For Immediate Release

Terezín Music Foundation Presents Simone Dinnerstein in Its 2026 Gala Concert at Boston Symphony Hall

The Legacy Continues features the world premiere of Brad Mehldau’s Suite for Piano

Cindy and Ollie Curme to receive the 2026 Terezín Legacy Award

BOSTON, MA — October 6, 2026 — The Terezín Music Foundation (TMF) will present its 2026 Annual Gala Concert, The Legacy Continues, featuring pianist Simone Dinnerstein, on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 4 p.m. at Boston Symphony Hall. The program will include the world premiere of Brad Mehldau’s Suite for Piano, commissioned by TMF and composed for Dinnerstein. The Foundation will also honor Cindy and Ollie Curme with its 2026 Terezín Legacy Award.

Dinnerstein’s program brings together the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Brad Mehldau, and Keith Jarrett, connecting Bach’s contrapuntal writing with contemporary works that draw on classical and jazz traditions. The concert reflects TMF’s commitment to keeping musical legacies alive through remembrance, performance, and new creation.

The Mehldau commission was generously sponsored by longtime TMF supporters Penny and Claudio Pincus.

Concert Program

Johann Sebastian Bach — 15 Inventions, BWV 772–786
Brad Mehldau — Suite for Piano (world premiere; commissioned by TMF)
Johann Sebastian Bach — 15 Sinfonias, BWV 787–801
Keith Jarrett — Encore from Tokyo (transcribed by Uwe Karcher)
The concert is produced and directed by Mark Ludwig.

Dinnerstein first gained international recognition with her acclaimed 2007 recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Known for her distinctive interpretations of Bach, she has performed with leading orchestras and at major concert venues around the world. Ms. Dinnerstein and TMF have a long-standing artistic relationship spanning concerts and three commission projects with composers Nico Muhly, Ellis Ludwig-Leone, David Post, and Brad Mehldau.

Mehldau, a Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist and composer, has been a leading voice in contemporary jazz since the early 1990s. His compositions include orchestral works, song cycles, and chamber music, reflecting his engagement with both jazz and classical traditions. 

2026 Terezín Legacy Award

TMF will present the 2026 Terezín Legacy Award to Cindy and Ollie Curme in recognition of their extraordinary and enduring support of the Foundation and its mission.

For more than two decades, Cindy Curme has been a dedicated TMF leader and advocate. A classically trained pianist and longtime member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra community, she has served on TMF’s board, chaired the 2010 Gala, and co-chaired the 2011 and 2017 Galas.

Together, the Curmes have participated in four TMF Prague Festival tours, hosted Foundation gatherings, and sponsored TMF’s commission of Ľubica Čekovská’s Four Movements for Piano, premiered by Garrick Ohlsson in Prague in 2013.

The Terezín Legacy Award honors individuals whose work advances Holocaust remembrance, compassion, and humanity. The award is a glass sculpture inspired by a brick from the ruins of the fortress at Terezín.

Tickets and Event Information

The Gala takes place Sunday, October 25, 2026, at Boston Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston. A reception begins at 3 p.m., followed by the concert at 4 p.m. Dinner with the artists and honorees follows the concert for guests attending at the Patron level and above.

Friend tickets are $175 and include the reception and concert. Patron tickets are $600 and also include dinner. Additional giving levels are available. For details and to purchase tickets, visit www.tmfgala.org.

The Gala is the Foundation’s sole annual fundraising event and supports its commissions, performances, educational programs, and preservation work.

About the Terezín Music Foundation

The Terezín Music Foundation preserves and advances the musical legacy of composers whose lives and creative work were cut short by the Nazi Holocaust. Through new commissions, performances, educational programs, recordings, books, films, and online resources, TMF keeps their music and stories alive. Its work engages new generations with the history of Terezín and the dangers of bigotry, while carrying forward the artistic and mentoring roles these composers were unable to fulfill.