South Korean pianist Cho Seong-jin gave a last-minute performance in Carnegie Hall last Friday as a replacement for a Russian pianist.

The concert was held hours after Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra jointly announced that Cho would step in for Denis Matsuev, performing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Initially, Carnegie Hall was set to stage three performances with Matsuev and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, but decided to cancel their appearances as they are both known to have close connections to Russian leadership and publicly endorsed Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The move came amid a week of Russian attacks on Ukraine.

Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra expressed deep gratitude to the South Korean pianist, who agreed to fly from Berlin on very short notice for Friday’s performance.