Chopins pianokonsert Uppsala Kammarorkester

About the Performance

Participants

Conductor: Ruth Reinhardt
Soloist: Kate Liu, piano
Uppsala Chamber Orchestra

Concert Introduction 6:20 PM – 6:40 PM

Program

Cecilia Damström (b. 1988): Nixus
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Piano Concerto No. 2, F minor, op. 21
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847): Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56, “The Scottish”

Uppsala Chamber Orchestra opens the season with a grand piano concert when internationally recognized pianist Kate Liu visits the orchestra for the first time. There will also be Cecilia Damström’s Nixus and a romantic symphony by Felix Mendelssohn.

Award-winning pianist

Chopin’s magnificent piano concerto features American pianist Kate Liu as soloist. Kate has won international recognition, not least by winning prizes at Chopin competitions, and has played with renowned orchestras around the world. She is a regular soloist at the Chopin and His Europe festival in Warsaw organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.

Brilliant concert

Frédéric Chopin was considered a piano prodigy at the age of 10. At the age of 20, he wrote his Romantic Piano Concerto, in which the pianist shines, and was himself the soloist at the premiere in Warsaw in 1830. Piano Concerto No. 2 was actually written before No. 1, but was not published until 1836. Chopin is said to have been inspired in the slow second movement by Konstancja Gladkowska, a 19-year-old soprano and music student.

An important dedication

The Finnish-Swedish composer Cecilia Damström wants to make people think and feel through her music. Her Nixus from 2021 is dedicated to all those affected by mental illness, the Latin word “nixus” being translated as effort and strain. The piece depicts the complex emotions that mental illness can produce, and the composer compares the music to the feeling of being stuck in a hamster wheel.

Scotland as inspiration

The evening concludes with Mendelssohn’s romantic masterpiece, his Third Symphony from 1842. The symphony is known as ‘The Scottish’ after a trip he made to Scotland where he was inspired by the landscape and ruins of Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh.

Musical intelligence

It was a successful second meeting with Uppsala Chamber Orchestra when young and dynamic conductor
Ruth Reinhardt returned to Uppsala in 2025.

After studying at the Juilliard School in New York and elsewhere, Ruth Reinhardt was immediately engaged by a number
of leading American orchestras. Praised for her musical intelligence, imaginative programming
and elegant performances, she has established herself as one of the most interesting conductors on the
international classical music scene.

Uppsala Chamber Orchestra

With a range of styles spanning from grand symphonies to more intimate chamber music works, Uppsala Chamber Orchestra has performed live music for the county’s residents for over 50 years. The orchestra, considered by many to be one of Sweden’s finest, consists of professional musicians and is renowned for its warm and full orchestral sound. Since 2007, the home stage has been Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, where they also hold family concerts and invite school classes for study visits. In recent years, the orchestra has made appreciated guest appearances in Estonia, at concert halls in Gothenburg, Vara, and Norrköping, as well as Artipelag on Värmdö. Uppsala Chamber Orchestra is part of the foundation Musik i Uppland, a regional music organization in Uppsala with Region Uppsala as the principal.

The concert is organized by Musik i Uppland and is part of the Orchestra Series – Big Subscription and Small Subscription.