The second annual Sandra F. Lai Guest Artist Residency in Piano features Grammy Award-winning Víkingur Ólafsson, performing at Crowder Hall on Jan. 27.
Víkingur Ólafsson in Recital:
Tuesday, January 27, 2026
Crowder Hall, 7:30 p.m.
$20 Admission
Víkingur Ólafsson is one of the most celebrated classical artists of our time; a unique and visionary musician who brings his profound originality to some of the greatest works in music history. His recordings resonate deeply with audiences around the world, reaching over one billion streams and winning numerous awards including the 2025 Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for his album of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” BBC Music Magazine Album of the Year, and Opus Klassik Solo Recording of the Year (twice). Other notable honours include the Rolf Schock Music Prize, Gramophone’s Artist of the Year, Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year, the Order of the Falcon (Iceland’s order of chivalry) as well as the Icelandic Export Award, given by the President of Iceland.
November 2025 sees Ólafsson present his latest album, “Opus 109,” which places Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.30 at its heart. In an illuminating and thrilling musical dialogue with Schubert, J.S. Bach and other works by Beethoven, it traces the lineages that converge on this masterpiece of the piano literature. He tours the anticipated new programme widely, bringing it to the greatest concert halls across Europe and North America.
In 2025/26 Ólafsson opens the season and tours the US with Philharmonia Orchestra as Featured Artist, as well as returning to the Berlin Philharmonic with Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic with Sir Antonio Pappano. He also reunites with John Adams and the LA Philharmonic for performances of “After the Fall,” the piano concerto written expressly for him. Ólafsson will mark the Kurtag centenary celebrations in 2026 and appear as artist in residence at Cal Performances in Berkeley, California and at MUPA, Budapest.
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