Evgeny Kissin in San Francisco

Evgeny Kissin is a Russian classical pianist, born in 1971, known for his performances and recordings of Romantic-era music. His repertoire is particularly associated with works by Chopin, Liszt, Schumann and Rachmaninoff, alongside Beethoven’s sonatas and concertos. In 1984, aged 12, he performed both Chopin piano concertos in a single evening at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, accompanied by the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitri Kitaenko. Four years later, Herbert von Karajan conducted his performance of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at the Berlin Philharmonic’s New Year concert. In 1990 he made his BBC Proms debut and later that year gave his first solo recital at Carnegie Hall. He has also given recitals at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Vienna’s Musikverein.

The San Francisco Symphony is an American orchestra founded in 1911. Its long association with music director Michael Tilson Thomas produced a recorded cycle of Mahler’s symphonies, while collaborations with Metallica introduced the ensemble to audiences beyond classical music. Davies Symphony Hall became the orchestra’s home in 1980. In 1999 it joined Metallica at Berkeley Community Theatre for the concerts documented on S&M; two decades later, the musicians reunited at Chase Center for S&M2. Away from its home season, the orchestra has appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York and performed at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall.