Pierre-Laurent Aimard in 2025-26: Boulez tribute with New York Philharmonic; U.S., NY, & UK premieres of Benjamin duet; Kurtág at 100 in Budapest; & Bach on new Pentatone album & U.S. tour

(September 2025) — “A brilliant musician and an extraordinary visionary” (The Wall Street Journal), Grammy-winning French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard celebrates the centennial of his late teacher and collaborator Pierre Boulez in concerts with the New York Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen. At the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., New York’s 92nd Street Y, and London’s Wigmore Hall, he gives the American, New York, and UK premieres of DIVISIONS, a new piano duet by his friend Sir George Benjamin, for which the English composer will join him on stage. Following previous successes with The Art of Fugue and first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Aimard turns to The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, giving complete performances of Bach’s masterpiece in New York, Detroit, Boston, and on tour in Europe, as well as on a new Pentatone recording, due for release on October 24. Similarly, after scoring five-star reviews with his account of György Kurtág’s Játékok, released this past May, early next year Aimard honors the Hungarian composer’s 100th birthday with performances of his music in collaboration with the Concerto Budapest Orchestra. These events represent highlights of a full 2025–26 season that takes the pianist from Berlin to Singapore in repertoire ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Helmut Lachenmann and Clara Iannotta.

Boulez centennial: New York Philharmonic & recitals in Canada & China

In the second half of the last century, Pierre Boulez (1925–2016) was arguably classical music’s most important figure. Having shared a rich personal and professional history with the late great French avant-gardist since 1976, Aimard has long been recognized as one of the foremost exponents of the composer’s music. Unsurprisingly, he has played a central part throughout this year’s international celebrations of the Boulez centennial. When he headlined Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Boulez tribute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic this past May, the Los Angeles Times observed:

“Boulez’s music is complexly detailed and has had a long history of putting off audiences. But in the right context, it can be heard as though a brilliant flowering of Debussy’s colors and flavors. Aimard played the tiny piano fourth and seventh Notations with rapt attention on tiny details, while Salonen saw to it that the orchestral explosions contained multitudes of colors. … Indeed, conductor, orchestra, repertoire and hall all were simply made for one another.”

Next month, Aimard reunites with the Finnish conductor to continue honoring Boulez, now in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic. As well as performing Boulez’s second, fourth, and seventh Notations for solo piano in dialogue with the composer’s own orchestrations, this time Aimard also helps to create the context described above by joining Salonen and the orchestra for Debussy’s Fantaisie for piano and orchestra (Oct 3–5).

He continues commemorating Boulez later this fall, when the composer’s music is the focal point of solo recitals in Beijing (Oct 8), Shanghai (Oct 10), and London, Ontario(Nov 16). His programs feature Boulez’s first Piano Sonata, in which The New York Timesonce admired the way Aimard “drew captivating lyricism from the music.” Indeed, as the San Francisco Chronicle has noted, he has the rare ability to “make a listener rethink notions of dissonance, complexity and rhetorical directness. He excels in music where these concerns are paramount.”

Benjamin’s DIVISIONS: American, New York, UK, & Spanish premieres

Aimard has long championed the music of his close friend Sir George Benjamin, who joined him on stage this past June to premiere DIVISIONS, the English composer’s new work for piano, four hands, at Berlin’s Boulez Saal. The duet is a Boulez Saal, Wigmore Hall, and Library of Congress co-commission, and Benjamin rejoins Aimard at the keyboard this fall for its UK, American, and New York premieres at London’s Wigmore Hall (Nov 3), Washington D.C.’s Library of Congress (Nov 14), and New York’s 92nd Street Y (Nov 19), respectively. At all three venues, their collaboration forms the centerpiece of Aimard’s otherwise solo recitals featuring Shadowlines, one of Benjamin’s earlier works for him, which impressed The Guardian at its 2003 premiere as being “absorbing, by turns wirily thematic and luminously impressionistic, and always precisely imagined for Aimard’s exceptional gifts.”

