Leonidas Kavakos, violin

Towering works in the repertoire, Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin conjure vast sonic landscapes with just four gut strings and a horsehair bow. Considered both an invitation and a challenge to violinists since they were first published more than 220 years ago, these touchstones of European music come with a title—“Sei Solo”—that in Italian both describes the work itself (“Six Solos”) and acts as a sobering reminder to the player (“You are alone”). In this rare and powerful musical experience, Greek virtuoso Leonidas Kavakos—a recent 2025 Grammy nominee, along with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax, in the category of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance—performs the complete set over two nights. “Kavakos’s sound is intense, silken, mercurial—a modern, characterful performance aware of history, playful in its ornamentation, but without exaggeration” (The Guardian).

Run time for the Nov 15 performance is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes including intermission
Run time for the Nov 16 performance is approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes including intermission