“His reputation as an eloquent interpreter with a powerful technique…has established him as one of his generation’s most serious musical thinkers.”
--The New York Times

“Every once in a while a performer plays a passage in a way that makes it impossible to hear it the same way again…Biss is the big Beethoven thinker of our time.”
--The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Biss is at the top of his game…his originality rooted in musical imagination and keen intelligence, borne aloft by a supreme technique.”
--International Piano

One of today’s most thoughtful and influential pianist-scholars, Jonathan Biss continues to shape the international musical conversation through performances, recordings, commissioning projects, artistic collaborations, and writing. Recognized globally for his “impeccable taste and formidable technique” (The New Yorker), Biss is acclaimed for his interpretations of Beethoven and Schubert, his commitment to contemporary music, and his deep engagement with audiences as a writer and educator. During the 2026–2027 season, his activities span major recording projects, recital tours, chamber music collaborations, and orchestral appearances throughout North America and Europe.

This season, Orchid Classics releases three recording projects by Jonathan Biss. In October, there is a new album of solo piano works by three African American composers from different generations–Alvin Singleton, Tyson Gholston Davis, and Tyshawn Sorey – all commissioned for Biss. In early 2027, Biss’s critically acclaimed Beethoven/5 collection, his five-disc project pairing Beethoven’s five piano concertos with newly commissioned works by leading contemporary composers, comes out as a box set. And in the spring, Orchid releases Biss’s album of Schubert’s late piano sonatas, repertoire that has occupied a central place in Biss’s concert life for many years.

Biss performs characteristically engaging solo recitals across the U.S. this season. He opens the season with "Words Fail!", a recital program exploring the limits of musical expression through works by Mendelssohn, Janáček, Kurtág, Amy Beth Kirsten and Schumann. He performs the program at Tippet Rise Art Center in Montana (September) and at Caramoor and the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia (October).  A major highlight of spring 2027 is a recital tour anchored by Kaija Saariaho’s Arabesques et Adages, a new addition to Biss’s repertoire. He pairs Saariaho’s work with Beethoven’s Sonatas Opp. 90, 109, and the “Waldstein,” alongside Tyshawn Sorey’s For Anthony Braxton; the program appears at Chamber Music Sedona, the Colburn School in Los Angeles, Chamber Music Pittsburgh, and Peoples’ Symphony Concerts in New York (February/March). 

His orchestral appearances include Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in October and, with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in January, Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and Caroline Shaw’s Watermark (both on Biss’s final volume of Beethoven/5). The orchestral season concludes with Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with the Monterey Symphony in California in April.

In November, Biss returns to Peoples’ Symphony Concerts in New York for its annual Marlboro celebration. Throughout the season, Biss collaborates with violinist Mark Steinberg and tenor Mark Padmore in chamber music performances. Biss and Steinberg continue their multi-season exploration of Mozart’s violin sonatas with performances at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society in December and May; also in May, they appear at Music in the Morning in Vancouver.

In Europe, Biss performs three chamber music recitals at Wigmore Hall this season, beginning in September with an all-Schubert recital alongside mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska, marking a new artistic partnership. Biss returns to Wigmore in October with tenor Mark Padmore as part of a four-city European tour devoted to Schubert and Schumann. In January he is joined at Wigmore by violinist Mark Steinberg as part of their ongoing Mozart Sonata project.  He also presents the solo recital Words Fail! at Piano aux Jacobins in France in September. 

Orchestral engagements in Europe include Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto with the Bournemouth Symphony and Andrew Litton; the season-opening concert of the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic with Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto; Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra under Peter Whelan, with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 and the Royal Northern Sinfonia in Gateshead, England with Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto.

