Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra

Saturday, January 31, 2026 at 7:30pm CST

Pick-Staiger Concert Hall

Vimbayi Kaziboni, guest conductor; Luis Aguilar, graduate conductor; Angeline Ma, piano (Northwestern Concerto Competition winner)

Internationally acclaimed Zimbabwean conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni is conductor-in-residence of Austria’s Klangforum Wien, artist-in-residence and conductor of the International Contemporary Ensemble, music director of the Composers Conference, and artistic advisor of the Boston Lyric Opera. 

The program opens with a selection from Giacinto Scelsi's most well-known work, exploring the surprising potential of a single note, followed by Ludwig van Beethoven's powerful and expressive overture to the Goethe tragedy Egmont. Northwestern Concerto Competition winner Angeline Ma joins the orchestra for Sergei Prokofiev's formidable Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor. While the work received mixed reactions at its 1913 premiere, its pyrotechnics have continued to make an impression on listeners, with Russian pianist Denis Matsuev declaring it "Prokofiev's Everest... In dramatic effect and intensity of emotions, it takes first place among all piano concertos. The first movement is really powerful—it's like a volcano!" Closing the program is Alfred Schnittke's Gogol Suite, constructed of music Schnittke composed for the Nikolai Gogol play The Census List. The suite skillfully merges the play's tragic and comic elements to spirited, humorous effect.

Giacinto Scelsi, first movement from Quattro pezzi (su una nota sola)
Ludwig van Beethoven, Egmont Overture
Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16
Alfred Schnittke, Gogol Suite

Tickets are $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID.