The Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music announces its 2026-27 guest artist concerts, including five Northwestern University debuts and a diverse lineup of internationally acclaimed artists.
Beginning Oct. 16, the Skyline Piano Artist Series features five performances, with highlights including the return of the Anderson & Roe Piano Duo, as well as the series debuts of Kate Liu, David Fray and Paul Lewis.
The Segovia Classical Guitar Series kicks off on Oct. 31, and will again welcome audience favorites, such as the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Beijing Guitar Duo and David Russell.
Celebrating its 30th season in January, the Winter Chamber Music Festival features the return of the Viano Quartet, Horszowski Trio, Isidore String Quartet and Ying Quartet, as well as collaborations between Bienen School faculty performers and acclaimed guests.
Through concerts with commentary, Jeffrey Siegel uncovers the inspiration behind piano masterpieces in the 57th season of his four-part Keyboard Conversations series.
Saxophonist Chris Potter brings his trio to the season’s jazz guest artist lineup, making his Northwestern University debut.
Subscription packages and single tickets for each of the series are now on sale and may be purchased online at concertsatbienen.org, by phone at 847-467-4000 or in person at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive in Evanston, during ticket office hours. Single tickets will be available on Monday, Aug. 3.
Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel
Oct. 2, 2026 to May 7, 2027
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive
The four-program series brings spirited performances and insightful commentary by Siegel to Chicago’s North Shore.
- The Glorious Musical Jewels of Beethoven and Schubert
7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, 2026
Beethoven’s Polonaise, “Für Elise” and select bagatelles as well as selections from Schubert’s waltzes, his F Minor Impromptu and his “Ave Maria.” - The Romantic Music of Brahms
7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11, 2026
Brahms’s Hungarian Dances, ballades, the Rhapsody in B Minor and selected intermezzi. - Chopin in Paris
7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, 2027
Chopin compositions from his time in Paris, including his Ballade No. 3, Scherzo No. 3, nocturnes, waltzes and his Polonaise in A Major. - Virtuoso Variations
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 7, 2027
Beethoven’s “God Save the King” variations, Mendelssohn’s “Variations sérieuses,” Tchaikovsky’s Opus 19 Variations and Rachmaninoff’s 18th Variation on a Theme of Paganini.
Jazz Guest Artists
April 10, 2027; additional date to be announced
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive
Jazz guest artists showcase their talent on the Pick-Staiger stage.
- Chris Potter Trio
7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 10, 2027
Grammy-nominated saxophonist Chris Potter has collaborated with leading jazz artists including Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland and the Mingus Big Band, and is featured prominently on Steely Dan’s Grammy-winning album “Two Against Nature.” His trio currently includes his SFJAZZ Collective bandmates, bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Kendrick Scott. Potter’s latest album, “Alive With Ghosts Today,” was released in May.
Segovia Classical Guitar Series
Oct. 31, 2026 to May 8, 2027
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
The five-concert series, named for legendary guitar virtuoso Andrés Segovia, brings top guitarists, spellbinding technique and a vibrant array of global sounds to the Galvin Recital Hall stage.
- Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
The Grammy Award-winning quartet is known for multifaceted performances combining music of the past with contemporary and international masterworks. The group has toured collaborative works with choirs, orchestras, vocalists and dancers, with highlights including a “Don Quixote” program narrated by actor Philip Proctor and Shingo Fuji’s “SHIKI: Seasons of Japan,” featuring a guitar orchestra. In 2021, the quartet received the Artistic Achievement Award from the Guitar Foundation of America. - Judicaël Perroy
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, 2027
Since winning first prize at the 15th Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition, Perroy has performed at renowned venues throughout the world and recorded 10 full-length albums. A sought-after teacher, he has served on the faculty of the École Supérieure Musique et Danse de France in Lille since 2012 as well as at the Haute École de Musique de Genève since 2020. - Beijing Guitar Duo
7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 6, 2027
Launching their international concert career with a 2010 Carnegie Hall debut, guitarists Meng Su and Yameng Wang came to their partnership with exceptional credentials. Su is a winner of the Vienna Youth Guitar Competition and Christopher Parkening Guitarist Competition, while at age 12, Wang became the youngest guitarist to win the Tokyo International Guitar Competition. The duo’s debut album “Maracaípe” received a Latin Grammy nomination for its title piece, dedicated to them by renowned guitarist and composer Sérgio Assad. - David Russell
7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 17, 2027
With early career wins in the Andrés Segovia, José Ramirez and Francisco Tárrega competitions, Russell set off on the path that would lead him to become one of the world’s elite classical guitarists. His extensive discography includes the 2005 Grammy-winning album “Aire Latino,” and in 2009 he was named an honorary member of the “Amigos de la Guitarra,” Spain’s oldest guitar society. Russell was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 1997 and inducted into the Guitar Foundation of America Hall of Fame in 2018. - Nigel North
7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8, 2027
North has been sharing music of the lute for over 50 years as a soloist, accompanist, ensemble musician and educator. Professor of lute at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for 21 years, he has given solo recitals and performances in operas, Baroque orchestras, chamber groups and with vocalists. He returns to the series with a program highlighting Spanish and Italian music for the vihuela, a 15th-century plucked string instrument related to the lute and a predecessor to the classical guitar.
