Following its acclaimed debut in 2024, the prestigious Edinburgh Royal Mile Royal International Piano Series returns with a complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas, performed across the 2026–27 season. Showcasing exceptional talent from leading UK and international pianists, each recital offers a unique perspective on some of the most profound and beloved works in the piano repertoire.

This season marks the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death  - these concerts pay a fitting tribute to his great genius, two centuries on.

Set against the magnificent backdrop of St Giles’ Cathedral — illuminated by candlelight and enhanced by a newly installed Steinway grand piano — these concerts promise an unforgettable musical experience at the heart of Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile.

Featuring

Olga Stezhko (Piano)

Programme

Rameau - L'enharmonique

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49

Couperin - Concert Royal no. 2

Debussy - Preludes no. 4, no. 6 (from Book 1) and no. 11 (from Book 2)

Scriabin - Five Preludes Op. 74

Scriabin - Vers la flamme

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Olga Stezhko is an award-winning concert pianist and critically acclaimed recording artist, renowned for her striking and idiosyncratic programmes that explore intriguing connections between music, science and history spanning the last four centuries. Acclaimed by Classical Source in a Wigmore Hall review as “a supremely delicate master of her instrument” with “an extraordinary presence,” Olga has performed internationally, from Barbican Hall in London and Salle Cortot in Paris to Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has won numerous international competitions and awards, including the Grand Prix at the Halina Czerny-Stefańska In Memoriam International Piano Competition in Poland and First Prize at the Nikolai Rubinstein International Piano Competition in France. Among her other solo highlights are performances at Bridgewater Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Palermo Classica Festival, the Ulverston International Music Festival, and a tour in Norway, where Olga premiered Blooming - a work for piano, chamber orchestra, and narrator by Kari Beate Tandberg.

Description supplied by the event organiser.