Internationally acclaimed pianist Anna Fedorova returns to Sinfonia after two years. On Friday, September 18, she will perform as soloist in Grieg’s beloved Piano Concerto during the orchestra’s season opening at the Kloosterkerk in The Hague. The concert is also one of Sinfonia’s first concerts in the renovated church. In collaboration with established The Hague wine specialist Marius Wijn, the evening will conclude with a special free Portuguese wine tasting for all concertgoers.
Fedorova is one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation. The Ukrainian pianist has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Albert Hall in London, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, where she has been a guest more than 45 times. Her performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto became an international audience favorite online and has been viewed more than 46 million times.
After two years, Fedorova stands alongside Sinfonia and chief conductor Conrad van Alphen once again. In The Hague, she performs Grieg’s only Piano Concerto, one of the most famous works in the Romantic piano repertoire. Virtuoso passages alternate with lyrical melodies and influences from Norwegian folk music.
“It is very special to be back on stage with Anna Fedorova after two years. Anna is not only a fantastic pianist, but also a musician with whom the interplay feels very natural. She can be overwhelmingly virtuosic one moment and play incredibly subtle and refined the next. As far as I am concerned, Grieg’s Piano Concerto suits her perfectly,” says Conrad van Alphen, Artistic Director and Conductor of Sinfonia.
From Debussy to the young Bizet
In addition to Grieg’s Piano Concerto, Sinfonia performs Debussy’s Clair de lune in the orchestration by André Caplet. The concert concludes with Georges Bizet’s First Symphony. Bizet wrote this remarkably mature work when he was only seventeen years old. The symphony was never performed during his lifetime and was only rediscovered much later.
In doing so, the orchestra under the direction of Conrad van Alphen brings together three different musical worlds: the refined French timbres of Debussy, the Scandinavian romanticism of Grieg, and the youthful energy of Bizet.
Concert in the renovated Kloosterkerk
The venue is also starting a new chapter this season. The more than six-hundred-year-old Kloosterkerk on the Lange Voorhout was renovated in 2026. The entrance and walking area, among other things, have been upgraded to make the monumental building more accessible and welcoming, and to create more space for socializing around activities and concerts.
For Sinfonia, the Kloosterkerk has long been a familiar concert venue in The Hague. On September 18, the orchestra returns there for its first concert in The Hague of the new season.
Portuguese wine tasting afterwards
This year, the concert evening will have an extra Hague touch thanks to a collaboration with Marius Wijn. During the intermission, the Hague wine merchant will provide the wines for the audience. After the concert, visitors are invited to a free wine tasting.
Marius Wijn presents six different Portuguese wines during the tasting. Among them are two new wines that have just been added to the assortment. Concert attendees are therefore among the first to taste these wines.
Program
Debussy Clair de lune (adapted by André Caplet)
Grieg Piano Concerto
Bizet Symphony No. 1
Performers
Sinfonia Rotterdam
Conrad van Alphen conductor
Anna Fedorova piano
Concert information
Friday, September 18, 2026, 8:15 PM
Monastery Church
Tickets: €16 to €41
More information and tickets:
https://www.sinfoniarotterdam.nl/concert/bizet-en-grieg-pianoconcert-met-anna-fedorova/
Photo: Marco Borggreve