Isata Kanneh-Mason in Recital

Beethoven, Ravel, and Tabakova

📍 This event takes place at Powell Hall

🕒 1 hour, 45 minutes (including intermission)

Thursday, May 14, 2026, 7:30pm Get Tickets

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Program

Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano

Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, op. 27 No. 2, “Moonlight”
Maurice Ravel Gaspard de la nuit
Dobrinka Tabakova Nocturne
Dobrinka Tabakova Halo
Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, op. 53, “Waldstein”

About this Concert

Isata Kanneh-Mason, whose playing has been called “calmly commanding” and “unfailingly subtle” by The New York Times, makes her SLSO debut in a recital with music inspired by nighttime and daybreak. From the timeless opening notes of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” sonata to Dobrinka Tabakova’s starlight-hued Nocturne and Ravel’s haunting Gaspard de la Nuit (Gaspard of the Night), in the hands of Kanneh-Mason, the piano travels from sparkling to moody and contemplative.

- Isata Kanneh-Mason’s recent recording of works by Felix Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny features the long-lost “Easter Sonata” by the exceptionally talented Fanny, who was overshadowed by her brother during her lifetime. Kanneh-Mason herself is the first of seven siblings, all classically trained, and often performs with her brother, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
- Beethoven’s “Moonlight” sonata is one of the most recognizable pieces of music for piano. It has been used across popular culture, in movies including The Pianist and Misery; the animated special “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”; in pop music including The Beatles’ “Because” and Alicia Keys’ “The Piano and I”; and in countless commercials.
- Dobrinka Tabakova’s “riveting, piercingly beautiful and frequently radiant” music (HuffPost Arts & Culture) has been featured in films: Jean-Luc Godard’s Adieu au langage; dance: Sydney Dance Company and San Francisco Ballet; and has been programmed at festivals across Europe and the U.S. including the BBC Proms, Bang on a Can (USA), and Dark Music Days (Iceland).