Pianist Orli Shaham from coast to coast and beyond
December 3, 2025
Pianist Orli Shaham: Spring Highlights
World premiere of double concerto with violinist Gil Shaham with National and Virginia symphonies
Plus performances with St. Louis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, a tour of Asia and more
"American Tapestry" album released February 13
World premieres with Gil Shaham: Double concerto by Reena Esmail
A highlight of Ms. Shaham’s 2025-26 concert season is the premiere of a concerto for violin and piano by Reena Esmail. Orli and her brother, the violinist Gil Shaham, commissioned the work. Performances are February 26-28 with the National Symphony led by David Robertson, March 13-14 with the Virginia Symphony and conductor Eric Jacobsen, and August 14 at the Aspen Music Festival.
A tale of two Vancouvers
Orli performs with the Vancouver Symphony in British Columbia, Canada and also with the Vancouver Symphony USA in Washington State this spring. The former program (January 30-31), features John Adams' piano concerto Must the Devil Have all the Good Tunes? with David Robertson conducting. On the latter program (May 3), Shaham herself leads the VSO chamber orchestra from the keyboard, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 and Bach's Concerto for Two Pianos, BWV 1060.
St. Louis Symphony plus chamber music coast-to-coast
March 6-8, Shaham returns to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with conductor David Robertson for performances that see Shaham as soloist for both Robertson's "Light Forming" concerto and Bernstein's Symphony No. 2 "Age of Anxiety."
Orli Shaham will be busy in St. Louis. The same weekend, she performs a chamber music recital that she curated, featuring Schubert's "Trout" quintet, Mozart's "Kegelstatt" trio, and Avner Dorman's Sextet on March 8.
Shaham gives a number of other chamber performances throughout the season. On May 13 she'll be at Carnegie Hall with musicians from the Orchestra of St. Luke's to perform piano quintets by Dvořák and Amy Beach.
Across the country, she returns to Costa Mesa, CA for Pacific Symphony's Cafe Ludwig series where she is in her 18th season as curator, host, and pianist. The February 15 program "America 250" features music by John Adams, Paul Schoenfield, Kenji Bunch, and Antonín Dvořák. The May 17 program "Romantic Virtuosity" features music by Nadia Boulanger, Paul Hindemith, and Erich Korngold.
American Tapestry released in February
On January 26, Shaham returns to Pacific Symphony where she is in her 17th season as curator, host, and pianist of the Cafe Ludwig chamber music series. The program features two world premieres - a string trio by Alex Robertson and a new violin sonata by Sheridan Seyfried - and Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2, a tour de force that blends elements from Czech folk music with original melodies.
Earlier that week, Shaham performs a solo recital at UCLA. The concert is free, and will be live-streamed on January 23 at 6 pm PST.
Also coming up
- In January, Shaham performs an all-Chopin recital at Kaufman Music Center on the popular series hosted by Rob Kapilow, "What Makes It Great?".
- In March, she heads to South Korea to perform with the Modigliani Quartet and violinist Sueye Park at the Tongyeon International Music Foundation.
- Then it's on to Taiwan for the Weiwuying International Music Festival where she will give a performance of Dieter Ammann's "Gran Toccata" piano concerto with the National Taiwan Symphony.
- As Co-Host/Creative of the National Public Radio program From the Top, Shaham hosts and performs on episodes airing the week of January 19 and March 16.
A consummate musician recognized for her grace, subtlety, and brilliance, the pianist Orli Shaham has performed with many of the major orchestras around the world, and has appeared in recital internationally, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House.
In 2024, Orli Shaham released the final volumes of the complete piano sonatas by Mozart to high critical acclaim. Her discography includes over a dozen titles on Deutsche Gramophone, Sony, Canary Classics and other labels.
Orli Shaham is on the piano and chamber music faculty at The Juilliard School. She is Artistic Director of Pacific Symphony’s chamber series Café Ludwig in California, and is a Co-Host and Creative for the national radio program From the Top.