Bruce Liu with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

A conductor of international stature and a Chopin gold medallist meet an orchestra of tonal elegance and power

Founded in 1934 and shaped by maestros such as Charles Dutoit, Zubin Mehta and Kent Nagano, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Montreal Symphony Orchestra) ranks among the world’s leading orchestras, with more than 100 recording awards to its name. Its current music director is Rafael Payare, the Venezuelan conductor who came up through the same El Sistema training that produced Gustavo Dudamel. Payare won the international Malko Competition for young conductors in Denmark in 2012, and his first Carnegie Hall appearance with the Orchestra in 2023 was described as among "the most marvelous performances in memory” by the New York Classical Review.

Joining Payare at the piano is Montreal’s own Bruce Liu, who won first prize at the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021. A Deutsche Grammophon recording artist, Liu has since performed at major concert halls and festivals across Europe, Asia and the Americas—including his Hong Kong debut at the 2023 HKAF following his Chopin victory, where he proved popular with audiences. He reunites with his home orchestra for Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto—a work whose surging melodies and emotional depth have made it one of the most beloved concertos in the repertoire. The programme closes with Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony, composed under the shadow of war. Moving from brutal intensity to a haunted, ambiguous stillness, it remains one of his finest and most ambitious symphonic achievements.

Advance Bookings will start at 10am on 7 October 2026