Nashville Symphony | Kevin John Edusei, conductor | Brad Mehldau, piano

They began at the piano. Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Mehldau: three composers from three centuries whose musical vision blossomed from the keyboard to the orchestra.  

You’ll experience the intensity of Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, a drama of conflict and willpower compressed into eight fierce minutes.  

You’ll soar in Rachmaninoff’s brilliant Symphony No. 3, a work that combines yearning for the composer’s homeland as well as the energy of his adopted America. 

The centerpiece: Brad Mehldau, one of the defining jazz pianists of his generation, performing his own Piano Concerto.*  

This concerto expands the borders of the piano world, and you’ll get to experience it live.  

 

Program

Beethoven: Overture to Coriolan 
Mehldau: Piano Concerto 
Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 

 

* A concerto is a piece that features a soloist stepping into the spotlight of a full orchestra, showcasing their virtuosity and prowess in a spellbinding musical conversation with all the other instruments around them. Our 2026/27 season highlights 10 concertos, many of them by American composers, to celebrate the extraordinary musicianship of your Nashville Symphony musicians and guest artists. 

 

Program Notes

Join us for Classical Conversations! Starting one hour before the concert, enjoy an engaging discussion of the evening’s program in Laura Turner Hall.