Washington University announces 2025 Great Artists Series

The Department of Music in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis will host six performances by internationally renowned artists as part of the 2025 Great Artists Series.

Launched in 2017, the Great Artists Series presents intimate recitals featuring some of the brightest stars of the contemporary concert stage. All performances take place in WashU’s historic E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, located in the 560 Music Center in University City.

The 2025 season will open Jan. 23 with Emmanuel Pahud, classical music’s reigning flute virtuoso, followed Feb. 2 by pianist and MacArthur “genius award” recipient Sir Stephen Hough. Celebrated violinist Karen Gomyo, accompanied by pianist Orion Weiss, will perform Feb. 16.

On March 2, the Great Artists Series will welcome the return of Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim Bronfman, followed by star tenor Lawrence Brownlee March 23. Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ & the Blood Moon Quartet, a chamber ensemble featuring traditional Vietnamese instruments, will conclude the series April 6.

“We’re thrilled to present another fantastic season of exciting music for WashU and the St. Louis community,” said Patrick Burke, a professor and chair of music. “Please join us next spring!”

Tickets

Subscriptions to all six performances are $150 (a 38% savings on single ticket prices). Subscriptions include premier reserved seating, pre-concert talks with faculty experts and all ticketing fees. Subscription renewals will be available April 29 to May 31. New subscriptions go on sale June 4.

Single tickets are $40, or $37 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff, and $15 for students and children. Single tickets go on sale Sept. 3.

The 560 Music Center is located at 560 Trinity Ave., at the intersection with Delmar Boulevard. Tickets are available through the Washington University Box Office, 314-935-6543.

Emmanuel Pahud

“One of today’s most dazzling interpreters of the 20th-century flute repertoire” (BBC Music Magazine), Pahud won the National Competition of Belgium as a teenager, in 1985, and made his concert debut with the National Orchestra of Belgium later that year. He joined the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as principal flutist in 1992, after completing his training at the Conservatoire de Paris.

Pahud has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s top orchestras, including the London and Monte Carlo philharmonics; the NHK Symphony Orchestra; the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; and the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as part of a U.S. tour with the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra.

A dedicated chamber musician, Pahud co-founded the Le festival de l’Empéri in Salon-de-Provence, France. He has released 24 albums with EMI Classics — the only flutist in the world to have a solo recording contract with a major label — and made his jazz debut in 2003 with “Into the Blue,” a collaboration with pianist Jacky Terrasson. In 2009, Pahud was made a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture for his contribution to French music.

Stephen Hough

“A keyboard colossus” (The Guardian) with “uncannily subtle timing” (Gramophone), Hough was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur fellowship.

Since taking first prize at the 1983 Naumburg Competition in New York, Hough has appeared with most of the major European, Asian and American orchestras and regularly plays recitals in major halls and concert series around the world. His many honors include Northwestern University’s Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano and the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award. In 2014, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 2022 was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Hough’s catalogue of more than 60 albums has won the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Diapason d’Or and Monde de la Musique, among other international prizes, and received several Grammy nominations. He has won eight Gramophone Magazine Awards including “Record of the Year” in 1996 and 2003, and the Gramophone “Gold Disc” Award in 2008, which named his complete Saint-Saens Piano Concertos as the best recording of the past 30 years.

Karen Gomyo and Orion Weiss

“A first-rate artist of real musical command, vitality, brilliance and intensity” (Chicago Tribune), Gomyo has worked with the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras as well as the Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, Vancouver, Indianapolis and Oregon symphonies, among others.

International credits include appearances with the Philharmonia in London, Danish National Symphony, Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She performed the world premiere of Samuel Adams’ Chamber Concerto and the U.S. premieres of Samy Moussa’s Violin Concerto “Adrano” and Matthias Pintscher’s Concerto No. 2 “Mar’eh.”

Weiss, a “brilliant pianist” (New York Times), is a sought-after soloist and chamber music collaborator, renowned for his “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (Washington Post). He has performed with dozens of orchestras across North America, including the Chicago and Boston symphonies and the Los Angeles and New York philharmonics.

Yefim Bronfman

“A marvel of digital dexterity, warmly romantic sentiment, and jaw-dropping bravura” (Chicago Tribune), Bronfman is “a fearless pianist for whom no score is too demanding” (Wall Street Journal).

Renowned for his commanding technique and exceptional lyrical gifts, Bronfman has appeared with leading orchestras and given solo recitals in major halls around the world, including his acclaimed debuts at Carnegie Hall in 1989 and Avery Fisher Hall in 1993.

Widely praised for his prolific solo, chamber and orchestral recordings, Bronfman is a six-time Grammy nominee and winner, in 1997, for his recording of the three Bartók Piano Concerti, with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Other honors include the 1991 Avery Fisher Prize, one of the highest honors given to an American instrumentalist.

Bronfman previously performed for the Great Artists Series in 2017.

Lawrence Brownlee

“An international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (New York Times), Brownlee is a leading figure in contemporary opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages and as a voice for activism and diversity.

Brownlee has performed at many of the world’s most important opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala and the Royal Opera House—Covent Garden. He has presented solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Kennedy Center and has collaborated with, among many others, the Cleveland, Chicago and Philadelphia orchestras, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and the festivals of Baden-Baden and Salzburg.

Currently artistic advisor for Opera Philadelphia, Brownlee learned to play bass, drums and piano at his family’s church in Hubbard, Ohio. His numerous honors include a grand prize in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, Male Singer of the Year at the 2017 International Opera Awards, and the Kennedy Center’s Marian Anderson Award.

Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ & the Blood Moon Quartet

Celebrated for her “rippling blend of musical genres” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ is an Emmy Award-winning composer who has collaborated with Kronos Quartet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet and Yo-Yo Ma.

A virtuoso of the 16-string đàn tranh (zither), Võ also employs the monochord (đàn bầu), bamboo xylophone (đàn t’rung), traditional drums (trống) and many other instruments to blend traditional Vietnamese music with new structures, genres and compositions.

Võ founded Blood Moon Orchestra in 2016 as a collective of immigrant artists — including Japanese, Iranian, African-American, Turkish and Irish musicians — who are all composers, performers and educators. Their mission is to promote cultural understanding and respect while raising awareness about political and social issues and exploring the boundaries and capabilities of their respective instruments.