Postcards From Italy: Rossini & Mendelssohn

Featuring: Sophia Liu A sun-drenched journey through la dolce vita. Travel through Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples with a 20-something Mendelssohn, who captures all the sights and sounds in a symphony nicknamed “Blue Sky in A Major.” You’ll also visit with Italian opera superstar Rossini (a.k.a. Signor Crescendo) and Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto – performed by 18-year-old prodigy Sophia Liu – with its Neapolitan saltarello finale. Piano stored and maintained courtesy of Doctor Piano. About the Artists: Sophia Liu , piano At the age of 17, Canadian pianist Sophia Liu is rapidly emerging as one of the most compelling artists of her generation. Liu’s “extremely clear, delicate, refined and almost supernaturally fluid” touch ( Le Monde ) coupled with her “phenomenal virtuosity” ( Bachtrack ) have captivated and mesmerised audiences worldwide. Liu’s 25/26 season opens with her NHK Symphony debut in Tokyo and Osaka, where she performs Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concert No. 2 under the baton of Eva Ollikainen. Further highlights in the season include recitals at the Konzerthaus Berlin; Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier; Teatro La Fenice, Venice; Opéra National de Lyon; Tiroler Festspiele Erl; La Folle Journée, Nantes and Tokyo; Festival International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron; Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, Torino; Bologna Festival; Chopin Society, Minnesota; Portland Ovations; Musashino Cultural Foundation and Tokyo Yamaha Hall. As a soloist with orchestra, Liu appears with the Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Hawaii Symphony and Sinfonia Varsovia in 25/26, among others. Recent appearances have included performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice at the La Folle Journée de Nantes and Orchestre National de Cannes at La Roque d’Anthéron. Born in Shanghai, Sophia Liu was raised in Japan until moving to Montreal at age 7 to study with Dang Thai Son. Liu has won various prizes at international piano competitions, including First Prize at the 18th Ettlingen International Piano Competition, First Prize at the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition, and various prizes at the first edition of the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli International Piano Competition. In October 2025, Liu released her first studio album of solo piano, featuring Liszt’s Réminiscences de Norma and Chopin’s Andante spianato et Grande Polonaise. Travel through Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples with a 20-something Mendelssohn, who captures all the sights and sounds in a symphony nicknamed “Blue Sky in A Major.” You’ll also visit with Italian opera superstar Rossini (a.k.a. Signor Crescendo) and Saint-Saëns’ Second Piano Concerto – performed by 18-year-old prodigy Sophia Liu – with its Neapolitan saltarello finale. Piano stored and maintained courtesy of Doctor Piano. At the age of 17, Canadian pianist Sophia Liu is rapidly emerging as one of the most compelling artists of her generation. Liu’s “extremely clear, delicate, refined and almost supernaturally fluid” touch ( Le Monde ) coupled with her “phenomenal virtuosity” ( Bachtrack ) have captivated and mesmerised audiences worldwide. Liu’s 25/26 season opens with her NHK Symphony debut in Tokyo and Osaka, where she performs Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concert No. 2 under the baton of Eva Ollikainen. Further highlights in the season include recitals at the Konzerthaus Berlin; Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier; Teatro La Fenice, Venice; Opéra National de Lyon; Tiroler Festspiele Erl; La Folle Journée, Nantes and Tokyo; Festival International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron; Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, Torino; Bologna Festival; Chopin Society, Minnesota; Portland Ovations; Musashino Cultural Foundation and Tokyo Yamaha Hall.