Emerald City Music Celebrates 10 Years with Expanded 2025-26 Concert Season

High resolution press photos available here.

Emerald City Music Announces Milestone Season: ECM at 10

Twelve Concerts from October 2025 through May 2026
in Seattle and Olympia, WA

Inaugural Ensemble-in-Residence: GRAMMY®-Nominated Sandbox Percussion

Plus Brand New Late Night Sessions Concert Series

And New Season Partnerships with
The Metropolis Ensemble, Meany Center for the Performing Arts,
and the University of Washington School of Music

Violinist Kristin Lee, Artistic Director; Sean Campbell, Executive Director

Season Subscriptions on Sale Today June 3, 2025
Single Tickets on Sale August 5, 2025

www.emeraldcitymusic.org

Seattle & Olympia, WA – Continuing under the leadership of Artistic Director and violinist Kristin Lee and Executive Director Sean Campbell, Emerald City Music (ECM) celebrates its milestone tenth anniversary, ECM at 10, taking bold steps into the future with new programs, new partnerships and – for the first time ever – an Ensemble-in-Residence with GRAMMY®-nominated Sandbox Percussion. Emerald City Music is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Known for a casual environment combined with award-winning artists, ECM has gained recognition since its founding in 2015. The programming of ECM at 10 will reach every corner of chamber music from the last 250 years, from Beethoven and a recently discovered work by Charles Loeffler, to minimalist work of the ‘70s and new works by renowned composers Joan Tower and Vivian Fung (both co-commissioned by ECM). Season subscriptions go on sale today, June 3, 2025 and single tickets will be available on August 5, 2025.

Mainstage performances throughout the season will be held at ECM’s signature venues – in Seattle at 415 Westlake and in Olympia at The Minnaert Center for the Arts and Capital High School Performing Arts Center. This season, ECM is also proud to have new partnerships with The Metropolis Ensemble, Meany Center for the Performing Arts, and The University of Washington School of Music.

In addition to ECM’s twelve mainstage performances between October 2025 and May 2026, ECM is launching a brand new series of Late Night Sessions, featuring three more performances. This series embraces an intimate concert experience and will directly follow the conclusion of selected mainstage performances, keeping the music going well into the night. ECM’s new Late Night Sessions will spotlight outstanding local musicians and offer audiences an eclectic mix of genres. Dates for the Late Night Sessions will be announced this fall.

“Season 10 is more than just a season,” says Artistic Director Kristin Lee. “It's a reflection of our past, a celebration of our mission, and an exciting step into the future with the extraordinary community that has grown with us every step of the way. We’ve cultivated a passionate and dedicated group of music lovers, artists, and supporters who have made Emerald City Music sustain thus far, and all of us at ECM cannot wait to experience with you what the next decade has in store!”

The concept of the concert series as a platform where artists and audiences transform one another breathes life into every element of what ECM does – from the casual open-bar setting of its flagship Seattle concert experiences, to the enthusiastic communities that faithfully assemble in its concert halls in Olympia and beyond. At Emerald City Music concerts, the audience’s presence matters, transforming the artists, the community, and the future of classical music.

The Seattle Times reports: "ECM isn’t falling back on the tried-and-true, under the assumption that a new listener is an unadventurous, easily frightened-off listener. Instead, they’re betting that the tried-and-true could be precisely one of the barriers to sparking interest that classical-music organizations need to overcome."

“Our mission has always been to create a musical home for the eclectic, open-minded, and curious – a place where classical music comes to life through world-class performances that feel personal, accessible, and engaging,” says Executive Director Sean Campbell. “As we step into our tenth season, that mission continues to guide everything we do!”

“Every performance we’ve had the pleasure of giving with Emerald City Music since our first ever performance in 2017, is one we truly cherish,” says ECM Ensemble-in-Residence Sandbox Percussion founding member Victor Caccese. “We love playing concerts because we love connecting with audiences and sharing percussion music with them. This is at the core of Emerald City Music – presenting great music, played at a high level, in an inviting and comfortable setting. Being part of this kind of environment has deeply inspired us and continues to shape how we think about performing and presenting percussion in fresh, innovative ways.”

