Göteborgs Konserthus Anna Lapwood plays Max Richter

Kristina Arakelyan’s work as composer, pianist and educator is guided by a clear vision of music’s intrinsic power and purpose. Her music has been performed at some of the world’s leading venues. Toccata for organ and orchestra was written for Anna Lapwood and received its world premiere in May 2025 at the Royal Albert Hall, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra. Anna Lapwood about the piece: “That actually started its life over tapas in London about five years ago. Kristina said to me when it was finished, ´It’s a bit like your personality – it’s just crazy.´ Which I take as a complete compliment! ‘But it is! It goes through all of these different completely bonkers moods, and there are these moments where the organ and the orchestra are playing cat and mouse with each other but they can never quite catch each other. But to me, it’s a piece that is full of joy and full of celebration of music making with other people."

Hans Zimmer (b. 1957) Suite from Interstellar, arr. Nic Raine The science fiction film Interstellar (2014) explores time, space and human connection. Hans Zimmer uses both traditional orchestration and the unique sound of the church organ to create a soundscape that is both grand and intimate. In this suite, we hear elements of some of the film's strongest scenes. Cornfield Chase is a nostalgic melody that captures space traveler Cooper's emotional connection to his family and the simpler life he left behind. In the section No Time for Caution (which depicts the spaceship losing control), Zimmer builds enormous tension through a repetitive organ motif and pulsating strings, where the intensity steadily increases as the music swells. The closing section is taken from Cooper's sorrowful farewell to his daughter. Everything culminates in a powerful crescendo that encapsulates the emotional core of the film.

Cosmology is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The overall architecture of the piece is one of a circular journey departing from Earth, travelling through distant reaches of the universe, and returning to Earth. I – VOYAGERS -This is a prelude that gathers pace towards a lift off. An accumulation of energy. Your journey starts here. II – ORION NEBULA -Is a dusty “star nursery” full of young and unformed stars and other bodies. It is very distant. If you could take an airplane there it would take 1,680,000,000 years to arrive. III – THE PLEIADES - This constellation, named after seven sisters of Greek mythology, and much beloved of sailors for their usefulness in navigation is a very fast moving and hot closely grouped set of stars. IV – EARTHRISE - During the flight of Apollo 8 in 1968, the astronaut William Anders took the now famous photograph of the blue marble of the earth rising above the barren horizon of the moon. The need to explore is a very human thing, but to me this image encapsulates the deep truth that, however far we may travel, we are actually already home. The Eliot lines from “Little Gidding” express it so perfectly: "We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." Waking up to this possibility is one of the challenges of being a human being, beset as we are with problems of our own making, and sometimes we need a reminder, kindly provided by Bach in the chorale “Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme” (Wake up! a voice is calling to us) that I quote here. (Max Richter) Cosmology was commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Royal Albert Hall, Philharmonia Orchestra, Hallé Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Symphony No 3 c-moll "Organ Symphony" Camille Saint-Saëns' long life was an unbroken series of triumphs. He wrote collections of poetry and dramas, readable memoirs, and scientific essays on subjects such as history, philosophy, biology, and astronomy. He was a passionate archaeologist and a skilled actor. The fact that Camille Saint-Saëns composed five symphonies is probably unknown to most people, because only the one with the order number 3 from 1886 is played regularly. The music is particularly sonorous, and contains the same passionate tone as some of Liszt's symphonic poems. It was also intended that the symphony should be dedicated to Liszt, but just over two months after the premiere, Liszt died, which is why the symphony was instead dedicated to his memory. Saint-Saëns has given the symphony a different form. It has two main movements, but within that framework there is a traditional four-movement structure. The slow opening soon turns into a lively orchestral part, but the organ is saved for just over ten minutes to gently introduce the first movement's slow ending with all its dreamy tones. The composer was also a brilliant piano virtuoso, and in the second movement he could not help but give the piano flying four-hand runs surrounded by energetic orchestral sounds. The final part can be said to be more academic, and you must not forget that Saint-Saëns was a devoted Bach admirer, who in the maestoso gives the organ full power. The music suggests the Gregorian death hymn Dies irae, and fugatones alternate between brass and organ, elements that raise the temperature to the stirring conclusion. "I have given all I can give. What I have done I will never achieve again."

The Gothenburg Symphony was formed in 1905 and today consists of 109 musicians. The orchestra's base is Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen that has gathered music lovers since 1935. Since the 2019-2020 season, Barbara Hannigan is Principal guest conductor. We are also a proud partner of Barbara Hannigan's Equilibrium mentoring program focusing on young singers at the start of their careers. The title Principal Guest Conductor is shared by Pekka Kuusisto from 2025. Wilhelm Stenhammar was the orchestra's chief conductor from 1907 to 1922. He gave the orchestra a strong Nordic profile and invited colleagues Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius to the orchestra. Under the direction of conductor Neeme Järvi from 1982-2004, the orchestra made a series of international tours as well as a hundred disc recordings and established themselves among Europe's leading orchestras. In 1996, the Swedish Riksdag appointed the Gothenburg Symphony as Sweden's National Orchestra. In recent decades, the orchestra has had prominent chief conductors such as Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mario Venzago and Gustavo Dudamel, following Kent Nagano as Principal Guest conductor. Anna-Karin Larsson is CEO and artistic director, Gustavo Dudamel honorary conductor and Neeme Järvi chief conductor emeritus. The orchestra's owner is the Västra Götaland Region. The Gothenburg Symphony works regularly with conductors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Joana Carneiro, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Christian Zacharias and Anja Bihlmaier.

André de Ridder is Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of Theater Freiburg and designated Music Director of both English National Opera and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, titles he will assume from September 2027. His projects and collaborations take him to orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Tonhalle Zurich, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris and Concertgebouworkest. Over the course of the 2025/26 season, de Ridder conducted titles such as Doctor Atomic, Iphigénie en Tauride and The Loser at the Theater Freiburg, and Mahagonny at the English National Opera. De Ridder also makes guest appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Belgian National Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra Dublin, The Hallé, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as well as New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He has worked closely with several prominent opera composers, such as Michel van der Aa, Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Kaija Saariaho. He also worked with the hugely successful Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter, which has topped the classical charts in over 20 countries. In Mali he initiated and led a recording of Riley’s In C with local musicians and artists including Brian Eno and Damon Albarn.

Anna Lapwood is one of the UK’s most dynamic ambassadors for classical music. As organist at the Royal Albert Hall, she has introduced the organ to new audiences and has reached millions of followers on social media. As a concert artist, Anna Lapwood combines traditional organ repertoire with film and orchestral music, often in her own arrangements. Her latest touring programme mixes music by Duruflé, Gigout and Britten with large-scale transcriptions of music from Pirates of the Caribbean and Lord of the Rings. Her concert venues include Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Sydney Opera House, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. She made her debut at the Gothenburg Concert Hall in May 2026 with the soloconcert Music of the Stars. Works written for her include Max Richter’s Cosmology for organ, choir and orchestra, Kristina Arakelyan’s Toccata for organ and orchestra and Olivia Bellis’ Limina Luminis for solo organ. Her latest solo album, released in 2025 on Sony, reached number one on the Official Classical Albums Chart. She also regularly leads workshops for young organists around the UK. Her relentless encouragement and support for female organists in particular has made her a role model, not least within the hashtag #playlikeagirl.

The Brunnsbo Music Classes were established in 1985 under the leadership of Anne Johansson and Kerstin Ricklund, becoming the first music-focused school classes in Gothenburg. Today, the choirs are led by Kicki Rosén Bejstam and Patrik Wirefeldt. They offer children in the Gothenburg area the opportunity to develop their interest in music and build a foundation for a lifelong engagement with music. Over the years, the Brunnsbo Music Classes have participated in opera, musical theater, and stage productions, as well as television broadcasts and recording projects. The students have toured extensively, visiting countries such as Denmark, Norway, Finland, England, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Scotland, and China. The music classes have performed works such as Nielsen’s Fynsk Forår, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Majas Alfabetssånger with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at the Gothenburg Opera. They also maintain an established collaboration with the Gothenburg Wind Orchestra, notably performing in Strålande Jul concerts at the Gothenburg Cathedral.