Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra are commencing a major tour of cities in the USA and Canada

From 29 October to 15 November, Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will undertake their greatest tour of the season, presenting sixteen concerts in cities in the USA and Canada. During the tour, the orchestra will be appearing alongside such stunning pianists of the present day as Behzod Abduraimov, Denis Matsuev, Daniil Trifonov and Stanislav Ioudenitch.

On 29 October the tour opens with a performance by the Mariinsky Stradivarius Ensemble and the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev at the Bing Concert Hall (Stanford). The programme includes the suite from Edvard Grieg's From Holberg's Time, Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen, Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings and Dmitry Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No 1. The soloist will be Behzod Abduraimov.

On 30 October the ensemble will be appearing at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, where in mid-October this year the Mariinsky Ballet performed to great acclaim. The Renйe and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall will host a performance of Richard Strauss' symphonic poems Don Juan and Ein Heldenleben as well as Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 3, the solo to be performed by Denis Matsuev.

On 1 November there will be an appearance by Denis Matsuev and the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev at Los Angeles' most contemporary venue - the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The programme includes Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No 2, Dmitry Shostakovich's Symphony No 9 and Alexander Scriabin's Symphony No 3 Le Divin Poиme. A similar programme will be presented on 4 November at the Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley), where the musicians will be appearing twice. On the second evening (5 November) the venue will host a performance of Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Don Juan, Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No 6 and Rodion Shchedrin's Piano Concerto No 2, which will celebrate the composer's birthday. Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No 2 (soloist – Denis Matsuev) and Dmitry Shostakovich's Symphony No 9 will be performed on 3 November at the Rohnert Park Green Music Center. The programme will also feature Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Ein Heldenleben.

On 2 November the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev will make its debut at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts (Davis). The programme includes Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No 6, Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Don Juan as well as the venue's premiere of Daniil Trifonov's Piano Concerto No 1, performed by the composer himself.

On 7 November Valery Gergiev will be conducting the Stradivarius Ensemble of the Mariinsky Theatre. The programme for the evening at the Kauffman Center (Kansas City) includes the suite From Holberg's Time by Edvard Grieg, Richard Strauss' Metamorphosen and Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. There will also be a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Double Piano Concerto No 10, the solos to be performed by Behzod Abduraimov and Stanislav Ioudenitch.

Two concerts (8 and 9 November) will take place in Illinois – at the Symphony Center in Chicago and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (Urbana), following which Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will fly to Canada. On 10 and 11 November the orchestra will be appearing in Canada's major cities – Toronto (Roy Thomson Hall) and Montreal (Montreal Symphony House). To mark the eighty-fifth birthday of Rodion Shchedrin in Urbana and Montreal the musicians will perform his Piano Concerto No 2. Also in the programme are Dmitry Shostakovich's Symphony No 9 and Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No 2 (8 and 10 November), Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Ein Heldenleben (8 and 11 November) and the suite from Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird (9 and 11 November). The programme for the concert on 9 November will also feature Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 3, while on 10 November it will include Alexander Scriabin's Symphony No 3 Le Divin Poиme. Denis Matsuev will be performing the solo on all four evenings.

The final concerts of the Mariinsky Orchestra and Valery Gergiev's tour will see them return once more to the USA – at the prestigious American venues the Kennedy Center (Wshington) and Carnegie Hall (New York), as well as Washington National Cathedral.

On 12 November at the Kennedy Center there will be a rendition of Factory: Machine Music by Alexander Mosolov, Richard Strauss' symphonic poem Don Juan and Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No 6. Daniil Trifonov will again perform his own Piano Concerto No 1. On 13 November Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra will be appearing at one of the world's greatest Gothic-style cathedrals – Washington Cathedral – as part of the event A Concert for Unity.

On 14 and 15 November there will be concerts by the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev at the Isaac Stern Auditorium at New York's Carnegie Hall. In addition to works by Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Scriabin and Strauss, on 15 November Carnegie Hall will host its first performance of Daniil Trifonov's Piano Concerto No 1.