Paavo Järvi’s summer 2026 highlights
Pärnu Music Festival featuring multiple world premieres, new Young Talents program
BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms with world premiere of Dani Howard’s SIGNAL
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich at Rheingau, Dvořák Prague, and Beethovenfest Bonn
(June 2026) — Grammy-winning Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi – named as Opus Klassik 2019 Conductor of the Year and recently appointed as Chief Conductor & Artistic Advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) beginning in the 2028–29 season – celebrates 35 years of renewed Estonian independence this summer at the 2026 Pärnu Music Festival. The founder and Artistic Director of the festival, Järvi leads the Estonian Festival Orchestra in four programs in Estonia and a fifth at Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Highlights include world premieres by Estonian composers Tõnu Kõrvits (July 11), Liisa Hõbepappel (July 12), and Evelin Seppar (July 17); Carl Nielsen’s Sinfonia espansiva (July 11 & 12) and Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony No. 6 (July 17 & 18); rising star Latvian siblings Kristīne and Margarita Balanas showcased in Philip Glass’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (July 12); and Beethoven’s First and Third Piano Concertos respectively featuring Rudolf Buchbinder (July 17) and Alice Sara Ott (July 18).
This summer also sees the launch of a new Young Talents Program designed to mentor emerging soloists. For the program’s inaugural concert, Järvi has invited three exceptional young soloists to perform with the Estonian Festival Orchestra: violinist Paloma So, harpist Anaëlle Tourret, and pianist Tähe-Lee Liiv (July 14). Following the concerts in Estonia, Järvi and the orchestra perform on tour at Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Lübeck, reprising the “Pastoral” Symphony on a program with Kõrvits’s accordion concerto, Dances, with Ksenija Sidorova as soloist (July 20).
Later in the summer, Järvi follows up the recent spring tour to Japan with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich – where he has just completed his seventh season as Music Director – with performances at the Rheingau Musik Festival (Sep 3 & 4), Dvořák Prague Festival (Sep 8), and Beethovenfest Bonn (Sep 10). Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony is featured at all three festivals. Between these engagements, Järvi conducts at the BBC Proms, leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a program that showcases the orchestra’s brass section in the world premiere of British composer Dani Howard’s BBC co-commissioned Concerto for Brass, “SIGNAL,” along with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto performed by soloist Leonidas Kavakos, and Scriabin’s Second Symphony (Aug 2).
Pärnu Music Festival
Following a landmark year dedicated to celebrating Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday, the 16th Pärnu Music Festival marks 35 years of Estonian independence with a program celebrating nature, international talent, and the next generation. Järvi leads four programs for the festival’s 2026 edition, starting with the world premiere of a new viola concerto by Tõnu Kõrvits with soloist Amihai Grosz, and Carl Nielsen’s Sinfonia espansiva (July 11). Two other world premieres represent the continuation of a major initiative launched by Järvi in 2024 to commission new works by Estonian female composers: this year’s festival features new works by Liisa Hõbepappel (July 12) and Evelin Seppar (July 17).
The two-part festival finale this summer looks forward to the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death in 2027. With the Seppar premiere and Beethoven’s “Consecration of the House” overture as openers, the concerts both center on performances of Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, paired respectively with the same composer’s First Piano Concerto featuring Rudolf Buchbinder as soloist (July 17) and his Third Piano Concerto performed by Alice Sara Ott (July 18).
The Music Festival runs simultaneously with the Järvi Conducting Academy and instrumental masterclasses, and this summer also sees the launch of a new Young Talents Program mentoring emerging soloists. Designed to support artists at the threshold of their international careers, the project creates a significant platform for the next generation of performers. The program’s inaugural concert will feature three young soloists with the Estonian Festival Orchestra: Paloma So in the Sibelius Violin Concerto, Anaëlle Tourret in Handel’s Harp Concerto, and Tähe-Lee Liiv in Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (July 14). Together with the annual Järvi Academy for conductors and young instrumentalists – whose masterclasses and concerts have been integral to the festival since its inception – this new project underscores the festival’s longstanding dedication to artistic mentorship and development. Järvi comments:
“I see my job more as a facilitator of composers and young musicians that I can help, because at one point somebody helped me. Everybody needs someone to open the door and it’s my turn now.”
