Pines of Rome + Grieg’s Piano Concerto

Fabien Gabel is the newly appointed music director designate of the Tonkünstler-Orchester, a position that begins with the 2025-26 Season. Elsewhere, he has established an international career of the highest caliber, appearing with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Praised for his dynamic style and sensitive approach to the score, he is best known for his eclectic choice of repertoire, ranging from core symphonic works to new music to championing lesser-known composers of the 19^th and the 20^th centuries.

Fabien returns as a guest this season to several orchestras, including City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Detroit Symphony, and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He debuts with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. In Paris, he continues his work on a largescale project to record a new score for Abel Gance’s epic film Napoleon with the Orchestre National de France and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in a production that will appear in cinemas, online streaming, and live performances.

Having attracted international attention in 2004 as the winner of the Donatella Flick conducting competition, Fabien was assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra 2004-2006. He was music director of Orchestre Symphonique de Québec 2012-2021 and Orchestre Français des Jeunes 2017-2021.

Born in Paris to a family of accomplished musicians, Fabien Gabel began playing the trumpet at age six

and honed his skills at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He played with various Parisian orchestras under prominent conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, and Bernard Haitink before embarking on his conducting career. Fabien Gabel was named Chevaliers des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in January 2020.

Alexandra Dariescu, creator of The Nutcracker and I, is a pianist for the 21^st century, standing out as an original voice on gender equality and championing and premiering lesser-known works. In demand as a soloist worldwide, she has performed with eminent orchestras and conductors from London to Sydney.

Alexandra opened this season for the BBC Symphony Orchestra with Sakari Oramo. A regular guest of the George Enescu International Festival, she returned alongside pianist Jean Efflam Bavouzet and the Manchester Camerata for Mozart’s double concerto. In North America, she debuted with the Indianapolis Symphony and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, followed by her return to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of James Lee III’s piano concerto Shades of Unbroken Dreams, in honor of the 60^th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The concerto, written for Alexandra, is a co-commission with the BBC Philharmonic and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Further highlights include her return to the Houston Symphony and debuts with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Mainz, the Trondheim, and Wuppertal Symphony orchestras.

In 2017, Alexandra took the world by storm with her piano recital production The Nutcracker and I, an original ground-breaking multimedia performance for piano solo with dance and digital animation. For seven years, it has enjoyed international acclaim and has drawn thousands of young audiences into concert halls across the world.

She has given important premieres of neglected pieces, such as Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie Variée. In 2022, she made the world premiere recording of a newly discovered piano concerto (1900) by Leokadiya Kashperova with the BBC Symphony. Further discoveries include international performances of the recently unearthed piano concerto by George Enescu and Dora Pejačević’s Phantasie concertante. She has released eight albums to critical acclaim.

Mentored by Sir András Schiff and Dame Imogen Cooper, Alexandra is a Laureate at the Verbier Festival Academy. Her recognitions include the UK Women of the Future Award, patron of Music in Lyddington, Cultural Ambassador of Romania, Officer of the Romanian Crown, Young European Leader, Cultural Merit in the rank of Knight by the Romanian President, and Associated Member of the RNCM.