Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

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Courtesy Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech

At the forefront of music-making in the U.K. and internationally, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is known for its uncompromising excellence and boundary-pushing versatility. The orchestra brings a fresh and dynamic approach to classical music and is committed to excellence, inclusivity, and accessibility.

The ensemble is joined by pianist Boris Giltburg, lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful, and compelling interpreter, for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 1. The evening that also includes Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict and Shostakovich’s unforgettable Symphony no. 10.

The Orchestra

The orchestra collaborates with the most inspiring artists and was thrilled to welcome Vasily Petrenko as its new music director in August 2021. Petrenko's appointment stands as a major landmark in the group’s history, signaling its determination to broaden the audience for orchestral music while enhancing its reputation as one of the world’s most versatile ensembles. Passion, versatility, and uncompromising artistic standards are the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s hallmarks, and as it looks forward to an exciting future, it will continue to be recognized as one of the world’s most open-minded, forward-thinking, and accessible symphony orchestras.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra first toured to the U.S. in 1950 under the baton of its chief conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham, who founded the Orchestra in 1946. Since then, it has continued to tour the U.S. regularly with successive music directors and guest conductors, including Sir Malcolm Sargeant, Rudolf Kempe, Lawrence Foster, Yehudi Menuhin, André Previn, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniele Gatti, Charles Dutoit, Pinchas Zukerman, Thierry Fischer, Mark Wigglesworth, and its current music director, Petrenko.

Boris Giltburg, piano

Critics have praised Giltburg's "singing line, variety of touch and broad dynamic palette capable of great surges of energy" (Washington Post) as well as his impassioned, narrative-driven approach to performance. In 2020 to celebrate the Beethoven anniversary, Giltburg embarked upon a unique project to record and film all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas across the year: "these interpretations are enormously pleasurable and at times revelatory… Giltburg’s pianism is ideally suited to late Beethoven" (five stars, BBC Music Magazine). He also recorded the complete concerti with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, appeared in the BBC TV series Being Beethoven.

Giltburg regularly plays recitals in the world’s most prestigious halls, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’Bozar, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, London’s Southbank Centre and Wigmore Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Prague’s Rudolfinum, and Vienna’s Konzerthaus. Throughout the 2024-2025 season, he embarked on a series of eight concerts, performing the entire cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas at the Wigmore Hall.

TICKETS:  Category A - $85 | Category B - $65 | Category C - $40 | Students with ID/Youth 18 and under - $10

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