about the tour.

The Amsterdam Sinfonietta will be touring Europe for the first time in spring 2025 with the young pianist Bruce Liu, winner of the prestigious 2021 Chopin Competition.

Frédéric Chopin: Andante spianato und Grand Polonaise brillante Es-Dur op. 22

Peter I. Tschaikowsky: Souvenir de Florence op. 70

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Mieczyslaw Weinberg: Aria für Streicher op. 9 (1942)

Frédéric Chopin: Klavierkonzert Nr. 2 f-Moll op. 21 (1830)

Your contact persons:

Olivia Maha Al-Slaiman

Associate Project Manager

+49 151 14487868

olivia.al-slaiman@kdschmid.de

An Orchestra full of experience.

Biography – about the orchestra.

Amsterdam Sinfonietta consists of 23 top-level musicians who play together as one. Led by artistic director Candida Thompson, the orchestra tours the world with adventurous programs. With great passion, Amsterdam Sinfonietta has developed into the premier string orchestra of the Netherlands and a world-class ensemble. It champions its own genre and innovates at the highest level. The orchestra embraces the entire repertoire for string orchestra, from classical masterpieces to newly commissioned works and arrangements, while also exploring connections with other musical genres and art forms such as film, dance, and theater.

Founded in March 1988 with Lev Markiz as the artistic director, Amsterdam Sinfonietta has grown—under the leadership of Candida Thompson since 2003—into a regular performer in European concert halls. The orchestra has toured across Europe, Asia, America, and Australia, performing in venues such as the Barbican Hall in London, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Wiener Konzerthaus.

The ensemble collaborates with top national and international soloists. Musicians such as Janine Jansen, Sol Gabetta, Kian Soltani, Thomas Hampson, Fazil Say, Beatrice Rana, Angélique Kidjo, Rufus Wainwright, and Wende share the orchestra’s curiosity and constant drive for innovation.

In addition to its performances, the orchestra regularly records and produces albums and music films. Since 2004, it has released sixteen albums with its in-house label Channel Classics, including 'The Mahler Album', The 'Argentinian Album, Formidable!', and most recently Pärt über Bach. The orchestra has also recorded for the labels ECM, Sony Classical, and Deutsche Grammophon. Its first music film, 'Strings', premiered in March 2020, followed by releases of the films 'Misirlou' (traditional), 'Atashgah' (Jacobsen), 'Sus-Septed Tempus V' (Layegh), 'Tango' (Piazzolla), 'Tabula rasa' (Pärt), and the animation 'Alla Tarantella' (Schulhoff). This fall, the music film 'One Zero Six Zero', a cinematic adaptation of Bach's Double Concerto in C minor, directed by Maarten Corbijn, will be released.

Through the Sinfonietta Academy, young talented musicians have the opportunity to gain experience with the orchestra’s unique approach to ensemble playing. Additionally, the orchestra annually introduces thousands of children to classical music and string instruments through the KleuterSinfonietta performances and children’s workshops.

A KD SCHMID touring orchestra

SEASON 2024/2025

Solist/-in

Bruce Liu, Piano

Bruce Liu © Christoph Koestlin

First prize winner of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition 2021 in Warsaw, Bruce Liu’s “playing of breathtaking beauty” (BBC Music Magazine) has secured his reputation as one of the most exciting talents of the new generation.

As Focus Artist of the 2024 Rheingau Musik Festival, Liu features in five performances ranging from a solo recital to chamber music and concerto performances with hr-Sinfonieorchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Highlights of the 2024/25 season include international tours with Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg and Gustavo Gimeno, London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano, hr-Sinfonieorchester and Alain Altinoglu, Wiener Symphoniker and Marie Jacquot, Orchestre National de France and Cristian Măcelaru, as well as Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Lahav Shani. He also tours extensively in play-direct programmes with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

In 2024/25, Bruce Liu makes highly anticipated debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood Music Festival, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra. He also appears with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He has performed with major orchestras including Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Philharmonia Orchestra London, and NHK Symphony Orchestra. Liu’s collaborations with distinguished conductors include Ryan Bancroft, Myung-Whun Chung, Paavo Järvi, Fabio Luisi, Joana Mallwitz, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda, Rafael Payare, Vasily Petrenko, and Dalia Stasevska.

As an active recitalist, Liu has performed at major concert halls such as the BOZAR Brussels, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, and Tokyo Opera City. In 2024/25, he returns to the Carnegie Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as major venues in Asia and gives his recital debut at Wiener Musikverein and Prinzregententheater Munich. Liu appears at various international festivals, including Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Festival de Pâques d'Aix-en-Provence, Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals, Verbier, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Edinburgh International Festival, and Gstaad Menuhin Festival.

An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, Liu was awarded Opus Klassik’s ‘Young Talent Of the Year’ prize 2024 for his debut studio album ‘Waves’. His first album featuring the winning performances from the International Chopin Piano Competition received international acclaim including the “Best Classical Albums of 2021” from Gramophone Magazine.

Bruce Liu studied with Richard Raymond and Dang Thai Son. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and raised in Montréal, Liu’s phenomenal artistry has been shaped by his multi-cultural heritage: European refinement, North American dynamism, and the long tradition of Chinese culture.

SEASON 2024/2025