PIANO: Nobuyuki Tsuji 2026 | Pacific Symphony Presents “Nobu Plays Rachmaninoff’s Mighty Third” at Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, CA | November 19 – November 21, 2026
Pacific Symphony Presents
Nobu Plays Rachmaninoff’s Mighty Third
https://www.pacificsymphony.org/show-details/nobu-plays-rachmaninoffs-mighty-third
November 19 – November 21, 2026
2026-27 Classical Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
Alexander Shelley, conductor
Nobuyuki Tsujii, piano
BARTÓK: Concerto for Orchestra
RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3
One of the most electrifying piano works ever written takes center stage as Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, a masterpiece of sweeping melody, white-hot virtuosity, and towering emotional power. Led by Alexander Shelley, the orchestra completes the program with Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, a vivid showcase of color and character from the composer’s American years.
Preview Talk at 7 p.m. with Classical California midday host Alan Chapman.
The November 19 performance is sponsored by the Colburn Foundation.
The appearance of Nobuyuki Tsujii is sponsored by The Michelle F. Rohé Fund.
With Image Magnification on the big screen for a closer look at the artists.
Buy tickets at https://tickets.pacificsymphony.org/main/seats/31609
Described by The Observer as the “definition of virtuosity” Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii (Nobu), who has been blind from birth, won the joint Gold Medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009 and has gone on to earn an international reputation for the passion and excitement he brings to his live performances. His electrifying performance prompted the contest’s founder to declare that he was “absolutely miraculous”. Nobu’s performance, he continued, had “the power of a healing service. It was truly divine.”
That verdict was soon endorsed by audiences and critics drawn to hear Nobu’s debuts on the world’s most prestigious stages, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris and the main auditorium of Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. Nobu also became the subject of a documentary directed by the eminent film-maker Peter Rosen: Touching the Sound: The Improbable Journey of Nobuyuki Tsujii (2014), having already featured prominently in the director’s film about the 13th Van Cliburn Competition, A Surprise in Texas (2010).