From 12 to 18 January 2026, Lucerne will become the meeting place of the international piano scene. At the KKL Lucerne, you can look forward to solo recitals, chamber music, world premieres, and masterclasses with Hélène Grimaud, Martha Argerich, Beatrice Rana, Alexandre Kantorow, and many other world-renowned artists.
remarked the host of Swiss Radio SRF in his report on the 2025 edition, joining the chorus of international praise that the festival has continuously received since its founding in 2022. The star of the piano festival «Le Piano Symphonique» remains, in its upcoming fifth edition from January 12 to 18, 2026, the piano in all its possibilities.
The piano festival of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra highlights the musical facets of the instrument through concerts, chamber music, solo recitals, masterclasses, and discussion panels. In 2026, it will also see its first collaboration with the Irving S. Gilmore International Piano Festival.
At the opening concert on Monday, January 12, Hélène Grimaud will perform at the festival for the first time. In the first act of the evening, she will present a refined chamber music program together with Renaud Capuçon, and after the intermission in the second act, she will play Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Michael Sanderling.
There will also be conductor debuts to celebrate in 2026! Robin Ticciati will conduct the evening concert on Wednesday, January 14, and accompany Alexandra Dovgan in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, KV. 466.
Christoph Eschenbach will participate for the first time in a dual role at the piano festival «Le Piano Symphonique»: as conductor on Wednesday, January 14, with Gilmore Prize winner Alexandre Kantorow as the evening’s soloist performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. After the intermission, Kantorow will premiere a new solo piano work commissioned by him from the Swedish composer Anders Hillborg.
Eschenbach will also lead a publicly accessible masterclass at the Schweizerhof, featuring outstanding young pianists Elliott Wuu, Jetthew Lee, and Jan Schulmeister. The festival will then conclude with the masterclass concert on Sunday, January 18.
Before that, this «first-class gathering (…) of some of the world’s finest artists and debut concerts by rising stars» (The Guardian) will offer more exquisite pianistic discoveries, including rarely heard works by Alkan and Medtner. The debut series will feature performances by Schaghajegh Nosrati, Roman Borisov, and Fil Liotis.
On Friday, January 16, Jean Rondeau will present his intimate and immersive program «Sisyphus», effectively bringing the Lucerne Festival of Lights into the grand hall of the KKL Lucerne.
Pianist Associée Martha Argerich will perform earlier with her trusted chamber music partners Janine Jansen and Mischa Maisky, co-hosting the evening program on Saturday, January 17, and delighting the audience with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
She will provide a fitting close to the evening, which begins with the world premiere of William Kentridge’s «O quickly disappearing photograph», a film set to Dallapiccola’s work Quaderno musicale di Annalibera for piano, commissioned specifically by the piano festival «Le Piano Symphonique» from Kentridge.
World premieres, high-profile reunions with global stars, and first-class debuts. With a festival pass for «Le Piano Symphonique», you secure unforgettable piano moments and become part of the «electric atmosphere» (The Guardian).
Standing ovation after the opening concert by Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev
Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Martha Argerich perform the “Petite Suite” for piano four hands
Yoav Levanon and Michael Sanderling
Martha Argerich and her grandchildren perform Rachmaninov for six hands as the festival’s final encore
David Fray at the Lukaskirche
Kit Armstrong at the organ in the concert hall of the KKL Lucerne – performing Liszt’s postlude for organ
