Performatist
    Classical

    Salonen Conducts Debussy & Boulez

    Illustration for Salonen Conducts Debussy & Boulez

    Saturday, October 3, 2026

    7:30 PM

    David Geffen Hall

    New York, NY

    Scheduled

    About This Event

    Esa‑Pekka Salonen leads a program at David Geffen Hall pairing works by Claude Debussy and Pierre Boulez, with pianist Pierre‑Laurent Aimard among the performers. The bill contrasts Debussy's focus on timbre and harmonic ambiguity with Boulez's postwar structural rigor, an alignment that highlights Salonen's engagement with orchestral color and contemporary clarity.

    About the Artists

    Claude Debussy

    Claude Debussy

    impressionismclassicalclassical piano

    Claude Debussy was a French composer whose music helped redraw the boundaries of late‑19th- and early‑20th‑century classical writing. He resisted easy labels, even as listeners and critics linked his work to the color and atmosphere of Impressionist painting.

    Esa-Pekka Salonen

    Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish conductor and composer known for his innovative interpretations of classical music and his contributions to contemporary music.

    Pierre-Laurent Aimard

    Pierre-Laurent Aimard is a French pianist known for his interpretations of classical and contemporary music, as well as his performances with major orchestras and in prestigious venues.

    Pierre Boulez

    Pierre Boulez

    expressionismimpressionismclassicalorchestral

    Pierre Boulez was a French composer, conductor, and author whose work helped define postwar modernism, alongside his role in building institutions that supported new music. As a conductor, he was known for rigorous rehearsal and a structural ear that foregrounded detail over gesture.