The outstanding Polish-Ukrainian conductor Yaroslav Shemet appears with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra in Vilnius for the first time on 3rd of October this year. In his debut concert at the Vilnius Philharmonic Hall Shemet brings his beloved Polish-Ukrainian music of composers connected to Lithuania. Boris Lyatoshinsky’s Symphony No 3 subtitled Peace will Defeat War completed in 1951 which suffered under the initial censorship, is heard here in its restored original version. Lyatoshinsky is known to have influenced the work of the Lithuanian composer Osvaldas Balakauskas who studied with him at the Kyiv Conservatory. The programme opens with the Fairy Tale Overture by Stanisław Moniuszko who spent his most creative period in Vilnius. Chopin’s nostalgic Piano Concerto No 2 in F-minor will be performed by the award-winning Lithuanian pianist Aleksandra Žvirblytė as soloist in her anniversary season.
Postponed from the original engagement in December 2024, Yaroslav Shemet makes his debut with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra in Ankara at the CSO Ankara Main Concert Hall on April the 3rd. Mo Shemet’s programme opens with the Turkish premier of Stanisław Moniuszko’s Concert Overture “Bajka” (The Fairly Tale) followed by Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No 2 in D minor with Canadian award-winning violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou as soloist. In the second part of the concert Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 brings to focus the tradition bridged with a new beginning.
Canadian award-winning violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou returns to Ontario’s Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra to work with its new Music Director James S. Kahane. In their danced-themed programme featuring music by Ravel, Philippe Hersant and Dvořák Yi-Jia Susanne Hou performs Saint-Saëns’ fiery Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso on March 21st at the FirstOntario Concert Hall.
Following the success of her 2025 concerts, Yi-Jia Susanne Hou appears in Valentine’s Violin Romance works with Camerata Chicago and Drostan Hall this year with performances at Studebaker Theatre Chicago on February 13th, Gary Church Wheaton on February 14th and Union Church Hinsdale on February 15th. Their programme includes violin masterpieces from Beethoven’s Romance in G and Kreisler’s Liebesleid to Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Sarasate.
Antoni Wit makes debut appearance with Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse on 27th of November at the Halle aux-grains conducting Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony and Wagner’s Prelude to Lohengrin in an exceptional musical evening. As part of a well-established tradition in the Orchestre du Capitole’s season, young musicians from the Toulouse Conservatory join forces with the orchestra for this concert, which concludes a week of academy training under the tutelage of orchestra’s musicians.
Violinist Yi-Jia Susanne Hou returns to South Africa to work with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra in the Early Spring Season concert. Susanne Hou will perform Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No 2 in d-minor on 28th of August under the baton of Mo Daniel Boico. Their concert will be repeated with the Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban on September the 4th.
Yaroslav Shemet, General Music Director of the Baltic Opera in Gdańsk, makes his debut with Prague State Opera in the 2025/2026 season conducting Puccini’s La Bohème. A highly successful production directed by Ondřej Havelka with dramaturgy by Jitka Slavíková and sets by Martin Černý will see its revival in nine performances between December 2025 and January 2026.
Polish distinguished maestro Antoni Wit appears with Saarländisches Staatsorchester in two concerts on May 4th and 5th 2025 at the Saarland State Theater in Saarbruecken. Maestro Wit is joined by the orchestra’s Artist-in-Residence renowned violinist Kirill Troussov in Henryk Wieniawski’s virtuosic Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in D minor. A defiant 20th century classic, Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra is the focus of Polish music exploration in the second half of the concert preceded by Wojciech Kilar’s Orawa for strings. Glazunov’s obscure unfinished Symphony No 9 opens the programme. The concert is recorded by SR kultur Radio.
Polish distinguished conductor Maestro Antoni Wit makes a much-awaited return to his former Orquestra Sinfónica de Navarra to conduct a poignant programme of youthful works by Mendelssohn juxtaposed with the sombre Dvořák’s Symphony No 7. Their two concerts will take place at the Auditorium Baluarte in Pamplona on March the 20th and at Teatro Gaztambide de Tudela on March 21st.