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Emerald City Music’s Season 10 Mainstage Performances

Musical Milestones: The Loeffler Project
Friday, October 17, 2025 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, October 18, 2025 at 7:30pm: Minnaert Center | ​​2011 Mottman Rd SW | Olympia, WA

Kristin Lee, Andy Liang, violin | Katie Liu, viola | Nathan Chan, cello | Jennifer Godfrey, double bass | Graeme Steele Johnson, Angelique Poteat, clarinet | Bridget Kibbey, harp

Emerald City Music celebrates its milestone tenth anniversary with a festive season opener, featuring the enchanting sounds of harp and clarinet performing imaginative and expressive works by Saint-Saëns, Coleridge Taylor, Debussy, and Loeffler, connecting the 19th and 20th centuries. The cornerstone of the program is the Seattle premiere of Charles Loeffler’s recently discovered Octet, brought to life and reconstructed after 128 years by acclaimed clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson. Charles Loeffler (1861-1935) was a violinist and composer who, despite his German birth and parentage, had a career which largely thrived in the U.S., where he moved in 1881 and became a citizen in 1887. In 1883, he became the second concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where he held the position for over two decades.

Saint-Saëns: Fantaisie for Violin and Harp, Op. 124
Coleridge Taylor: Clarinet Quintet, Op. 10
Debussy: Danse sacrée et danse profane
Loeffler: Octet (Seattle premiere)

Quartet in Spotlight: Aeolus Quartet
Friday, December 5, 2025 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 7:30pm: Capital High School, 2707 Conger Ave NW | Olympia, WA

Aeolus Quartet: Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, Rachel Shapiro, violins | Caitlin Lynch, viola | Jia Kim, cello

The “high octane” (The Strad) and award-winning Aeolus Quartet makes its ECM debut with a vibrant program featuring the music of Beethoven, Bacewicz, and Dvořák. Dedicated to sharing the joy of chamber music with new audiences, the ensemble’s highly anticipated performance will be a memorable evening of luscious string quartet music.

Beethoven: String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18, No. 1
Bacewicz: String Quartet No. 3
Dvořák: String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106

An Evening with Mikaela Bennett and The Metropolis Ensemble
In partnership with The Metropolis Ensemble
Friday, February 6, 2026 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30pm: Minnaert Center | ​​2011 Mottman Rd SW | Olympia, WA

Mikaela Bennett, soprano | Adam Rothenberg, piano | Kristin Lee, Sarah Ma, violins | Tanner Menees, viola | Audrey Chen, cello

Garnering praise for her artistic versatility in concert halls across the globe, acclaimed singer Mikaela Bennett joins forces with the Metropolis Ensemble for a vibrant program of American music to kick off 2026. The artists will collaborate to perform music by American composers Molly Joyce and Sarah Kirkland Snider, including the West Coast premiere of Joyce’s new work. In her note on the work, Sarah Kirkland Snider describes her work Penelope as, “a meditation on memory, identity, and what it means to come home.” ECM will be presenting Snider’s work in a new arrangement for soprano and piano quintet.

Molly Joyce: New Work (West Coast Premiere)
Sarah Kirkland Snider: Excerpts from Penelope, Arranged for Soprano and Piano Quintet

FIVE! - Sandbox Percussion and Kristin Lee
Friday, March 6, 2026 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, March 7, 2026 at 7:30pm: Minnaert Center | ​​2011 Mottman Rd SW | Olympia, WA

Kristin Lee, violin | Sandbox Percussion, Ensemble in Residence: Jonny Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney, percussion

