Detroit, (February 28, 2025) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) today announced that pianist Lukáš Vondráček will step in for Cédric Tiberghien in a program on the PVS Classical Series on March 6–8. Tiberghien is no longer able to appear due to a visa processing delay. The program, which is listed below, is unchanged.
Vondráček will be featured soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor”. Principal Guest Conductor Tabita Berglund will conduct the program, which also includes Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
The concerts take place Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 7 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 8 at 8 p.m. at Orchestra Hall. To purchase tickets, visit dso.org.
Vondráček previously performed with the DSO at Orchestra Hall in 2008 on a program including Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor.
About Lukáš Vondráček
In a career spanning over two decades, the indisputable winner of the Grand Prix at the 2016 International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, Lukáš Vondráček has travelled the world and performed with the foremost orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Czech Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Oslo Philharmonic. He is a frequent collaborator of conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Jakub Hrůša, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Klaus Mäkelä, Michael Tilson Thomas, Giancarlo Guerrero, Manfred Honeck, Xian Zhang, Pietari Inkinen, Vasily Petrenko, AnuTali, and Stéphane Denève, among many others.
In recital, Vondráček has performed at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Flagey in Brussels, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and at renowned festivals including Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Edinburgh International Festival, Chopin and his Europe, Le Piano Symphonique at KKL, PianoEspoo in Finland, Prague Spring Festival, and Lille Piano Festival.
Vondráček’s 2024–25 season highlights include frequent collaborations with Luzern Symphony Orchestra as he looks forward to the performances with them both in Lucerne and at the Dvořák Prague Festival. This season, Vondráček also rejoins his frequent collaborators Bamberg Symphony and Jakub Hrůša for performances across Asia. Additional season highlights include performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, Copenhagen Philharmonic under Thomas Dausgaard, Orchestre National de Lille under Jean-Claude Casadesus, Dresden Philharmonic under Maxim Emelyanychev, Janáček Philharmonic under Daniel Raiskin, and Prague Symphony Orchestra under Tomáš Brauner. Vondráček’s recitals this season include appearances at the Salle Philharmonique in Liège and at Flagey in Brussels.
At the age of four, Vondráček made his first public appearance. As a 15-year-old in 2002, he made his debut with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, which was followed by a major US tour in 2003. His natural and assured musicality and remarkable technique have long marked him out as a gifted and mature musician. He has achieved worldwide recognition and received many international awards, foremost first prizes at the Hilton Head and San Marino International Piano Competitions and Unisa International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the 2009 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition.
Vondráček obtained an Artist Diploma from Boston's New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen, graduating with honors in 2012.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a robust performance schedule that features classical, pops, jazz, and family concerts, plus community performances. Enrico Lopez-Yañez was named Principal Pops Conductor in 2023, trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard serves as the orchestra’s Fred A. Erb Jazz Creative Director Chair, and Tabita Berglund began her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor in the 2024–25 season. A dedication to broadcast innovation and technology began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
The DSO’s distinguished history of recordings—many led by its renowned music directors—spans nearly a century, beginning with the orchestra’s first 78 rpm singles with Ossip Gabrilowitsch released on the Victrola label in 1928. A steady recording output has continued since then, with highlights including more than 20 releases with Paul Paray for Mercury’s Living Presence series, and 27 under the baton of Neeme Järvi, mostly on the Chandos label. In the 1970s, the DSO took part in the historic Black Composers Series for Columbia Records led by its then-Associate Conductor Paul Freeman and later made several acclaimed recordings with Antal Doráti for the Decca label. More recently, under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, the DSO recorded music by Rachmaninoff, Copland, and John Williams for the Naxos label, earning its first GRAMMY® nomination in 2017 for Copland’s Third Symphony / Three Latin American Sketches. The first recording with Jader Bignamini, of Wynton Marsalis’s Blues Symphony, will be released in 2025 on the Pentatone label.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.