Violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja Withdraws from Australian Chamber Orchestra Tour Due to Injury

Kopatchinskaja was originally set to perform “Death and the Maiden” with the orchestra this June

The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) has announced that the acclaimed Moldovan violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja’s tour “Death and the Maiden” has been replaced following news of her injury. This tour would have been her return to playing with the ACO since 2018. 

Known for her virtuosity, expressiveness, and originality of playing, Kopatchinskaja began learning the violin at age six. She is a graduate of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Hochschule der Künste Bern in Switzerland. She plays on an 1834 Giovanni Francesco Pressenda violin.

In place of Kopatchinskaja’s program, the orchestra will be presenting ACO Unleashed, featuring members of the ensemble in a celebration of its 50th anniversary with works by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Ravel, and Kuusisto.

Soloists in the program will include ACO cellist Timo-Veikko Valve and ACO violinists Helena Rathbone, Satu Vänskä, and Anna da Silva Chen, who joined the orchestra in April this year. 

“I am saddened to announce that director, violinist and composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja has withdrawn from this tour due to an injury,” said ACO Director, violinist Richard Tognetti. “I am incredibly dismayed and disappointed that you won’t get to experience quirky Kopatchinskaja and her interpretation of Schubert’s chamber masterpiece. I understand that you will share this disappointment so please accept our sincerest apologies as we wish her well in her recovery.

“I also thank my colleagues in the ACO, who have stepped up to prepare and perform an entirely new program with indefatigable energy and zeal,” he continued. “The Orchestra look forward to seeing you in the concert hall for ACO Unleashed and I look forward to seeing you in August for our Gershwin & Shostakovich tour.”