Welcome

It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the passing of our colleague, pianist Jeroen Bal, on 25 January 2026. He had been seriously ill for some time. Jeroen was a very committed, beloved and valued member of our orchestra. We will greatly miss his presence, his musicianship, and his warmth. Our thoughts are with his wife and children, and with all those who held him dear.

Have you made any good musical resolutions for 2026? If you’d like to discover music that you’ve never heard before, or to take time out to go to more concerts, then we’ve got some inspiring suggestions for you. Four concerts that maybe you hadn’t noticed before — and all of them have something unusual or special.

Our Annual Gala - a festive concert with a reception beforehand and an after-party - returns on Friday 23 January. Jaap van Zweden will conduct the orchestra in colourful music by Wagner and Respighi and will be joined by Leonidas Kavakos for Korngold's cinematic Violin Concerto.

Once again, Antonio Pappano is coming to guest-conduct the Concertgebouw Orchestra. What’s unusual about this visit is that this born-and-bred Englishman has never conducted British music in Amsterdam before. But now he’s seizing the opportunity, and will lead Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. ‘Elgar’s musical language combines everything the British are proud of.’

On 25 December, the Christmas Matinee will be broadcast live by AVROTROS. In celebration of its fiftieth year on television, we take a look back at this holiday tradition – which goes back to before the invention of TV – a story full of highlights and some unexpected twists.

Andris Nelson is back with us for Mahler’s Fourth on 17, 19 and 31 December. The soprano Christiane Karg is the soloist in the sublime last movement. “The Fourth is humorous and yet tragic at the same time”.

Our concertmaster Vesko Eschkenazy was scheduled to perform the solo part in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in April 2020. But Covid brought all public life to a standstill. Now we have good news: in December Vesko will finally perform the popular work.