Music on Park Avenue is back! The popular series hosted by Scandinavia House and Per Tengstrand welcomes its audience back to Victor Borge Hall beginning in the fall of 2021. Beginning in February 2022, the chamber music group Opus @ Princeton University will return for the final four concerts of the season, continuing their popular performances with Tengstrand of piano concertos in chamber settings as well as chamber music works. 

In tonight’s performance, Tengstrand and Opus will perform “Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54,” the only concerto written by Robert Schumann. Of all the romantic piano concertos, this might be one that works best in a chamber setting; having gone through years of failed attempts to write a concerto for piano, Schumann finally succeeded with this one, which became one of the most popular concertos in the repertoire. As a special two-for-one promotion, receive a second complimentary ticket with a ticket purchase. (ASF Members must log in to Elevent first using the email associated with your membership account and select “Members Concert Ticket” to receive the complimentary ticket with their member discount.)

Music on Park Avenue will continue with performances on April 21 and May 12.

The Music on Park Avenue concert series is supported in part by a generous grant from The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation and in part by the Lynn Carter Fund of the ASF.

 Thanks to a generous loan by Victor Borge’s grandson Finn, this concert will be performed on Victor Borge’s personal Steinway piano.

Tickets to this event must be purchased in advance online at the link above. All attendees are required to follow all Scandinavia House safety protocols, including wearing masks in Victor Borge Hall and observing social distancing rules in signage. Please read our full safety protocols here.

In celebration of their upcoming spring programs, Tengstrand and Opus violist Katie Liu joined together for select performances from their “About Schubert” series, including J. S. Bach’s “Suite No. 2 in D minor”; F. Schubert’s “Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano,” and W.A. Mozart’s “Piano Sonata in C major.” See the  video event recorded at Scandinavia House in January of 2022 below when it premieres on February 10!

Per Tengstrand has firmly established himself as one of today’s most exciting pianists. He has been described by The Washington Post as “technically resplendent, powerful, intuitively secure,” and by The New York Times as “a superb Swedish pianist” whose recital “was rewarding, both for its unusual programming and for his eloquent, technically polished performances.”Tengstrand is the subject of the acclaimed Swedish documentary The Soloist, directed by Magnus Gertten and Stefan Berg (Sweden, 2003), which was featured at the International Festival of Cinema and Technology in New York.

In 2005 he was decorated by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden with the “Litteris et Artibus” Medal for outstanding service to the arts. During the pandemic, Per started making music documentaries which were viewed and appreciated by people all over the world. As this line of work will continue, the documentary Beethoven and the Freedom of the Will is planned to have its world premiere at Scandinavia House in 2022.

Founded in 2014 by Edward Leung ’16 and Jisoo Kim ’16, Opus (formerly Opus 21) is dedicated to bringing an eclectic repertory of chamber music to Princeton University and beyond. Consisting of a select roster of undergraduate pianists and string players, Opus presents innovative programming, embracing both traditional and contemporary repertoire. Committed to new music, members of Opus were invited to perform the North American premiere of composer Sam Wu’s “dolphin song” at the 2015 APAP|NYC, the world’s largest networking forum and marketplace for performing arts professionals.

Most recently, Opus was the featured artist at the Helsingborg Music Festival in Sweden, giving multiple concerts at prestigious venues. As cultural ambassadors, Opus strives to broaden the public’s interest in chamber music and collaborate with other peer institutions and conservatories. Upcoming performances feature collaborations Harvard, Yale and Columbia Universities.