Jonathan Biss
2026-2027 Season Highlights 

September 13, 2026 / Fishtail, MT
RECITAL: Tippet Rise Arts Center Fishtail, United States
R. SCHUMANN: Theme and Variations in E-flat major, WoO 24 "Geistervariationen” (“Ghost Variations”)
KURTÁG: Selections from Játekok
AMY BETH KIRSTEN: (speak to me)
R. SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
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SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2026: European Engagements

Sept 17 / Wigmore Hall, London / Schubert songs with Ema Nikolovska

Sept 24 / Czech Republic / Beethoven 4 with Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, Robert Kružík conductor

Sept 29 / International Piano Festival, Cloître des Jacobins, France / Recital

October 5 / Wigmore Hall, London / Schubert and Schumann with tenor Mark Padmore (Part of a tour with stops in Birmingham Oct 2, Copenhagen Oct 6 and Koln Oct 11)

October 7 / National Concert Hall, Dublin, UK / Mozart Piano Concerto No. 17 with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, Peter Whelan conductor

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OCTOBER 2026 TO MAY 2027: USA, Canada and U.K. 

Saturday, Oct 17 / Nova Scotia, CA / Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance
US RECITAL: "Words Fail!"
MENDELSSOHN: Songs without Words (selections)
JANÁČEK: On an Overgrown Path, 6. Words Fail!
JANÁČEK: On an Overgrown Path, 8. Unutterable Anguish
KURTÁG: Quiet Talk with the Devil
KURTÁG: Silence
AMY BETH KIRSTEN: (speak to me)
R. SCHUMANN: Theme and Variations in E-flat major, WoO 24 "Geistervariationen” (“Ghost Variations”)
R. SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
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Sunday, Oct 25 / Katonah, NY / Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts
US RECITAL: "Words Fail!" (see Oct 17)
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October 31 / Rochester, NY
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Andreas Delfs conductor
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor")
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November 14 / New York, NY / Peoples' Symphony Concerts
Peoples Symphony Celebrates Marlboro
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U.K. ENGAGEMENTS

November 18 / Portsmouth, U.K.
Bournemouth Symphony, Andrew Litton conductor
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor")
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November 19 / Poole, U.K.
Bournemouth Symphony, Andrew Litton conductor
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor")
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December 16 / Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
MOZART Sonatas III with Mark Steinberg, Violin
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January 14 & 15 / Knoxville, TN
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Aram Demirjian conductor
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
CAROLINE SHAW: Watermark for Solo Piano & Orchestra
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U.K. ENGAGEMENT

Wigmore Hall, UK
January 27 / London, U.K. / Wigmore Hall
MOZART Sonatas III and IV with Mark Steinberg, Violin

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February 13 2027 / Sedona, AZ
RECITAL: Chamber Music Sedona
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90
TYSHAWN SOREY: For Anthony Braxton
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Op. 109
KAIJA SAARIAHO: Arabesques et Adages
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, "Waldstein"

February 17, 2027 / Los Angeles, CA
“Beethoven and Beyond” / Thayer Hall at Colburn School
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor
TYSHAWN SOREY For Anthony Braxton
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 30 in E Major
SAARIAHO Arabesques et Adages
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, “Waldstein”

February 21, 2027 / Los Angeles, CA
Colburn School / Colburn Chamber Players
BEETHOVEN Quintet for Piano and Winds
SUSLIN Crossing Beyond for Viola, Cello and Double Bass
BEETHOVEN Piano Trio in B-flat Major, “Archduke”

March 2, 2027 / Pittsburgh, PA
Chamber Music Pittsburgh
RECITAL: BEETHOVEN, SOREY, SAARIAHO (See Feb 17 above)
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March 6 2027 / New York, NY
Peoples' Symphony Concerts
RECITAL: BEETHOVEN, SOREY, SAARIAHO (See Feb 17 above)
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U.K. ENGAGEMENT

April 11, 2027 / Gateshead, UK
Royal Northern Sinfonia, Dinis Sousa conductor
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
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April 17 & 18, 2027 / Monterey, CA
Monterey Symphony, Jayce Ogren conductor
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
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May 11, 2027 / Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society / Perelman Theater - Kimmel Center
MOZART Sonatas III with Mark Steinberg, Violin
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May 19 – 22, 2027 / Vancouver, BC, Canada
Music in the Morning
CHAMBER MUSIC with Mark Steinberg, Violin
MOZART: Violin Sonata No. 19 in E-flat major, K. 302
SCHUBERT: A minor Sonatina
MOZART: Violin Sonata No. 33 in E-flat major, K. 481
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