media Contact
Jonathan Eifert · 347.741.1913 · jonathan.eifert@goldsoundmedia.com
High-resolution photos available upon request.