Complete program information is available here.
Following the Pärnu Music Festival, Järvi conducts his Estonian Festival Orchestra and accordionist Ksenija Sidorova in the accordion concerto Dances by Estonian composer Tõnu Kõrvits at Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Lübeck. The program also reprises Beethoven’s “Consecration of the House” Overture and “Pastoral” Symphony (July 20). Sidorova released the Kõrvits concerto with Järvi and the Estonian Festival Orchestra on her recent album Prophecy on Alpha Classics. Järvi and the orchestra released the all-Arvo Pärt album Credo on the same label in September 2025, following the 2025 Pärnu Music Festival dedicated to the composer, who is not only a compatriot of Järvi but a longtime family friend. The conductor subsequently led the Estonian Festival Orchestra in all-Pärt performances in Tallinn, Vienna, Zurich, and Hamburg, before culminating with a performance in Carnegie Hall that marked the orchestra’s North American debut. Following the Carnegie Hall performance, The Wall Street Journal declared: “Mr. Järvi led a scorching performance, with the orchestra and both choruses gratifyingly unconstrained.”
Paavo Järvi: summer 2026
June 17, 18, 19
Zurich, Switzerland
Tonhalle Zurich season-closing concerts (additional lunch concert June 18)
BRAHMS: Concerto for Piano No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 83
SCHUMANN: Symphony No. 1 in B-flat, Op. 38 (“Spring”)
Pärnu Music Festival:
July 11
Pärnu, Estonia
Pärnu Concert Hall
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Amihai Grosz, viola
Tõnu KÕRVITS: Concerto for Viola: Secret Garden (world premiere)
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 3 (“Sinfonia espansiva”)
July 12
Pärnu, Estonia
Pärnu Concert Hall
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Kristine Balanas, violin
Margarita Balanas, cello
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Liisa HÕBEPAPPEL: Premiere
Philip GLASS: Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (2010)
NIELSEN: Symphony No. 3 (“Sinfonia espansiva”)
July 14
Pärnu, Estonia
Pärnu Concert Hall
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Paloma So, violin
Anaëlle Tourret, harp
Tähe-Lee Liiv, piano
SIBELIUS: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
HANDEL: Harp Concerto in B, HWV 294
MENDELSSOHN: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25
July 17
Pärnu, Estonia
Pärnu Concert Hall
Pärnu Music Festival Final Concert I
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Rudolf Buchbinder, piano
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Evelin SEPPAR: Flood (2026, world premiere)
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 1
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)
July 18
Pärnu, Estonia
Pärnu Concert Hall
Estonian Festival Orchestra
Pärnu Music Festival Final Concert II
Alice Sara Ott, piano
Estonian Festival Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Die Weihe des Hauses Overture (“The Consecration of the House”)
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)
July 20
Lübeck, Germany
Musik- und Kongresshalle
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival
Ksenija Sidorova, accordion
Estonian Festival Orchestra
BEETHOVEN: Die Weihe des Hauses Overture (“The Consecration of the House”)
Tõnu KÕRVITS: Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra (“Dances”)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”)
Aug 2
London, England
BBC Proms
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Dani HOWARD: Concerto for Brass, SIGNAL (world premiere)
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D
SCRIABIN: Symphony No. 2 in C minor
Sep 3
Wiesbaden, Germany
Rheingau Music Festival
Kurhaus Wiesbaden
Hayato Sumino, piano
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
PROKOFIEV: Concerto for Piano No. 3 in C, Op. 26
TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
Sep 4
Wiesbaden, Germany
Rheingau Music Festival
Kurhaus Wiesbaden
Anastasia Kobekina, cello
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
ELGAR: Concerto for Cello in E minor, Op. 85
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92
Sep 8
Prague, Czech Republic
Dvořák Prague Festival
Prague Rudolfinum
Josef Špaček, violin
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
SHOSTAKOVICH: Concerto for Violin No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 (99)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92
Sep 10
Bonn, Germany
Beethovenfest Bonn
Bonn Beethovenhalle
Bomsori Kim, violin
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich
SCHOENBERG: Verklärte Nacht, Op.4 (“Transfigured Night”)
KORNGOLD: Concerto for Violin in D, Op.35
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92