Stephen Kovacevich
David Thompson for EMI Classics
The Chicago Symphony family joins the music world in mourning the loss of American pianist Stephen Kovacevich, who died on October 27, 2026. He was 86.
Kovacevich was born on October 17, 1940, in Los Angeles, California, and made his concert debut as a pianist at the age of 11. While still a teenager, he studied with Lev Schorr and soon moved to London to study with Dame Myra Hess on scholarship. At the age of 21, Kovacevich made his recital debut at Wigmore Hall and soon was performing throughout Europe.
Following his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in August 1970, Kathleen Morner in the Chicago Sun-Times called his performance of Bartók’s Second Piano Concerto “superb . . . clearly [establishing] his virtuosity in all those pages of perpetual running notes, sometimes one-line chromatic scales, but more often than not, double octaves or handfuls of chords . . . an intensely understated and eloquent performance.”
A complete list of his appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — in Orchestra Hall and at the Ravinia Festival — is below.
August 4, 1970, Ravinia Festival
BARTÓK Piano Concerto No. 2
Giuseppe Patané, conductor
May 24 and 25, 1973, Orchestra Hall
BENNETT Piano Concerto
Henry Mazer, conductor
March 7, 8, and 9, 1974, Orchestra Hall
TIPPETT Piano Concerto
Sir Michael Tippett, conductor
June 25, 1976, Ravinia Festival
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467
James Levine, conductor
December 16, 17, and 18, 1976, Orchestra Hall
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15
Andrew Davis, conductor
January 4, 5, 6, and 9, 1990, Orchestra Hall
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15
Stuart Challender, conductor
February 17, 18, 19, and 22, 2000, Orchestra Hall
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15
Osmo Vänskä, conductor
On the Allied Arts and Symphony Center Presents (now Chicago Symphony Presents) series in Orchestra Hall, Kovacevich appeared on several occasions, as follows.
May 1, 1992
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 6 in A Major, Op. 30, No. 1
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 7 in C Major, Op. 30, No. 2
BEETHOVEN Violin Sonata No. 10 in G Major, Op. 96
Kyung-Wha Chung, violin
April 16, 2000
BEETHOVEN Six Bagatelles, Op. 126
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110
BEETHOVEN Selections from Bagatelles, Op. 119
SCHUBERT Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960
November 11, 2001
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31, No. 2
BEETHOVEN Piano Sonata No. 28 in A Major, Op. 101
SCHUBERT Selections from Twelve Ländler, D. 790
SCHUBERT Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959
February 28, 2010
BACH Partita No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828
SCHUMANN Kinderszenen, Op. 15
BEETHOVEN Diabelli Variations, Op. 120
Numerous tributes have appeared online, including the Guardian, among several others.
This article also appears here.
