He may be 93 and these days using a wheelchair, but there’s absolutely no stopping the maestro John Williams as he debuted a new, 20-minute concerto for piano and orchestra at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts on 26th July, performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Written for pianist Emanuel Ax and conducted by Andris Nelsons, the end of the concert saw Williams brought onto the stage for a rapturous ovation (the video of which you can see here), bringing two years of collaboration between Williams and Ax to a triumphant conclusion.
Nearly 70 years after his Hollywood debut, the legendary composer and conductor premiered his first piano concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts on 26 July.
The piece, Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, was written for pianist Emanuel Ax and was conducted by Andris Nelsons.
Not only was the piece met with rapturous applause, but Williams was greeted like a rockstar when he joined the performers on stage. He held Ax and Nelsons’ hands as the audience cheered for him and his new work.
Although this is Williams’ first piano concerto, he has composed concertos for the flute, tuba, clarinet, cello, trumpet, horn, viola and oboe.
Described by The Legacy of John Williams as ‘a robust, challenging new concert work‘, the concerto will strike out into the world, with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra looking to perform it in early 2026.