Early next year, Aimard gives the Spanish premiere of DIVISIONS in Madrid, with French pianist Lorenzo Soules (Feb 9). He and Benjamin also reunite this winter at Munich’s Bavarian Radio Symphony, where the composer conducts Aimard in The Purple Fuchsia Bled Upon the Ground, a concertante work by Hindemith Prize-winning Italian composer Clara Iannotta (Dec 12).

Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II on tour in U.S. & Europe

With “a restless intellect as incisive in Bach as he is intelligible in Boulez” (The New York Times), Aimard is not only a key figure in the music of our time but also a leading exponent of the core piano repertoire. Following the success of his 2008 recording of Bach’s The Art of Fugue, which topped both the Billboard and iTunes classical charts, he embarked on a scholarly and immersive study of the composer’s Well-Tempered Clavierat Berlin’s Institute for Advanced Study. As a result, his 2014 Deutsche Grammophon release of The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I was hailed as “a new benchmark recording” (NDR Radio, Germany) and earned him “a secure place among the masters” (Die Welt, Germany).

Now, more than a decade later, Aimard has resumed his deep engagement with the project. His recording of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II is due for release on October 24 by Pentatone, and he returns to the States next spring to give his first complete solo recitals of the work at Detroit’s Seligman Recital Hall (April 11), New York’s 92nd Street Y (April 15), and Boston’s Celebrity Series (April 17). While in New York, he also offers two days of masterclasses to students at the city’s Juilliard School(April 12 & 13).

In Europe, Aimard tours The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw (Nov 30), Stockholm’s Konserthuset (March 15), Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie (March 27), and Berlin’s Boulez Saal (March 29), as well as featuring selections from the work alongside 20th-century solo piano pieces in Dortmund (Nov 1) and Munich (Dec 11).

Kurtág at 100 in Budapest, album success, & more

“The last survivor of an outstanding generation of postwar avant garde composers” (The Guardian), György Kurtág celebrates his 100th birthday next year. Aimard, whose intimate artistic friendship with the great Hungarian modernist dates back almost five decades, recently recorded more than 80 selections from Játékok (“Games”), Kurtág’s ongoing collection of playfully avant-garde miniatures, under the composer’s close artistic guidance. Released this past May on Pentatone, this was an unequivocal critical success. Selecting the double album as its July “Recording of the Month,” BBC Music Magazine gave it a five-star review under the headline: “Kurtág’s life’s work is in the safest possible hands.” Also awarding the set five stars, The Guardian explained:

“Whole worlds of expression are encapsulated in just a few bars, and listening to Aimard’s exemplary performances provides as important an insight into Kurtág’s very personal musical thinking as any of his larger-scale, more ‘public’ pieces. Játékok is one of the major achievements of the last half century, and Aimard is the perfect guide to it.”

To celebrate Kurtág’s birthday on February 19, Aimard headlines the KURTÁG 100festival in Budapest. After taking part in a chamber concert (Feb 17), he joins the Concerto Budapest Orchestra and music director András Keller for performances of the composer’s music, coupled with Aimard’s account of the Piano Concerto by Kurtág’s late compatriot Ligeti, another of the pianist’s lifelong musical associates (Feb 20). Aimard and the orchestra reunite for works by Kurtág in Bochum, Germany, two days later (Feb 22).

Selections from Játékok also figure prominently in the pianist’s recital programs throughout the season, in Taipei (Oct 12), Udine, Italy (Jan 22), Madrid (Feb 11 & April 21), Brussels (Feb 15), Luxembourg (March 4), and Paris, where his performance at the Auditorium du Louvre also features works inspired by the iconic art collection by Kurtág and other composers (Feb 13).

More concerto & chamber collaborations in Europe & Singapore

Aimard completes his season with a dizzying range of repertoire. In concerts with the Berlin Radio Symphony (Sep 15), Munich Radio Symphony (Sep 27 & 28), Singapore Symphony (Oct 16), Prague Radio Symphony (Dec 22), Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra(Jan 4–18), Hamburg Philharmonic (Jan 15), NDR Radiophilharmonie (Feb 26 & 27), and Barcelona Symphony (April 23–25), he performs works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel, Debussy, Schoenberg, Bartók, Messiaen, and Helmut Lachenmann. The octogenarian German composer’s music also features at the Musikfest Berlin (Sep 18), marking the first of two chamber programs for Aimard, who goes on to join clarinetist Jörg Widmann, violinist Isabelle Faust, and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras for evenings culminating with Messiaen’s transcendent Quatuor pour la fin du temps in Santander (Oct 28), Madrid (Oct 30), Cologne (May 19), Luxembourg (May 20), Vienna (May 21), Amsterdam (May 23), and Hamburg (May 24).

