Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra Asian Tour

Ljubljana, 5 November 2025 – For the first time in more than a decade, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra is embarking on an extensive concert tour in mid-November 2025, with nine concerts in South Korea and Japan. Under the leadership of Principal Conductor Kakhi Solomnishvili, and in collaboration with four excellent young pianists – Alexander Gadjiev, Tomoya Nakase, Tomoki Sakata and Minsoo Sohn – the orchestra will perform at a number of prestigious concert halls, presenting works by Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák and Hosokawa, as well as Slovenian composers Jurij Mihevec and Nina Šenk.

Together with its predecessors (Academia Philharmonicorum, the Philharmonic Society and the first Slovenian Philharmonic), the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra boasts a rich tradition that places it among the oldest institutions of its kind in Europe. Its growth was initially guided by outstanding Slovenian permanent conductors, and then by numerous celebrated international guest conductors and soloists. In addition to concerts in its own hall in Ljubljana, the Slovenian Philharmonic organises a number of regular concert series in the nearby Cankarjev Dom Cultural Centre. In recent decades, it has also undertaken numerous tours and guest appearances at the most prestigious halls and renowned festivals around the world.

In this year’s 2025/26 season, it is once again embarking on an extensive concert tour for the first time in more than a decade. Under the leadership of Principal Conductor Kakhi Solomnishvili, and in collaboration with four excellent young pianists, including Alexander Gadjiev, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra will appear at a number of prestigious concert halls in South Korea and Japan between 16 November and 2 December 2025, performing works by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Antonín Dvořák and Toshio Hosokawa, as well as compositions by Slovenian composers Jurij Mihevec (1805–1882), a contemporary of the greatest composers of the Romantic period, and Nina Šenk (1982), one of Slovenia’s most prominent composers internationally.

In South Korea, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at the Daegu Concert House, the Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul and the Aram Nuri Arts Center in Goyang. On the stages, the orchestra will be joined by pianist Minsoo Sohn, who regularly tours throughout the world and has been described by the New York Times as “a genuine artist, with a thoughtfully conceived and poetic interpretation”. The tour will continue with six concerts in Japan, at the Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater, the Osaka Symphony Hall, and the Musashino Civic Cultural Hall in Tokyo. The concerts in the Land of the Rising Sun will feature one of the most important representatives of modern European pianism, Alexander Gadjiev, the multi-award-winning, barely nineteen-year-old Tomoya Nakase, and Tomoki Sakata, who is the recipient of the first prize and six special prizes at the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition.

This autumn, in addition to the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, which will proudly present some of the most celebrated works of the European symphonic repertoire as well as compositions by Slovenian composers in the company of exceptional soloists, some of the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras are also visiting Asia, including the Czech Philharmonic, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic. Classical music lovers in South Korea and Japan will enthusiastically welcome these orchestras’ members and conductors to their architecturally inspiring and acoustically perfect halls.

After returning from the tour, the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra will also present selected works from the tour programme in Ljubljana. On Thursday 11 December and Friday 12 December, again under the leadership of conductor Kakhi Solomnishvili, the orchestra will present the third concert of their Symphonic Masterpieces Series, entitled A Story from the Eastern Side. The programme will feature Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, with soloist Alexander Gadjiev, as well as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. In addition, the concert will include a composition by one of the most important Georgian composers, Nikoloz Rachveli, who has composed a new work as a tribute to Maestro Solomnishvili’s collaboration with the Slovenian Philharmonic.

Tour Programme:

19 November 2025, Daegu Concert House, South Korea