TORONTO, September 30, 2025 – The Royal Conservatory of Music regrets to announce that, due to health reasons, Stephen Kovacevich is unable to play his recital at Koerner Hall on Sunday, October 5, 2025.
Acting swiftly, the RCM has been fortunate to find an exceptional replacement among its very own, newly appointed faculty member, internationally renowned pianist and educator Jonathan Biss, who has performed in Koerner Hall on two previous occasions. Biss arrives tomorrow for his first teaching sessions at The Glenn Gould School and has graciously agreed to replace his ailing colleague.
Praised as “a superb pianist and also an eloquent and insightful music writer” by The Boston Globe, and noted for his “impeccable taste and a formidable technique” by The New Yorker, Biss has appeared as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics; the Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco Symphonies; Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; and in Europe with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, and the London Philharmonic, among many others.
Biss has agreed to keep part of Kovacevich’s original program intact and will perform an all-Franz Schubert concert consisting of Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959 and Piano Sonata in B flat Major, D. 960.
Presenting Performance Partner: TELUS
Tickets and subscriptions are available online at www.rcmusic.com/performance, by calling 416.408.0208, or in person at the Weston Family Box Office.
