29-year-old Jan Lisiecki is a Canadian-born classical pianist of Polish ancestry. He was born in Calgary, Canada, and studied in Toronto. Jan has Polish parents, performs all over the world, holds a Polish passport, speaks Polish language fluently, and always emphasizes that he feels Polish. He has worked closely with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors in a career spanning over a decade at the top of the international concert scene. As part of the Canada Day celebrations in 2010, Lisiecki performed for Queen Elizabeth II and an audience of 100,000 people on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Last year, Jan performed at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Together with the BBC orchestra, he played Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto with such perfection and engagement that the audience demanded encores! And, as one might expect, he played Chopin… This year, he performed at the Wigmore Hall with the breathtaking Chopin’s all-prelude programme, featuring also Bach, Rachmaninow, Górecki and Szymanowski. The Hall was full (the concert was sold out well in advance) and the audience gave Jan a true standing ovation.

Jan Lisiecki has been described by BBC Music Magazine as ‘perhaps the most complete pianist of his age’. He has been especially admired for his interpretations of Chopin, whose music forms the centre of this varied programme exploring the genre of the prelude.

This time Jan Lisiecki will perform with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Eastbourne Theatres and the Royal Festival Hall.

Repertoire

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) (38′)

Sibelius Symphony No. 2 (44’)

Artists

Tarmo Peltokoski, Conductor

Jan Lisiecki, Piano

Imagine a swelling river of sound; a musical voyage that begins amid the tranquillity of nature and ends in a surge of triumph. That’s Sibelius’s Second Symphony, and there are few experiences in classical music more invigorating, or more stirring. For the young Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski, Sibelius is a national hero, and Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki takes centre stage to showcase the grandeur and glory of Beethoven’s mighty ‘Emperor’ Concerto – a work dedicated to the composer’s patron and friend, Archduke Rudolf.

WHEN: Sunday, 13 April 2025, 3.00pm

WHERE: Congress Theatre (part of the Eastbourne Theatres), Carlisle Rd, Eastbourne BN21

TICKETS: here