The Dublin Piano Series 2026 at RIAM invites audiences into six Sunday recitals across the year, from Sonatas (25 January) through Chopin Encore (22 March) and beyond, each thematic concert spotlighting piano repertoire with vision and depth. These late afternoons give leading pianists and our keyboard faculty, a stage to reimagine classical works, explore lesser-heard voices, and kindle the musical imagination in Dublin. With ticket prices from €8 (student) €12 (concession) and €20 (full price), the Series affirms RIAM’s commitment to accessibility, connection, and artistry.
Early Bird tickets (€15/€12 available until November 31st)
SONATAS
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata in B-flat major, Op. 106 “Hammerklavier”
Alexander Bernstein, piano
The great Bohemian-born pianist Rudolf Serkin once stated that plying Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” was like climbing Mount Everest, and in the first concert of the 2026 Dublin Piano Series, pianists Alexander Bernstein and Lance Coburn most certainly scale the heights of two extraordinary and compelling piano sonatas.
Franz Liszt: Piano Sonata in B Minor, S178/R21
Lance Coburn, piano
Composed between 1817 and 1818, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 29 in B-flat Major, Op 106, “Hammerklavier,” is the composer’s most ambitious - and by some degree the longest - piano sonata he composed. This gargantuan work is performed alongside Liszt’s powerful and heroic masterpiece, the B Minor Sonata, which demonstrates in the composer’s own words that “the ten fingers of a human being suffice to reproduce the harmonies that are played by the combination of the combination of hundreds of musicians.
A thrilling start to the 2026 Dublin Piano Series.
BACH/BARTÓK
Bach/Tuite: Widerstehe doch der Sünde from Cantata BWV 54
Bach/Tuite: Es ist Vollbracht from Cantata BWV 159
Bach/Tuite: Ich hatte viel bekummernis from Cantata BWV 21
Bach/Hess: Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring from Cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147
Bach/Busoni: In dir ist Freude from Chorale Prelude BWV 615
Peter Tuite, piano
György Kurtág: A selection of JS Bach Transciptions
David Adams and Dearbhla Brosnan, piano
Béla Bartók: Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion, BB 115/SZ 110
Márta Erdei and Réamonn Keary, pianos
Brian Dungan and Richard O’Donnell, percussion
A selection of exquisite JS Bach transcriptions by Ferruccio Busoni, Myra Hess, György Kurtág and the Academy’s Head of Keyboard, Peter Tuite take centre stage in the first half of today’s concert. A rare opportunity for audiences to hear Bartók’s rousing Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, performed by pianists Márta Erdei and Réamonn Keary and percussionists Brian Dungan and Richard O’Donnell, features in the second half of this not to be missed concert.
2 PIANOS, 4 HANDS AND A LITTLE KNOWN TUNE
The world première of a work by Conor Linehan, and the Irish première of Errollyn Wallen’s The Girl in My Alphabet – featuring “the little known tune”, The Girl from Ipanema, make for a thrilling third concert in the 2026 Dublin Piano Series. Additionally, a selection of works for 2 pianos and 4 hands by French composers, Claude Debussy and Francis Poulenc, feature in this musical feast of piano playing by a brilliant line-up of pianists.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Mel Bonis: Femmes de légende
Thérèse Fahy, piano
Amy Beach: A Hermit Thrush at Morn and A Hermit Thrush at Eve
Peter Tuite, piano
Fanny Robinson: Stella, Absence, Evening Thoughts and Gratitude
Réamonn Keary, piano
Joan Trimble: Sonatina for Two Pianos
Dearbhla Brosnan and Dearbhla Collins, pianos
We are proud to mark International Women’s Day 2026 by highlighting a selection of works by the French composer Mel Bonis and the American composer, Amy Beach, performed alongside music by two trailblazing Irish musicians, Fanny Robinson and Joan Trimble.
CHOPIN ENCORE
Following our sold-out “Chopin Encore” concert in the inaugural series last year, we once again conclude the Dublin Piano Series with a recital shining the spotlight on the “Poet of the Piano”, Fryderyk Chopin. One of the greatest artists in the history of Polish culture and to this day its most distinguished composer, today we hear a selection of works from his remarkable output for piano including the Second Sonata with its iconic “marche funèbre” movement.
A true celebration of one of the great storytellers of the piano!
Tickets available now at https://riam.ie/whats-on/