Many are looking forward to this exciting encounter: John Beasley and Magnus Lindgren join forces with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in the Blue House Jazz series, with special guest Michael Mayo!

American pianist John Beasley and multi-instrumentalist Magnus Lindgren have collaborated several times before, and this time it’s with unique arrangements for the symphony orchestra. Alexander Hanson conducts the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the pieces performed, we have Portraits: a newly composed suite in three movements, created in close collaboration between Lindgren and Beasley, and at the same time, an expression of their friendship.

Grammy Award winning composer, arranger, and pianist John Beasley has performed with legends such as Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Dianne Reeves, Steely Dan, Christian McBride, Chaka Khan, and even one concert with James Brown. He has also worked on film scores, including James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre. Since 2012, Beasley has been Music Director for the annual global gala International Jazz Day concerts, hosted by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz.

Magnus Lindgren, along with trumpeter and vocalist Peter Asplund, is the artistic director of the Konserthuset's Blue House Jazz Orchestra. Recently, he was Artist-in-Residence with the SWR Big Band for three years. He has collaborated with a large number of top artists, including Herbie Hancock, Gregory Porter, James Ingram, Bobby McFerrin, Ivan Lins, Till Brönner, and John Scofield.

Special guest is the highly exciting vocal virtuoso Michael Mayo, who has had Herbie Hancock as a mentor, and who seamlessly moves across soul, jazz, R&B, and art music.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome back the superstar Yo-Yo Ma to Konserthuset Stockholm! He has graced our stage several times before, most recently in 2022 when he received the Birgit Nilsson Prize, the world's largest prize in the classical music world. Together with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, he performed Dvorák's famous cello concerto.

”Culture is meant to strengthen society. I want to create networks for people in different places where people live”, said Yo-Yo Ma at the presentation of the Birgit Nilsson Prize. Ten years earlier, Ma received the Polar Music Prize with the citation: ”Yo-Yo Ma has, with his virtuosity and his big heart, devoted his life to musical journeys all over the world. With his cello and curiosity in tow, he has travelled along the Silk Road, crossing both cultural and musical boundaries. Yo-Yo Ma unites people all over the world and shows us that music is communication, passion, and the exchange of experiences.”

Now, we have the privilege to meet this world-renowned musician and global citizen again in a recital together with pianist Kathryn Stott, his longtime friend and musical collaborator, and one of England's most versatile pianists. Together, they have toured the world and released several albums.

They visited Konserthuset in 2019 for a recital featuring music by Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev. This time, the program spans from Gabriel Fauré's beautiful Berceuse to César Franck's powerful sonata for cello and piano. In between, music by Brazilian Sergio Assad, Dvorák, Nadia Boulanger, and Shostakovich, with his muscular and lyrically graceful sonata for cello and piano. Finally, Arvo Pärt’s magical Spiegel im Spiegel.

The slow third movement in the Gran Partita is among the most beautiful and poignant pieces of music Mozart ever wrote. In Milos Forman's film Amadeus, the music is used in a key scene: when Salieri describes the music and realizes that Mozart is a genius. The masterpiece Gran Partita consists of seven movements that alternate between dance-like joy and contemplation. The music is composed for 12 wind instruments and double bass, and is performed by members of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

The other two works in the programme are performed by the orchestra's strings. Divertimento is Italian and means entertainment, diversion. And Béla Bartók's Divertimento for Strings certainly lives up to its name. The music occasionally blossoms into melodic pirouettes, and the lively rhythms are inspired by Bartók's interest in folk music.

Mozart was one of Tchaikovsky's great influences, which is understandable when you hear his Serenade. Like in Gran Partita, the music is passionate and sometimes melancholic, but above all overflowing with happiness. Music straight from the heart, as Tchaikovsky himself emphasized. Concertmaster Andrej Power leads the strings of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.