Artistic Director Kristin Lee teams up with three-time GRAMMY®-Nominated Ensemble-in-Residence Sandbox Percussion for a groundbreaking performance featuring three new works – including two world premieres – by acclaimed composers Joan Tower, Gabriella Smith, and Vivian Fung. Tower’s work, To Sing or to Dance, considers two different origins of music: voice and instruments. She says, “When I was asked to write a piece for violin and percussion, that difference became immediately apparent: how to have these two very different instruments in the same space, living fairly comfortably together.” Similarly, Fung’s work, which she describes as a concerto for violin and percussion, explores the coexistence of two types of sound. She explains: “[M]y focus will be finding percussion sounds that complement, contrast, and augment the sounds of the violin.” FIVE, a new work by Gabriella Smith written for Sandbox Percussion, completes this cutting-edge program, which showcases the dynamic blending of violin and percussion quartet – an unforgettable experience that pushes the boundaries of chamber music.

Joan Tower: To Sing or to Dance (Seattle Premiere, ECM co-commission)
Gabriella Smith: FIVE (World Premiere)
Vivian Fung: New Work (World Premiere, ECM co-commission)

Canto Ostinato
In partnership with The Metropolis Ensemble & University of Washington School of Music
Friday, April 10, 2026 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 7:30pm: Minnaert Center | ​​2011 Mottman Rd SW | Olympia, WA

Andrew Cyr, Music Director | Kristin Lee, violin | Erik Hall, keyboard/synthesizer | Sandbox Percussion, ECM Ensemble in Residence | UW School of Music Faculty- Bonnie Whiting, percussion & John Popham, cello | UW School of Music Students, to be announced.

Sandbox Percussion and UW School of Music students and faculty come to ECM to give a performance of Simeon Ten Holt’s evening-length minimalist work, Canto Ostinato. Originally a keyboard piece by the Dutch composer, Canto Ostinato is made up of overlapping layers and repeated patterns, and has amassed a cult following. Conceived and developed by Andrew Cyr, Erik Hall, and Jonny Allen, this version of Canto Ostinato features a 17-piece ensemble arrangement led and commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble’s Founder and Director Andrew Cyr. As Canto Ostinato is commonly performed with either two or four pianos, this ambitious arrangement highlights the musical freedom of Holt’s most popular work, which can be performed by different instruments and a varying number of performers.

Simeon Ten Holt: Canto Ostinato

East Coast Chamber Orchestra x Vijay Iyer 
In partnership with Meany Center for the Performing Arts
Friday, May 15, 2025 at 8pm: 415 On Westlake | Seattle, WA
Saturday May 16, 2025 at 7:30pm: Capital High School, 2707 Conger Ave NW | Olympia, WA

Vijay Iyer, Shai Wosner, piano | East Coast Chamber Orchestra

For the grand finale of this milestone anniversary season, ECM presents two different programs on two nights. Friday night’s performance in Seattle features dynamic works from the early 20th century to the present day, performed by GRAMMY®-nominated pianist and composer Vijay Iyer and members of East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO). Saturday in Olympia, ECCO joins pianist Shai Wosner to perform a program that juxtaposes works from the classical canon with contemporary works inspired by the musicality of the Baroque era, in addition to Vijay Iyer’s piano concerto, Handmade Universe, closing out ECM at 10 with a piece that explores the balance between group collaboration and independent expression.

May 15 Program
Bohuslav Martinů: Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola
Vijay Iyer: The Diamond for Violin and Piano
Paul Wiancko: Tiny Doors to Big Worlds for String Quintet
Max Bruch: String Octet

May 16 Program
Edward Elgar: Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20
David Serkin Ludwig: Virtuosity
Vijay Iyer: Handmade Universe
J.S. Bach / Michi Wiancko: Chaconne

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For Emerald City Music’s Complete Schedule and Concert Details, visit www.emeraldcitymusic.org/calendar.

Emerald City Music’s 2025-2026 concerts take place on Fridays at 8pm at 415 Westlake in Seattle, WA and on Saturdays at 7:30pm at The Minnaert Center for the Arts in Olympia (2011 Mottman Rd), or Capital High School Performing Arts Center (2707 Conger Ave NW). Season tickets and tickets to individual concerts will be on sale on June 3 and August 5 respectively. Please visit www.emeraldcitymusic.org for more details.