Skyline Piano Artist Series
Oct. 16, 2026 to May 14, 2027
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Now entering its 11th season, the Skyline Piano Artist Series offers award-winning performers and dynamic repertoire against the backdrop of the Chicago skyline.
- Kate Liu
7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, 2026
Third Prize winner at Warsaw’s prestigious 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Competition, Liu also received the Best Mazurka Prize and the Audience Favorite Prize awarded through Polish National Radio. Since that time, she has toured internationally at locations including the Seoul Arts Center, La Maison Symphonique de Montréal and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. In 2025 she released her debut album on the Orchid Classics label. - Anderson & Roe Piano Duo
7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, 2026
Since forming their partnership at the Juilliard School over 20 years ago, Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe have toured extensively as recitalists and orchestral soloists, establishing a reputation for high-energy performances, original compositions and cinematic music videos. Their critically acclaimed albums have spent dozens of weeks at the top of the Billboard Classical Charts, while their Emmy-nominated videos have been viewed by millions online and at international film festivals. - David Fray
7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, 2027
Named “Newcomer of the Year 2008” by BBC Music Magazine and the German Recording Academy’s 2009 Instrumentalist of the Year in the Piano category, French pianist David Fray maintains an active career as a recitalist and a frequent soloist with leading orchestras under the baton of such conductors as Riccardo Muti, Pierre Boulez and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. His latest album, “Baroque Encores,” was released in November 2025 on the Erato label. - Paul Lewis
7:30 p.m. Friday, April 16, 2027
Winner of two Edison Awards, three Gramophone Awards and the Diapason D’or de l’Année, Paul Lewis has received international acclaim for his cycles of core piano works by Beethoven and Schubert. He is co-artistic director of Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music festival held in Buckinghamshire, UK. - James Giles
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 14, 2027
Recipient of top prizes at the New Orleans International Piano Competition, the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition and the Music Teachers National Association Competition, James Giles performs an eclectic repertoire encompassing solo and chamber music, as well as a variety of commissioned and premiered works. He is coordinator of the piano program and director of music performance graduate studies at the Bienen School, where his studio has featured many prize-winning young artists.
Winter Chamber Music Festival
Jan. 8 to 31, 2027
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive
The annual festival explores centuries of chamber music over the course of six performances in January.
- Viano Quartet
7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8, 2027
Since winning first prize at the 13th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Viano Quartet has made a name for itself, collaborating with such artists as mandolinist Avi Avital, pianist Stephen Hough and clarinetist Anthony McGill and receiving an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2025. Highlights of the quartet’s 2025-26 season included debuts at London’s Southbank Centre, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, the Fortas Series at the Kennedy Center and a mainstage recital at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In Summer 2026, they premiered Reena Esmail’s String Quartet No. 2: “Dhara” at Chamber Music Northwest. - Horszowski Trio
3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10, 2027
Since its 2011 founding, the Horszowski Trio has become a vital force on the international chamber music scene, with recent performance highlights including a sold-out London debut at Wigmore Hall in 2019 and a critically acclaimed, 21-concert tour of Germany in 2022. In April 2025, the trio gave the world premiere of Charles Wuorinen’s Piano Trio No. 2 at the Library of Congress. - Isidore String Quartet
7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 15, 2027
Winner of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Isidore String Quartet has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, collaborating with performers including violinist James Ehnes and pianist Jeremy Denk. The group’s 2025-26 season included debuts at the Paris Philharmonie and London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as the world premiere of a string quartet by Billy Childs. - Bienen Faculty and Guests
3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, 2027
Guest violinist Ilya Kaler joins Bienen faculty members Adam Unsworth (horn) and James Giles (piano). Kaler is the only violinist to have won the Gold Medal at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition, Helsinki’s Sibelius Competition and Genoa’s Paganini Competition. Unsworth is principal horn of the Ann Arbor Symphony and a member of the Grammy-nominated Gil Evans Project big band. Giles has commissioned and premiered works by leading composers including Stephen Hough, Lowell Liebermann and Augusta Read Thomas. - Ying Quartet
3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, 2027
Over the course of their 30-year performing career, the Grammy Award-winning Ying Quartet has commissioned an impressive body of work by such composers as Lera Auerbach, Sebastian Currier and John Novacek. The quartet’s 2025-26 season included appearances with Chamber Music Hamilton, Chamber Music Society Williamsburg and the Port Townsend Chamber Music Series. - Bienen Faculty and Guests
3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31, 2027
Bienen faculty clarinetist Stephen Williamson and pianist Christopher Guzman are joined by guest violinist Susie Park and cellist Kenneth Olsen. Williamson is principal clarinet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Park is first associate concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra and a founding member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra. Olsen is assistant principal cello for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a regular guest at the Aspen, Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals. Guzman has performed internationally as a chamber musician and soloist and has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic.