Archive for category: News

Luke Stepanyak is our soloist on 29 September. At 16-years-old, this British–Ukrainian violinist is starting to get really noticed in the classical music world, developing an increasingly diverse repertoire centring on the great Romantic concertos as well as the works of J.S. Bach.

Luke made his London concerto debut in April this year performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Willow Orchestra. We met up with him to find out a little more about his background, and his plans for the future…

---

Tell us a little about your background as a musician…

My family are all musicians, although none are string players, so the violin was something a little different! When I was four, I went to a London International Concert Orchestra concert conducted by Alexander Walker, where our family friend Irina Tsvigun, who later became my first violin teacher, was performing. I remember very little of the programme, but apparently I sat in the front row completely absorbed by the music. I like to think that’s where it all began.

---

Can you name your favourite performing moment so far?

My London concerto debut, playing Mendelssohn earlier this year, really stands out. Having grown up watching violinists perform with orchestras, being the person standing there myself felt very special.

---

How would you hope to see yourself 10 years from now?

I’d love to be performing around the world, playing the music I love and discovering places and people along the way. I also hope chamber music will be a big part of my life – making music with friends is something I’d always want to keep.

---

What are you most looking forward to in your upcoming performance of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto?

I’m looking forward to hearing how everything comes together with George Jackson and Firebird after all the time spent practising on my own. There’s so much to enjoy in this concerto, from the singing lines of the slow movement to the excitement of the finale, and I’m looking forward to sharing that with the audience.

---

What instrument will you be using for your performance with Firebird on 29 September?

I’ll be playing my own violin, handcrafted by Volodymyr Antoniuk in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, using Ukrainian Carpathian spruce. It’s my only violin, so it’s with me through all the daily practice as well as the performances!

---

Bruch with Luke

Tuesday 29 September 2026, 7.30pm
St George’s Hanover Square, 2A Mill Street, Mayfair, London W1S 1FX

Sarasate Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
Bruch Violin Concerto no. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Beethoven Symphony no. 6 in F, Op. 68 Pastorale

Conductor George Jackson
Violin Luke Stepanyak

We are delighted to announce details of the London Firebird Orchestra’s forthcoming season of concerts, which opens of Tuesday 29 September and features new and returning soloists. 

Bruch with Luke

Dazzling Violin Romance
Tuesday 29 September 2026

Violinist Luke Stepanyak performs Bruch‘s richly seductive Violin Concerto No.1 and Sarasate‘s dazzling Zigeunerweisen before the concert concludes with Beethoven‘s rousing Symphony No. 6.

---

Firebird Festival Night

Tuesday 17 November 2026

Award-winning violinist Yury Revich returns to direct and perform in the Firebird Festival Night following its huge success last year. The programme includes Vivaldi/Max RichterThe Four Seasons.

---

15 Years of Firebird

An Evening of celebration
Tuesday 2 March 2027

This special concert at the Cadogan Hall features Vaughan Williams‘s Overture to the Waspsand The Lark Ascending and a rousing finale in Stravinsky‘s Firebird Suite.

---

Ravel with Kasparas

Iberian Impressions
Tuesday 27 April 2027

Pianist Kasparas Mikužis joins us for a concert featuring Debussy‘s Prélude à l’Après midi d’un Faune, Ravel‘s Piano Concerto in G and Bizet‘s Carmen SuitesNo. 1 and No. 2.

---

Grieg with Marc

Northern Lights & Legends
Tuesday 8 June 2027

Firebird’s popular season-closing summer concert takes us to the fjords and forests of Scandinavia with two of the most eternally-beloved cornerstones of the Romantic orchestral repertoire by Grieg and Sibelius.

---

When Tchaikovsky first unveiled his First Piano Concerto, he was told it was ‘unplayable’ by Nikolai Rubenstein – the very person expected to give its premiere.

This occasion has become one of the most notorious incidents in the composer’s biography. Yet today, it’s one of the most electrifying and beloved works in the entire repertoire.

Inspired by musicians in Kiev market, the opening melody grips you from the very first note. Those dramatic opening piano chords are one of the reasons why audiences still go wild for this piece.

Inspired by musicians in Kiev market, the opening melody grips you from the very first note. Those dramatic opening piano chords are one of the reasons why audiences still go wild for this piece.

Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto

With Marc Corbett-Weaver

St George’s Hanover Square | Tuesday 9 June 2026, 7.30pm
London Firebird Orchestra
Conductor George Jackson | Piano Marc Corbett-Weaver

Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto no. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23

Rachmaninoff
Symphony no. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

In this video star violinist Yury Revich tells us about our upcoming concert on Tuesday 28 April at St George’s Hanover Square, featuring Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 3, Saint-Saëns Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso and Beethoven Symphony no. 3

Yury Revich, the internationally-acclaimed star violinist, returns to Firebird to play his annual concerto concert. This season Yury is playing Mozart’s charming Violin Concerto no. 3 which the composer wrote in 1775, at the age of 19.

In a letter to his father Leopold, Mozart referred to this piece as the Strassburg Concerto, probably because of a local Strasburger dance theme which features in the third movement.

Drama and capricious virtuosity follow in Saint-Saëns Introduction & Rondo Capricioso for Solo Violin and Orchestra.

In the second half we hear Beethoven’s mighty Eroica Symphony sometimes considered to be the first romantic symphony and filled with rousing melodies.

Yury Revich is a winner of both ECHO Classic and International Classical Music Awards and enjoys a busy international schedule of concerts and concertos across the globe. He has performed each season with Firebird since 2019.

Our very own Michael Thrift conducts. Heralded by The Guardian for conducting “with an equally steady hand, notably poised in the dying moments.” 

Mozart’s Strassburg

St George’s Hanover Square | Tuesday 28 April 2026, 7.30pm
Conductor Michael Thrift | Violin Yury Revich

Mozart Violin Concerto no. 3 in G, K. 216 (‘Strassburg’)
Saint-Saëns Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28
Beethoven Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Op. 55 (‘Eroica’)

Credits:
Photo of Yury Revich by Ursula Vavrik
Other photos: Public Domain, Wikimedia

International violin star Yury Revich returns to Firebird with a spectacular violin concerto on 28 April…

Yury Revich needs almost no introduction to Firebird fans having performed each season with Firebird since 2019.. This internationally-acclaimed star violinist is a winner of both ECHO Classic and International Classical Music Awards and enjoys a busy international schedule of concerts and concertos across the globe.

Why is it called the Strassburg Concerto?

This is said to be because of a local Strasburger dance theme which features in the third movement. Mozart referred to this in a letter the 19-year-old composer wrote to his father Leopold in 1775.

What else is in the concert?

Drama and capricious virtuosity follow in Saint-Saëns Introduction & Rondo Capricioso for Solo Violin and Orchestra. In the second half we hear Beethoven’s mighty Eroica Symphony, sometimes considered to be the first romantic symphony and filled with rousing melodies.

Mozart’s Strassburg

St George’s Hanover Square | Tuesday 28 April 2026, 7.30pm
Conductor Michael Thrift | Violin Yury Revich

Mozart Violin Concerto no. 3 in G, K. 216 (‘Strassburg‘)
Saint-SaënsIntroduction & Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28
Beethoven Symphony no. 3 in E flat, Op. 55 (‘Eroica‘)

Credits: photos of Yury Revich by Ursula Vavrik