Cellist Alisa Weilerstein to Give Recitals as BSO Artist in Residence

The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) has announced the addition of recital dates in November and April by 2026–27 Artist in Residence Alisa Weilerstein. The acclaimed cellist, who performs Prokofiev as soloist with the BSO and guest conductor Paavo Järvi on February 4-6, adds fall and spring recitals to her residency. 

A winner of a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” Weilerstein shares her unique talent for interpreting both contemporary and canonical works in Sunday afternoon recitals at The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in Boston (Nov. 8) and MIT's Thomas Tull Concert Hall in Cambridge (Apr. 18). As part of her residency, Weilerstein leads an educational session with Boston's Project STEP, sharing her expertise with young string players from historically underrepresented backgrounds. She also performs at one of this season's new Youth Open Rehearsals, which invite student musicians in grades 6–8 to sit in on the first half of a BSO rehearsal and are offered free to students and teachers from Boston Public Schools with advance reservation. Her residency includes performances this summer during the 2027 Tanglewood season to be announced in late January. 

Statement from Alisa Weilerstein:

'I'm thrilled by the opportunity this residency gives me to share so many parts of my musical life with Boston over the course of a season: Bach and Kodály alongside Joan Tower's For Alisa, written for FRAGMENTS, my immersive six-part series interweaving the Bach suites with 27 new commissions; the enormous expressive range of Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante with the BSO and Paavo Järvi; and a recital with my longtime musical partner Inon Barnatan. Returning throughout the season creates the possibility of a deeper connection with Boston audiences, and the chance to work with the young musicians of Project STEP makes it especially meaningful.”  

Alisa Weilerstein Artist in Residence Program Details 

Sun. Nov. 8 at 3 p.m.  

The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul, 138 Tremont St., Boston  

Alisa Weilerstein, cello 

Joan TOWER, For Alisa 

BACH, Suite No. 3 in C, BWV 1009 

BACH, Suite No. 1 in G, BWV 1007 

KODÁLY, Sonata for Solo Cello in B Minor, Op. 8 

In November Weilerstein performs at The Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in her first public appearance as the BSO's Artist in Residence, presenting a solo cello program which places Bach's Suite No. 3 in C, BWV 1009 and Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 in conversation with Joan Tower's For Alisa, a work originally commissioned for Weilerstein's six-part FRAGMENTS project, which she began during the pandemic lockdown. She performed a program titled FRAGMENTS 2 at Tanglewood's Seiji Ozawa Hall in August 2023. The recital also includes Hungarian composer's Zoltán Kodály's 1915 Sonata for Solo Cello in B Minor, Op. 8, considered one of the most significant and challenging works in the solo cello repertoire. 

Thu. Feb. 4 at 10:30 a.m. (Youth Open Rehearsal) 

Thu. Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m.  

Fri. Feb. 5 at 1:30 p.m. 

Sat. Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. 

Boston Symphony Orchestra 

Paavo Järvi, conductor 

Alisa Weilerstein, cello 

PROKOFIEV, Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orchestra 

SIBELIUS, Symphony No. 2

In February, Weilerstein performs one of the 20th century's greatest cello concertos, Sergei Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orchestra, led by esteemed Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi in his Symphony Hall debut with the BSO. The composer wrote the piece for an up-and-coming Russian superstar, Mstislav Rostropovich. Completed in 1952, the year before the composer's death, the piece is actually a thorough revision of a failed 1938 cello concerto; the title reflects the orchestra's elevated role. The three-movement piece, a vigorous dialogue between soloist and orchestra, was last performed by the BSO in 2014, with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist. 

Also on the program is Finnish composer Jean Sibelius' Second Symphony, which has consistently been one of his most beloved works. Premiered in 1902 and first performed by the BSO in 1904 and over 215 times since, it followed on the outstanding success of his patriotic tone poem Finlandia and shares that work's deeply Finnish character through episodes warmly pastoral and intensely dramatic.  

Sun. April 18 at 3 p.m. 

Thomas Tull Concert Hall at MIT, 201 Amherst St., Cambridge 

Alisa Weilerstein, cello 

Inon Barnatan, piano 

FALLA, Suite Populaire Espagnole 

CHOPIN, Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65 

SHOSTAKOVICH (arr. Lera Auerbach), Preludes, Op. 34 (selections Nos. 1, 6, 7, 10, 15, 17, and 24) 

RACHMANINOFF, Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19 

In April Weilerstein is joined by longtime collaborator Inon Barnatan on piano for a recital at the Thomas Tull Concert Hall at MIT. The program opens with Manuel De Falla's Suite Populaire Espagnole, a set of six Spanish folksongs originally composed in 1914, before advancing to Frédéric Chopin's Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 65, one of the composer's last works in the Romantic chamber repertoire.  

Following an intermission, the concert continues with selections from Dmitri Shostakovich's 24 Preludes, Op. 34, as arranged by composer Lera Auerbach for cello and piano, and concludes with Sergei Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19, the composer's last chamber work originally written for cellist Anatoliy Brandukov, who was Rachmaninoff's longtime friend and best man at his wedding. They premiered the work together in 1901.