Lisa Batiashvili and Giorgi Gigashvili 2026 in Abu Dhabi

Lisa Batiashvili and Giorgi Gigashvili 2026 in Abu Dhabi brings one of the world’s leading violinists and a fast-rising young pianist to Cultural Foundation on Thursday 10 December, as part of Abu Dhabi Festival 2026. Their programme pairs Beethoven, Bartók and César Franck’s Violin Sonata with a new work by Josef Bardanashvili, presented as an Arab world premiere. Doors open at 7pm and the concert starts at 8pm.

There is a Georgian thread running through the whole evening: Batiashvili was born in Tbilisi, Gigashvili was born there too, and Bardanashvili comes from Batumi on Georgia’s Black Sea coast.

Lisa Batiashvili

Lisa Batiashvili was born in Tbilisi in 1979 to a violinist father, who began teaching her at the age of four, and a pianist mother. The family moved to Germany in 1991, where she studied in Hamburg with Mark Lubotsky, a former pupil of David Oistrakh, and later with Ana Chumachenco. At 16 she took second prize at the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, the start of an international career.

She has since been artist-in-residence with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Berlin Philharmonic, and her honours include the Leonard Bernstein Award, the Beethoven Ring and, in 2025, the Kaiser Otto Prize. A Deutsche Grammophon artist, her recordings include Echoes of Time, Brahms and Clara Schumann, Bach, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, and Visions of Prokofiev. She plays a 1739 Guarneri del Gesù violin, founded the Lisa Batiashvili Foundation in 2021 and was artistic director of the Audi Sommerkonzerte in Ingolstadt from 2019 to 2022.

Giorgi Gigashvili

Giorgi Gigashvili was born in Tbilisi in 2000 and trained at the Zakaria Paliashvili Central Music School and the Tbilisi State Conservatory. He has won prizes at the Vigo, Géza Anda and Arthur Rubinstein competitions, and his debut album, Meeting My Shadow, came out on Alpha Classics in 2023. He was a BBC New Generation Artist from 2023 to 2025 and is an ECHO Rising Star for the 2025–26 season, both schemes that support young performers early in their careers. Sharing a stage with a fellow Georgian of Batiashvili’s standing is a notable moment in his early career.

The programme

The festival describes the evening as a contrast of characters, setting the bold grandeur of Beethoven against the wild brilliance of Bartók, with Franck’s sonata as the lyrical heart.

• Beethoven: a work for violin and piano; the specific piece has not been named.
• Bartók: the festival highlights the “wild brilliance” of the Bartók, though again the title is not listed.
• Franck: Violin Sonata. One of the best-loved works in the violin repertoire, it unfolds, in the festival’s words, with shimmering colour and graceful lyricism.
• Josef Bardanashvili: a new composition, receiving its Arab world premiere.

Bardanashvili, born in Batumi in 1948, studied composition at the Tbilisi Music Academy and has lived in Israel since 1995, where he has been composer-in-residence with the Raanana Simfonette and the Jerusalem Camerata. His music ranges from concert works to film scores, so the new piece is the evening’s wild card.

The ticket page does not give a running time, but the calendar entry covers 7pm to 9:30pm including doors, and the latecomer rules refer to a break or interval if there is one.

Cultural Foundation and house rules

Cultural Foundation, on Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street (2nd Street), is one of central Abu Dhabi’s main arts venues. Note that one image on the ticket listing refers to the Red Theater at NYU Abu Dhabi, but the page itself names Cultural Foundation throughout. The page says the venue is accessible, with seating areas and ramps, and asks you to contact the organisers before booking for specific needs.

• The concert is for ages 10 and over.
• Elegant attire is welcome, but you may wear whatever is comfortable.
• Bring valid photo ID, such as a passport, along with your ticket.
• Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Late arrivals are admitted only at a break, may lose their original seats and may be refused entry.
• Phones must be silent, with no photography or recording during the performance.
• No outside food; weapons, laser pointers, permanent markers, drones and glow sticks are prohibited.
• Sales are final, with no refunds, exchanges or resale.

Parking is available at or near the venue, Abu Dhabi Bus Station is about 1.2 km away, and taxis know Cultural Foundation well.

Who it suits

Chamber music lovers will want to hear Batiashvili in the intimacy of a duo recital rather than with an orchestra, and anyone following the next generation of pianists will be curious about Gigashvili. The Franck sonata makes it approachable for newcomers too.

For more, see our art and culture listings, things to do in Abu Dhabi, December events and what’s on in the UAE.