Four notes instantly recognizable across generations welcome back the much-loved Symphony No. 5 to the Kleinhans stage. The Fifth’s hallmark four-note pattern, or “short-short-short-long,” was a revolutionary concept at the time, creating a rhythm as the subject line instead of a melody, and one that recurs throughout all four movements. The composer laid the groundwork for future Romantic-era symphonies with the musical triumph and conflict resolution of “light over dark,” ending on a note of hope and human resilience. Copland drew Dance Symphony’s rhythmic jazz motifs from his evocative, unpublished vampire ballet about a morbid conjurer who could raise the dead and make them dance. Copland himself described the three movements as “thin,” “songful,” and “violent,” respectively. In his Piano Concerto No. 1, Beethoven expanded on Mozart’s influence by featuring challenging key changes and bold harmonies in this piece, exemplifying his first compositional era and style.

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
George Li, piano

COPLAND  Dance Symphony
I. Introduction (Lento); Molto allegro; Adagio molto
II. Andante moderato
III. Allegro vivo

BEETHOVEN  Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 15
I. Allegro con brio
II. Largo
III. Rondo: Allegro

INTERMISSION

BEETHOVEN  Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
I. Allegro con brio
II. Andante con moto
III. Scherzo: Allegro
IV. Finale: Allegro

About George Li, piano

Praised by the Washington Post for combining “staggering technical prowess, a sense of command and depth of expression,” pianist George Li possesses an effortless grace, poised authority, and brilliant virtuosity beyond his years. Since winning the Silver Medal at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition, Li has rapidly established a major international reputation and performs regularly with some of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, such as Dudamel, Gaffigan, Gergiev, Gimeno, Honeck, Orozco-Estrada, Petrenko, Robertson, Pintscher, Slatkin, Temirkanov, Tilson Thomas, Long Yu, and Xian Zhang.

Recent concerto highlights include performances with the Los Angeles, New York, London, Rotterdam, Oslo and St. Petersburg Philharmonics; the San Francisco, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Dallas, Tokyo, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, Nashville, New Jersey, New World, North Carolina, Pacific, Valencia and Montreal Symphonies; as well as DSO Berlin, Orchestra National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège in Belgium, and Nordic Chamber Orchestra in Sweden. His eight-concert tour of Germany with the Moscow Philharmonic included performances at the Berlin Philharmonie, Philharmonie am Gasteig Munich, and the Stuttgart Liederhalle. Collaborations with the Mariinsky Orchestra included performances at the Paris Philharmonie, Luxembourg Philharmonie, New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music, Graffenegg Festival, and in various venues throughout Russia.

Li began the 2025/26 season on tour with Asian Youth Orchestra performing across China, Japan and Hong Kong, followed by returns to the Baltimore Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, and debuts with the Omaha, Hawaii, Shanghai, and Guangzhou symphonies. Further recital engagements bring him to China, Lithuania, and the U.S.

In recital, Li has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Davies Hall in San Francisco, Symphony Center in Chicago, the Mariinsky Theatre, Elbphilharmonie, Munich’s Gasteig, the Louvre, Seoul Arts Center, Tokyo’s Asahi Hall and Musashino Hall, NCPA Beijing, Shanghai Poly Theater, and Amici della Musica Firenze, as well as appearances at major festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, Verbier Festival, Ravinia Festival, Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Montreux Festival. An active chamber musician, Li has performed alongside Benjamin Beilman, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Ehnes, and others.

Li is an exclusive Warner Classics recording artist, with his debut recital album released in October 2017, recorded live from the Mariinsky. His second recording features Liszt solo works and Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto, which was recorded live with Vasily Petrenko and the London Philharmonic and released in October 2019. His third album, Movements, was released in 2024 to critical acclaim and includes solo dance suites by Schumann, Ravel, and Stravinsky.

Li gave his first public performance at Boston’s Steinway Hall at the age of ten, and in 2011 performed for President Obama at the White House in an evening honoring Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among Li’s many prizes, he received the 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, 2012 Gilmore Young Artist Award, and won First Prize in the 2010 Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In 2019, Li completed the Harvard/New England Conservatory dual degree program with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a master’s degree in music, studying with Wha Kyung Byun. He subsequently graduated with an Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory in 2022. When not playing piano, George is an avid reader and photographer, as well as a sports fanatic.

This concert is sponsored by the Constance Shepard Walsh Memorial Endowment Fund.

The Classics Series is presented by the