Shostakovich in San Francisco and Philadelphia 

This winter, Seong-Jin Cho will join the San Francisco Symphony and The Philadelphia Orchestra for Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No 1. One of Shostakovich’s most mischievous, sharp-edged, and revealing early works, the unconventional concerto is scored for string-only orchestra, piano, and solo trumpet.

On January 22, 23, and 24, Cho will appear with the San Francisco Symphony, under the baton of John Storgårds, as part of an eclectic program that blends modern masterpieces with a beloved classic. The orchestra opens the concert with the United States premiere of Outi Tarkiaine’s The Rapids of Life. Then, Cho joins the orchestra for the piano concerto, performing alongside SF Symphony principal trumpet player Mark Inouye. The program concludes with Beethoven’s exhilarating Fifth Symphony.

Cho joins The Philadelphia Orchestra on January 31 and February 1, playing Shostakovich’s concerto alongside Stravinsky’s bold The Rite of Spring. The orchestra gave the U.S. premiere of both works; The Right of Spring in 1922 and Piano Concerto No.1 in 1934, one of eleven works by the composer that The Philadelphia Orchestra introduced to American audiences for the first time.