About Kristin Lee, ECM Artistic Director

Kristin Lee is a violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique who enjoys a vibrant career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and artistic director. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” writes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Strad reports, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”

As a soloist, Lee has appeared with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic. She has performed on the world’s finest concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ravinia Festival, the Louvre Museum, the Phillips Collection, and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery.

An accomplished chamber musician, Kristin Lee became a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center after winning The Bowers Program audition and completing the program's three-year residency. In addition to her prolific performance career, Lee is a devoted educator. She is on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin. Lee is also the founding artistic director of Emerald City Music (ECM), a chamber music series that presents authentically unique concert experiences and bridges the divide between the highest caliber classical music and the many diverse communities of the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

Kristin Lee’s honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, top prizes in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions, and awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation.

Born in Seoul, Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples, Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.

For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.

About ECM

Emerald City Music (ECM) is the Pacific Northwest home for eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. Deemed “a welcoming and more inclusive environment for intimate music-making” (The Seattle Times), ECM hosts world-renowned musicians in unique concert experiences. Founded in 2015, Emerald City Music produces and tours six productions annually, with each tour visiting Seattle’s South Lake Union (415 Westlake, a chic contemporary venue with an open bar), Olympia’s Minnaert Center (a 495 seat modern concert hall), a once annual concert at the Bellingham Music Festival.

ECM has gained recognition regionally and nationally as a major player in the chamber music scene. Artistic Director Kristin Lee –– a touring violinist awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant and a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center –– is regarded for her innovative programming that both honors the tradition of chamber music while expanding the genre’s boundary past common limits. Emerald City Music made a name for itself beginning in its second season with a national collaborative commission with Grammy-winning composer John Luther Adams, and has continued to press the boundary of chamber music with accolades like a tour of Steve Reich’s iconic and rare Music for 18 Musicians, a pitch-black performance of Georg Haas’s “In the Dark” quartet, and the West Coast debut of the Danish folk group The Dreamers’ Circus.

ECM values real, authentic connection and holds the belief that music possesses the innate power to connect people, inclusive of varying backgrounds and perspectives. Over eight years, artists from every corner of the globe have visited Emerald City Music to prove just that: there exists a special connection between artist and listener that only music can facilitate.

Follow ECM on Social Media

Facebook: www.facebook.com/emeraldcitymusic
Instagram: www.instagram.com/emeraldcitymusic

June 21: GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein Presented by Mohawk Trail Concerts Performing Reflections – A Concert Shaped by Musical Interconnection

GRAMMY®-nominated Pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Performs Reflections

A Concert Shaped by Musical Interconnection
Presented by Mohawk Trail Concerts

Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 5pm
Charlemont Federated Church | 175 Main St. | Charlemont, MA
Tickets and More information

“lean, knowing, and unpretentious elegance” – The New Yorker

PLUS Dinnerstein and Baroklyn’s New Bach Album Complicité Out Now

Review downloads & CDs available upon request.

Simone Dinnerstein: www.simonedinnerstein.com

Charlemont, MA – GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “an intrepid artistic personality,” performs on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at Charlemont Federated Church (175 Main St.) presented by Mohawk Trail Concerts.

Dinnerstein –– who is celebrated for her Bach recordings –– will perform the music of J. S. Bach and other Baroque era-inspired selections in a program titled Reflections, which includes Philip Lasser’s Twelve Variations On A Chorale By J.S. Bach (2002); Gavotte et 6 Doubles from Nouvelles Suites de Pieces de Clavecin by Jean-Philippe Rameau (c. 1729-30); J. S. Bach’s Fifteen Sinfonias, BWV 787–801 (1720-23); and Encore From Tokyo (1978) by Keith Jarrett.

“I have titled this program Reflections, as I think that each work sounds unusual because of the way it is reflected against the music around it,” Dinnerstein says. “To enhance this quality, I play each half of the program (Rameau-Lasser and Bach-Jarrett) without pause between the pieces.”

