Bucharest events: Conductor Kent Nagano, violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann in concert opening George Enescu Philharmonic’s 2025-2026 season

The 2025-2026 symphonic season of the George Enescu Philharmonic (FGE) in Bucharest will open with two concerts led by American conductor Kent Nagano and featuring German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann as soloist. The program includes works by Enescu, Beethoven, and Stravinsky.

The concerts are scheduled for Thursday, October 2, and Friday, October 3.

FGE’s chamber music season will open on October 1 with a recital by pianist Mihai Ritivoiu, who is the Philharmonic’s artist in residence for the 2025-2026 season. The program covers works by Liszt and Chopin.

For the upcoming season, 75% of the 76 guest soloists and conductors will feature in FGE’s artistic programming for the first time. Among them are conductors Kent Nagano, Ton Koopman, Dennis Russell Davies, Daniele Rustioni; pianists Nikolai Lugansky and Kirill Gerstein; violinists Gidon Kremer and Leonidas Kavakos; cellist Gautier Capuçon; vocal soloists such as Matthias Goerne, Sunnyboy Dladla, Sarah Traubel, Ramona Zaharia, Chen Reiss, Carolyn Sampson, and Cristina Păsăroiu.

At the same time, conductors such as Lawrence Foster, Leonard Slatkin, Andrei Boreyko, Sunwook Kim, and Gilbert Varga will return to lead the FGE, as will Romanian conductors Cristian Mandeal and Gabriel Bebeșelea.

The 2025-2026 season will also cover educational programs, like Music for Everyone, where the George Enescu Philharmonic will facilitate free access to each concert to 50 pupils and students from areas lacking or with limited access to musical infrastructure.

The Tuesday Evening Season, which began in 2008, will continue this year as well, to support and present young Romanian musicians who have won international competitions or are studying abroad. The first recital will be on October 14 and will feature pianist Paul Florescu.

Tickets for the concerts and recitals for the 2025-2026 symphonic season and chamber music season will go on sale on September 15. Tickets can be purchased online at www.oveit.com or at the Romanian Athenaeum Ticket Office.

(Photo: George Enescu Philharmonic)