Pierre-Laurent Aimard: 2025–26 engagements

Sep 15: Basel, Switzerland
Berlin Radio Symphony / Vladimir Jurowski
SCHOENBERG: Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte (with Omar Ebrahim, narrator)

Sep 18
Berlin, Germany
Musikfest Berlin
Helmut LACHENMANN: Allegro sostenuto (with Mark Simpson, clarinet / bass clarinet; Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello)
Mark ANDRE: ...selig ist… for piano and electronics (recorded with SWR Experimental Studio)

Sep 27 & 28: concerts with Munich Radio Symphony / Corinna Niemeyer
   Sep 27: Weingarten, Germany
   Sep 28: Straubing, Germany
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3

Oct 3–5
New York, NY
New York Philharmonic / Esa-Pekka Salonen
BOULEZ: Notations, Nos. IV, VII, & II (piano solo)
DEBUSSY: Fantaisie for piano and orchestra

Oct 8–10: Chinese solo recital tour
   Oct 8: Beijing (National Centre for the Performing Arts)
   Oct 10: Shanghai (Shanghai Concert Hall)
BARTÓK: Mikrokosmos (selections)
BOULEZ: Notations
BERG: Piano Sonata
BOULEZ: Piano Sonata No. 1
BOULEZ: Incises
RAVEL: Gaspard de la nuit

Oct 12
Taipei, Taiwan
National Concert Hall
Solo recital
György KURTÁG: Játékok (selections)
BACH: Well-Tempered Clavier (selections)
SCHUBERT: Ländler (selections)
György KURTÁG: Játékok (further selections)

Oct 15
Singapore
Masterclass

Oct 16
Singapore
Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Hans Graf
BARTÓK: Piano Concerto No. 2

Oct 24
Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Solo recital

Oct 28 & 30: Chamber recitals with Jörg Widmann, clarinet; Isabelle Faust, violin; Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
   Oct 28: Santander, Spain
   Oct 30: Madrid, Spain
BERG: Vier Stücke, Op. 5
CARTER: Epigrams for Piano, Violin & Cello
MESSIAEN: Quatuor pour la fin du temps

Nov 1
Dortmund, Germany
Konzerthaus Dortmund
Solo recital
MESSIAEN: Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (selections)
BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books I & II (selections)

Nov 3
London, UK
Wigmore Hall
Solo recital
George BENJAMIN: Shadowlines – Six Canonic Preludes
George BENJAMIN: DIVISIONS for four hands (UK premiere; with Sir George Benjamin, piano)
Other rep. TBC

Nov 14
Washington, DC
Library of Congress
Solo recital
George BENJAMIN: Shadowlines – Six Canonic Preludes
George BENJAMIN: DIVISIONS for four hands (U.S. premiere; with Sir George Benjamin, piano)
Other rep. TBC

Nov 16
London, Ontario
von Kuster Recital Hall
Solo recital
BEETHOVEN: Bagatelles (selections)
BOULEZ: Douze Notations
BERG: Piano Sonata
BOULEZ: Piano Sonata No. 1

Nov 17
London, Ontario
Masterclass

Nov 19
New York, NY
92Y
Solo recital
George BENJAMIN: Shadowlines – Six Canonic Preludes
George BENJAMIN: DIVISIONS for four hands (NY premiere; with Sir George Benjamin, piano)
Other rep. TBC

Nov 30
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Concertgebouw
Solo recital
BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II

Dec 11
Munich, Germany
Solo recital
Mark ANDRE: ...selig ist… for piano and electronics (recorded with SWR Experimental Studio)
BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II

Dec 12
Munich, Germany
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Sir George Benjamin
Clara IANNOTTA: The Purple Fuchsia Bled Upon the Ground

