Beethoven’s music has been an obsession for me for as long as I can remember. Working on it has been a constant source of joy, inspiration, and frustration. Each of Beethoven's five piano concertos is pathbreaking in its own way, and each is gloriously, unmistakably him — full of spirituality, play, and fierce conviction. These pieces are so ubiquitous, though, that it is easy to lose sight of how revolutionary — how vital — they are. One aim of this project is to put that aspect of Beethoven's music front and center. 

The project, called Beethoven/5, takes five different compositional voices — from different parts of the world and different musical traditions — and asks each of them to write a work which, in whatever way they see fit, responds to one of the Beethoven piano concerti. The varied and riveting results are a reminder that Beethoven's voice is simply too powerful to be ignored.