A shimmering finale you won’t want to miss.
In the season-concluding concert of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s 98th season, embark on a dazzling symphonic journey showcasing nature’s profound influence across every realm of experience – from human emotion and artistic expression to the architecture we build and the technologies we create.
Fung’s mystifying and imaginative Aqua plays off of the architectural beauty and dizzying height of Chicago’s award-winning, 82-story Aqua Tower. Machover’s FLOW Symphony invites AI onto the stage to interact with the orchestra, creating unique aquatic soundscapes that transport you to an immersive experience like no other. Debussy’s La Mer evokes the splendor of the ocean’s power and majesty with shimmering orchestral color.
Lauded for his “astonishing command of keyboard tone and color” (The Guardian), pianist and 2025 International Chopin Piano Competition gold medalist Eric Lu returns to Ann Arbor to take on Brahms’ monumental Piano Concerto No. 1, widely regarded as one of the most expansive and demanding works in the piano repertoire.
Saturday, May 1, 2027 | 7:30 PM | Hill Auditorium (825 N University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109)
Eric Lu piano
Earl Lee Music Director & conductor
Vivan Fung Aqua
Johannes Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1
Tod Machover FLOW Symphony
Claude Debussy La Mer
26/27 subscriptions are on sale now. Explore our easy-to-build subscription packages and save 10% on tickets here! Single tickets on sale July 2026.
Eric Lu
Eric Lu won the First Prize and coveted Gold Medal at the 2025 Chopin International Competition in Warsaw. He is also the winner of the XIX Leeds International Piano Competition in England. Eric’s always thoughtful, poetically imbued and powerful interpretations have already made him one of the most distinctive artists on the international music scene.
Recent and forthcoming orchestral collaborations include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Stockholm Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber, Finnish Radio Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Tokyo Symphony, Orchestre National de Lille, Shanghai Symphony at the BBC Proms, amongst others. Conductors he collaborates with include Riccardo Muti, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Ryan Bancroft, Fabio Luisi, Marin Alsop, Duncan Ward, Vasily Petrenko, Edward Gardner, Sir Mark Elder, Thomas Dausgaard, Ruth Reinhardt, Earl Lee, Kerem Hasan, Nuno Coehlo, Dinis Sousa, and Martin Frӧst.
Active as a recitalist, he is presented on stages including the Köln Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Leipzig Gewandhaus, San Francisco Davies Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, BOZAR Brussels, Flagey, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Klavierfestival Ruhr, La Roque-d’Anthéron Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Seoul Arts Centre, Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, and Sala São Paulo. In 2025, he is appearing for the 7th consecutive year in recital at Wigmore Hall London.
Eric’s third album on Warner Classics was released in December 2022, featuring Schubert Sonatas D. 959 and 784. It was met with worldwide critical acclaim, receiving BBC Music Magazine’s Instrumental Choice, writing, “Lu’s place among today’s Schubertians is confirmed”. His previous album of the Chopin 24 Preludes, and Schumann’s Geistervariationen was hailed ‘truly magical’ by International Piano. He will release a new album of the complete Schubert Impromptus on Warner Classics in early 2026. Deutsche Grammophon released a live album of the highlights of the 19th International Chopin Competition in November 2025.
Born in Massachusetts in 1997, Eric Lu is a graduate of the Curtis Institute Music, studying with Robert McDonald and Jonathan Biss. He also studied with Dang Thai Son from 2011-2018. Eric was awarded the International German Piano Award in 2017 and Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2021.