Pianist, composer, and rock drummer Yoshiki performs two nights of Yoshiki Classical 2026 at Walt Disney Concert Hall (July 16 & 17)

(May 2026) — Pianist, composer, and rock drummer Yoshiki – described in Time magazine’s list of 100 Most Influential People of 2025 as “an absolute force – an artist whose brilliance has transcended borders and genres throughout his 40-plus-year career” – brings his Yoshiki Classical 2026 program to Los Angeles for two nights this summer, giving performances respectively titled “Scarlet Night” and “Violet Night” at Walt Disney Concert Hall (July 16 & 17). The programs will be distinct from one another and will feature signature works by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, J.S. Bach, and Chopin alongside original orchestrated songs by Yoshiki himself. These concerts mark the return of Japan’s biggest rock star to performing in the U.S. following his third cervical surgery in late 2024, and after almost three decades as a resident of Los Angeles they also represent a personal homecoming. Yoshiki explains:

“To perform at [the Music Center’s] Walt Disney Concert Hall is an honor, and in this moment it’s personal. After my surgery, I wasn’t sure when I would return to the stage. These two nights are a celebration of resilience and the bond I share with my fans. Of course, there will be classical piano, but I also want to push beyond the traditional format. I’m experimenting with new sounds and new ideas: something emotional, powerful, and explosive.”

See a trailer for the Disney Hall performances

Hailed by Billboard as “a musical innovator,” Yoshiki is most famous as an international rock sensation and co-founder of the chart-topping rock band X Japan, but he has also been engaged with classical music throughout his musical life. His composition credits include a piece commissioned by the Japanese Imperial family for the tenth anniversary of Emperor Akihito’s enthronement, the theme for the 69th Golden Globe Awards, and contributions to the Attack on Titan and Saw IV soundtracks. In addition, Yoshiki is being honored at this year’s Entertainment Community Fund gala with the Entertainment Community Fund Medal of Honor; he was honored by Variety with their International Achievement in Music Award in 2024; and his videos of classical music pieces with his own orchestrations have garnered tens of millions of views across YouTube and social media.

The Yoshiki Classical series officially launched when Yoshiki signed with Sony Records and released his 1991 album titled Yoshiki Selection, featuring works by J.S. Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, Handel, Sibelius, Schumann, and Smetana. On the heels of that release, Yoshiki collaborated with the London Symphony Orchestra and The Beatles’ legendary producer George Martin on the 1993 album Eternal Melody. At Martin’s suggestion, he then wrote the song “Amethyst” with a focus on romantic melody and included it alongside works by Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Franck, Mahler, J.S. Bach, and Berg on Yoshiki Selection II. Through his work with Martin and subsequent private study with Shelton Berg, a pianist and dean of the Miami Frost School of Music, Yoshiki learned to orchestrate his songs, and these orchestrations would later form the basis of his 2013 Yoshiki Classical album – which debuted at #1 on the iTunes Classical Music Chart across 10 different countries – and the upcoming Disney Hall concerts.

Scarlet Night & Violet Night at Walt Disney Concert Hall

The Disney Hall performances are Yoshiki’s first full concerts outside of Tokyo following his three neck surgeries, and they tell his life story through music, multimedia, lighting, and fashion. The classical selections are informed by the music of his childhood, introduced to him by his father, a professional tap dancer, kimono maker, and amateur jazz pianist who started Yoshiki on piano lessons at the age of four and would buy him a new vinyl album of classical music each month. After his father’s tragic suicide when Yoshiki was ten years old, his mother continued the tradition, as well as buying the budding musician his first pair of drumsticks.

Scarlet Night and Violet Night will each feature unique programs. The program titles, like Yoshiki’s compositional craft, are informed by his background in fashion. When he composes, he visualizes colors and their associated emotions, and then writes directly to a score with no instruments present before working the music out further on the piano. The program titles reflect a similar inspiration: Scarlet Night describes his pain; Violet Night his healing and shift towards positivity.

The artist’s fashion roots are also something of a metaphor for his classical music ventures. Yoshiki created a line of rock-inspired kimonos called Yoshikimono in 2011 as a tribute to his family’s kimono business. This fashion line has been featured multiple times in Tokyo Fashion Week and exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Tokyo National Museum. His intent was to innovate on kimono tradition to draw in new audiences who might then develop an appreciation for traditional kimono as well. His crossover work in classical music is similarly motivated, seeking to bring the audiences he has cultivated as a high-profile rock musician to an appreciation of the tradition he grew up with and cherishes. Building on the success of the kimono line, Yoshiki subsequently launched the fashion line Maison Yoshiki Paris; his full show for his Spring Summer 2025 collection at Paris Fashion Week, featuring his arrangement of Chopin’s Prelude in E-minor (Op. 28, No. 4), has 69.6 million views on YouTube.

Yoshiki at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Tickets available here

July 16
Los Angeles, CA
Walt Disney Concert Hall
“Scarlet Night”

July 17
Los Angeles, CA
Walt Disney Concert Hall
“Violet Night”