Julia Fischer joins the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s 80th Anniversary Celebration
On 23 Septembe, Julia Fischer returned to London to join the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a very special occasion: the Orchestra’s 80th Anniversary celebration at the Royal Albert Hall. Under the baton of Music Director Vasily Petrenko, Julia performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto together with cellist Pablo Ferrández and pianist Jan Lisiecki. The anniversary programme also featured the world premiere of FLARE, a new fanfare by Master of the King’s Music Errollyn Wallen, commissioned especially for the RPO’s 80th anniversary, and Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben.
Julia’s connection with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra reaches back almost to the beginning of her professional career. She first performed with the RPO in 2001, touring Germany with Schumann’s Violin Concerto.
“It is a great honour for me to be invited to celebrate this occasion with the RPO,” Julia said in a new interview with the Orchestra. She also recalls her long-standing musical relationship with Vasily Petrenko, whom she first met at the Gramophone Awards in 2007 and with whom she has performed regularly since 2010.
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto has an equally long history for Julia: she first performed the work in 1998, at the age of 15, together with her brother at the piano and Johannes Moser on cello. Describing the concerto today, she calls it one of Beethoven’s “happy works”, full of fun for the musicians and excitement for the audience – and a particularly fitting choice for a celebration.
Read the full interview with Julia Fischer here.
Recommended reading: Jessica Duchen's recent review in Bachtrack.
Festival der Nationen - 1996 - 2026
Julia Fischer has a long-standing connection with the Festival der Nationen: she first appeared at the festival in 1996, at the age of just 13. Thirty years later, on 30 September, she returns to Bad Wörishofen to mark this special anniversary. Together with the Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the artistic direction of Radoslaw Szulc, she will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in D minor and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
One of the festival’s key aims is to inspire young people with a love of classical music. Its “Junge Festivalfamilie” education project gives children and young people from a wide range of social backgrounds free access to concerts, including Julia Fischer’s performance. Participants aged four to 17 are introduced to the music ahead of the concert and will have the opportunity to meet Julia Fischer afterwards.