Dec 22
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra / Petr Popelka
RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G

Jan 4–18: concerts with Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra / Thomas Zehetmair
   Jan 4: Muri, Switzerland
   Jan 6: Stuttgart, Germany
Jan 18: Amsterdam, Netherlands (Concertgebouw)
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K.491

Jan 15
Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg Philharmonic / Sylvain Cambreling
DEBUSSY: Fantaisie for piano and orchestra

Jan 22
Udine, Italy
Solo recital
Works by BACH, SCHUBERT, & György KURTÁG

Feb 9
Madrid, Spain
Recital with Lorenzo Soules, piano
George BENJAMIN: DIVISIONS for four hands (Spanish premiere; with Lorenzo Soules, piano)
DEBUSSY: En blanc et noir
Yves CHAURIS: Sonata
Thomas LACÔTE: Cahier de Filigranes
LIGETI: Three Pieces for two pianos

Feb 11
Madrid, Spain
Auditorio Nacional de Música
Solo recital
Works by BACH & György KURTÁG

Feb 13
Paris, France
Auditorium du Louvre
Solo recital, featuring works inspired by paintings in the Louvre collection
György KURTÁG: Játékok (selections)
Hugues DUFOURT: La Fontaine de Cuivre d’après Chardin
Mauro LANZA: Six coquillages sur une tranche de pierre
Georg Friedrich HAAS: Petit hommage à un grand maître
HALFFTER: Contando una historia
György KURTÁG: …couple égyptien en route vers l’inconnu… – à Menahem Pressler 90
György KURTÁG: …couple égyptien en route vers l’inconnu…  – Double – à Valerie Hanuk
Philippe MANOURY: L’astronome
Bruno MANTOVANI: Autoportrait
Gérard POUSSIN: Les bergers d’Arcadie
RIHM: Rembrandts Ochse, plötzlich im Louvre

Feb 15
Brussels, Belgium
Solo recital
Works by SCHUBERT & György KURTÁG

Feb 17 & 20
Budapest, Hungary
KURTÁG 100

Feb 17
Chamber concert
Rep. TBC

   Feb 20: Palace of Arts – National Concert Hall
   Concerto Budapest Orchestra / András Keller
LIGETI: Piano Concerto
György KURTÁG: works TBC

Feb 22
Bochum, Germany
Concerto Budapest Orchestra / András Keller
György KURTÁG: works TBC

Feb 26 & 27, 2026
Hannover, Germany
Schumann-Tchaikovsky Festival
NDR Radiophilharmonie / Stanislav Kochanovsky
SCHUMANN: Concert-Allegro with Introduction
SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto

March 4
Luxembourg
Solo recital
Works by BACH & György KURTÁG

March 15–29: European solo recital tour
   March 15: Stockholm, Sweden (Konserthuset)
   March 27: Hamburg, Germany (Elbphilharmonie)
   March 29: Berlin, Germany (Boulez Saal)
BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II

April 11–17: U.S. solo recital tour
   April 11: Detroit, MI (Seligman Recital Hall)
   April 15: New York, NY (Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92Y)
   April 17: Boston, MA (Boston Celebrity Series)
BACH: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II

April 12 & 13
New York, NY
Juilliard School
Masterclasses

April 21
Madrid, Spain
Solo recital
Works by MOZART, SCHUBERT, SCHOENBERG, & György KURTÁG

April 23–25: concerts with Barcelona Symphony Orchestra / Jonathan Nott
   April 23: Madrid, Spain
   April 24 & 25: Barcelona, Spain
MESSIAEN: Turangalîla Symphony

May 19–24: chamber recital tour with Jörg Widmann, clarinet; Isabelle Faust, violin; Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
May 19: Cologne, Germany (Philharmonie)
   May 20: Luxembourg (Philharmonie)
   May 21: Vienna, Austria (Konzerthaus)
   May 23: Amsterdam, Netherlands (Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ)
   May 24: Hamburg, Germany (Elbphilharmonie)
BERG: Vier Stücke, Op. 5
CARTER: Epigrams for Piano, Violin & Cello
MESSIAEN: Quatuor pour la fin du temps