Ksenija Sidorova Soloist with Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- atgaccordionistste
- May 28
- 3 min read
Esther Lanting
Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova was the soloist for Erkki-Sven Tüür’s “Prophecy” performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) on April 2, 3, and 4. Conducted by Paavo Järvi, this was the first accordion concerto ever programmed by the CSO. Following the riveting performance, the audience jumped to their feet, applauding long and with great enthusiasm. Sidorova’s encore was met with equal enthusiasm.
Several ATG members attended the Friday and Saturday concert, getting to meet Sidorova at intermission on stage and in a “Meet and Greet.” She was welcoming, approachable, and appreciative for the number of ATG members in attendance.
Below is an excerpt from a review of the concert by Hannah Edgar in the Chicago Tribune (April 3, 2026 issue) calling it “An accordion concerto at the CSO? It’s this week’s must-hear cultural event.”
Houston, the accordion concertos have landed.
Look at the pedigree of serious orchestra works written for the instrument, and you’ll notice most have been performed more frequently in Europe — long more hospitable to the squeezebox as a solo instrument.
That may be changing. Last year, the St. Louis Symphony commissioned a fantastic concerto for the instrument by fast-rising American composer Nina Shekhar. (It was recently encored in Oregon, at the Eugene Symphony.) Meanwhile, just last week Shekhar’s dedicatee, Hanzhi Wang, gave Italian composer Cristian Carrara’s accordion concerto its U.S. premiere.
Even this week’s Chicago Symphony soloist, the Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova, has said she aims to premiere one new concerto for the instrument a year. Again, most of those performances have been in Europe. But for the first time, it feels like there are more concertos being written than there are solo accordionists on the circuit — waves that are sure to buffet our cultural shores, too.
Given the magnetism of Sidorova’s CSO debut on Thursday, I’m guessing she’ll be back with this band soon enough. After recording it together earlier this year, she and guest conductor Paavo Järvi presented Erkki-Sven Tüür’s “Prophecy” — the 2007 concerto’s U.S. premiere, and the first accordion concerto ever programmed by the CSO, according to a spokesperson.
How fortunate for us that Sidorova was the one to notch this particular milestone. She plays with an intuitive lyricism that would stun on any instrument, with nothing to say of her favored 46-pound Pigini accordion.
That instrument can call forth a dizzying cast of characters one would expect from a deluxe pipe organ. In Sidorova’s second cadenza, one can imagine two of them in conversation, her right hand playing a higher melody while the lower-voiced left hand responds in chatty counterpoint.
Tüür’s writing is gripping and reflects a deep understanding of the accordion’s timbre and colors, even if the concerto’s structure sometimes favors bar-to-bar excitement over a more sustained narrative. The writing requires relentless agility on the keys and accordion bellows. (One has to shake the instrument to eke out articulated, short notes.) That was no issue for Sidorova, who made the instrument dance without ever shorting her rapturous attention to phrase.
Her encore, Sergey Voitenko’s “Revelation,” was exactly as the title promised: wistful and singing, with a command of dynamics that captivated. Whenever Sidorova’s lines dissolved into silence, it felt as though the entirety of Orchestra Hall was collectively holding its breath.
Sidorova is the full package: staggeringly talented, musically polyglot and charismatic, to boot. Her repertoire includes Roma, Cuban and tango music, to name just a few, and she regularly partners with leading musicians like opera singers Thomas Hampson and Juan Diego Flórez, mandolinist Avi Avital and guitarist Miloš Karadaglić.
That musical flexibility and deep Rolodex of collaborators alone would make her a fantastic CSO artist-in-residence someday. Alas, the primary qualification of that role so far has seemed to be name recognition, sometimes at the expense of others — and we’re just not there yet with the solo accordion in the U.S. Transformative performances like Thursday’s help move the needle.
If you ever get the opportunity to hear her in concert, it’s well worth the cost of the ticket and two-three-hour drive as some of us did.
Ksenija Sidorova: https://www.facebook.com/reel/26455954570690695
Ksenija Sidorova speaking to the CAA group: https://www.facebook.com/1154214459/videos/pcb.10236514759826374/1280554344169761
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