HAYATO SUMINO – CHOPIN ORBIT & RHAPSODY IN BLUE

In 2027, Le Piano Symphonique takes the idea of the “Next Generation” into a new dimension with the Japanese pianist and composer Hayato Sumino. Here, classical music for a new generation can be experienced live, as Sumino joins the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester to connect popular classics with jazz, tango and his own compositions.

Hayato Sumino (*1995) is known to an audience of millions as “Cateen”. On his YouTube channel, he presents not only classical works but also neoclassical compositions of his own with jazz and pop elements. His live performances, too, bring young audiences and a fresh energy into the classical music world.

At Le Piano Symphonique, Sumino joins forces with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester in several formations. The programme follows both the festival’s central idea and Sumino’s own aim of opening classical music to a broader public. The orchestra draws on popular classics with Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre, Maurice Ravel’s Boléro and George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with Sumino as soloist.

In between, Sumino explores the emotional potential of Romantic piano music in Chopin Orbit and in his own Recollection for piano and string quintet, connecting it with impressionistically shimmering sound-painting. In Astor Piazzolla’s nervously driven tango melancholy Primavera porteña, Sumino – together with musicians from the orchestra – appears as a light-footed tightrope walker between genres.

In 2025, Hayato Sumino received the Leonard Bernstein Award for his curiosity and creativity. The award places him among artists who stand for a living, evolving future of classical music.