From Brussels with Beethoven: Exciting updates from your PPI pianists
Dear friends of PPI,
I’m writing to you from Brussels, Belgium, where I’ve just started a new Beethoven odyssey – the full sonata cycle over two seasons! It’s a tremendous joy to return to this music, and being at the Flagey Building is a treat in itself. (It’s a stunning Art Deco building, originally functioning as the radio broadcasting house – evidently designed with acoustics in mind, and widely considered a central cultural hub.) This being Belgium, food is never far either, with three restaurants nestled in the building itself, from the wonderfully lively Café Belga – great for a pre-concert sandwich or cake! – to the more sophisticated (that is, grown-up!) Les Variétés and Barracuda.
Since leaving Portland just under a month ago, I’ve been dividing my time between England and Belgium, first playing Grieg’s piano concerto (one of my favorite pieces of all time) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and then setting out on this Beethoven adventure. Before the end of 2025, I still have concerts in Canada, Ireland, Germany, China and Taiwan on my schedule, only returning to the US in January 2026 (for a recital at the Frick Collection in NYC and a 5-concert tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra). I really hope to be back in the Pacific Northwest soon, though, for as much as I love playing in every corner of the globe, there is always something particularly heart-warming about arriving in Portland! There is something just right about your friendly city and PPI’s kind, joyful and appreciative patrons. Thank you for making me feel so welcome in your city – every visit is a much-anticipated pleasure!
Because I know how attuned you are to the wider piano world and how eager you are to see the pianists you invest in each season, thrive, I’d like to give you a quick update on what some of our 2025/2026 artists are up to.
Of course, you would have heard by now that our November 16th recitalist, Eric Lu, won the Chopin Competition in Warsaw on October 20th. He is only the second American ever to achieve this (after Garrick Ohlsson in 1970) and I cannot overstate the magnitude of this win. Some of the brightest stars of the piano world have had their big breakthroughs at the Chopin competition – among them Martha Argerich, Maurizio Polini and Ivo Pogorelich – and having heard Eric’s deeply poetic performances in Warsaw, I was thrilled for him to have joined that vaunted pantheon.
Meanwhile, Evren Ozel, who opened the season for us on September 5th, has earned himself a five-star rating for his new album of Mozart Piano Concertos. This album was showcased as “Album of the Week” in the BBC Music Magazine issue of October 28th. You can read the review here, or listen to it here (iTunes) or here (Spotify).
Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy, who will play for you on January 4th, have been busily exploring the power of musical dialogue, among other commitments performing as part of the Ballroom Marfa series in Marfa, Texas (in a concert timed to coincide with a New Moon solar eclipse!) and at De Doelen in Rotterdam.
Tamara Stefanovich just wrapped up her “Pierre Boulez pilgrimage year” at the end of September, and, between full-time concertizing, is already preparing for all kinds of brand-new adventures in the year to come. She’ll be premiering a piece called “Black Swan for piano and orchestra” by the contemporary Swedish composer Lisa Streich with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra on January 30th next year, before coming to Portland on February 8th.
And then there’s the innovative and affable Filippo Gorini, who knows how to make friends and influence people wherever he goes. I just learned from his Instagram profile that he recently spent a week on the tiny, remote British volcanic island St. Helena – earning him a Medal of Excellence from the Governor, as well as a private audience with Jonathan, a giant tortoise, the world’s oldest animal at 193. You can see a picture here! More than anything, I am struck by how he embodies the willingness and need to share music with others – and not just in great concert halls. St. Helena has not had a classical piano concert for many years, Filippo played on an upright piano – and the impact was so much greater for his bringing his music where no other artists did. I find this really inspiring.
That, in a nutshell, is what your PPI poets of the piano have been doing over the past months. If you don’t follow them on social media, stay tuned to PPI’s weekly newsletter for updates and make sure to come to as many recitals as you can. Nothing can replace the experience of them playing music live for you! Each and every one is a hand-picked gem, and we can’t wait for you to see and hear each of our artists shine in their own, unique way!
Warmly,
Your curator, Boris Giltburg