On Friday, October 9, 2026, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra is hosting a grand concert where internationally renowned pianist Aristo Sham takes center stage. After having been awarded the gold medal in the Van Cliburn competition in 2025, Sham now makes his mark in Sweden by performing Edvard Grieg's beloved Piano Concerto in A minor. The evening is led by conductor Jaime Martín, a recurring guest conductor for the orchestra, and features a program where different eras and styles meet in Britta Byström's 'Fractal music', Grieg’s classic concerto, and Johannes Brahms’ third symphony.
The concert hall in Gävle will first be filled with innovative soundscapes as Britta Byström's 'Fractal music' is performed. The composer is inspired by fractal-mathematical patterns, where similar forms repeat on different scales, and translates this into music through recurring and developing motifs. This provides a listening experience rich in detail, where small musical building blocks grow into comprehensive and complex orchestral textures.
Afterward, Aristo Sham takes his place at the grand piano as the soloist in Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, a work from 1868 cherished for its dramatic cascades and lyrical beauty. Already in the concert’s opening, the audience and musicians encounter powerful piano passages and tight interplay between soloist and orchestra. Throughout the three movements, technical brilliance is unified with melodious, song-like sections—something which Sham delivers with both precision and emotion, solidifying the work as one of the most performed in the Romantic piano repertoire.
Following intermission, it is time for Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 in F major from 1883. The symphony is Brahms’ shortest and is characterized by its cohesive and contemplative expression. Here, symphonic grandeur meets a unified and collected form, with all movements connected by shared musical themes. The particularly wistful melody of the third movement has become one of Brahms’ most popular. Unlike many Romantic symphonies, the work ultimately fades out in quiet reflection rather than exultation.
Conductor Jaime Martín leads the orchestra and puts the musical program in perspective, with thematic and motivic links between Byström’s contemporary fractal world and the Romantic works of Grieg and Brahms, where small musical ideas gradually grow and form into larger contexts.
In anticipation of this musical highlight, the audience has the opportunity to gain insight into the work behind the scenes through an open rehearsal on Wednesday, October 7 at 11:00 AM in Gävle Konserthus. On concert day, Friday, October 9, a concert introduction is also offered in Gevaliasalen at 6:00 PM—a chance to delve deeper into the evening’s themes before the main concert begins at 7:00 PM.
- Open rehearsal: Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 11:00 AM, Gävle Konserthus
- Concert introduction: Friday, October 9, 2026 at 6:00 PM, Gevaliasalen
- Concert: Friday, October 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM, Gävle Konserthus
This concert program promises an evening for both contemporary music lovers and advocates of the symphonic tradition, interpreted to the highest standard.