Simone Dinnerstein has been playing Philip Lasser’s Twelve Variations on a Chorale by J.S. Bach for over two decades –– including as part of The Berlin Concert, her 2008 album. Lasser takes the chorale from Cantata No. 101 in which, he says, “Bach chooses a particular melodic moment from the Lutheran hymn and infuses all the other voices of the Chorale with this unique sonority, with an almost maniacal insistence. In my Variations, I take on this mania to see how far one can go.”

Bach’s contemporary Rameau also composed a set of variations but on his own gavotte: Gavotte et 6 doubles from Nouvelles suites de pieces de clavecin. In his preface, Bach wrote that his Fifteen Sinfonias were, “An honest guide by which the amateurs of the keyboard – especially, however, those desirous of learning – are shown a clear way…to achieve a cantabile style in playing and at the same time acquire a strong foretaste of composition." Keith Jarrett’s Encore from Tokyo embraces the Baroque convention of a descending repeating bass line and builds a harmonically adventurous and wide-ranging improvisation around it.

On May 30, 2025, Dinnerstein released her fifteenth recording, Complicité on Supertrain Records. This is her first all-Bach album in over ten years and features Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano and Peggy Pearson, oboe d’amore along with the string ensemble Simone founded and directs, Baroklyn (a portmanteau of Baroque and Brooklyn, Dinnerstein’s home New York borough). Recorded with producer Silas Brown, the album also includes composer Philip Lasser’s continuo realizations and recomposition of Bach’s Air on the G String. Read the album press release here.

About Simone Dinnerstein: American pianist Simone Dinnerstein first came to wider public attention in 2007 through her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, reflecting an aesthetic that was both deeply rooted in the score and profoundly idiosyncratic. She is, wrote The New York Times, “a unique voice in the forest of Bach interpretation.”

Dinnerstein has played with orchestras ranging from the New York Philharmonic and Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai. She has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Seoul Arts Center and Sydney Opera House. She has made fourteen albums, all of which topped the Billboard charts and were recorded by GRAMMY Award-winning producer Adam Abeshouse. During the pandemic she recorded three albums which form a trilogy: A Character of Quiet, An American Mosaic, and Undersong. An American Mosaic was nominated for a GRAMMY.

In recent years, Dinnerstein has created projects that express her broad musical interests. She gave the world premiere of The Eye Is the First Circle at Montclair State University, the first multi-media production she conceived, created, and directed, which uses as source materials her father Simon Dinnerstein’s painting The Fulbright Triptych and Charles Ives’s Concord Sonata. She released her live recording of the premiere in October 2024 on Supertrain Records to coincide with Ives’s 150th birthday. The Eye is the First Circle also marked Dinnerstein’s fourteenth and final recording produced with the late Adam Abeshouse. Dinnerstein premiered Richard Danielpour’s An American Mosaic, a tribute to those affected by the pandemic, in a performance on multiple pianos throughout Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery. Following her recording Mozart in Havana, she brought the Havana Lyceum Orchestra from Cuba to the U.S. for the first time, performing eleven concerts. Philip Glass composed his Piano Concerto No. 3 for her, co-commissioned by twelve orchestras. Working with Renée Fleming and the Emerson String Quartet, she premiered André Previn and Tom Stoppard’s Penelope at the Tanglewood, Ravinia and Aspen music festivals, and performed it at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and presented by LA Opera. Dinnerstein has also created her own ensemble, Baroklyn, which she directs. The Washington Post comments, “it is Dinnerstein’s unreserved identification with every note she plays that makes her performance so spellbinding.” In a world where music is everywhere, she hopes that it can still be transformative. For more information, please visit www.simonedinnerstein.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: GRAMMY-nominated® pianist Simone Dinnerstein, described as “an intrepid artistic personality” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, will perform a program of Baroque-era inspired works in a concert presented by Mohawk Trail Concerts. Her program, titled Reflections, will include J.S. Bach’s Fifteen Sinfonias (1720-23), Philip Lasser’s Twelve Variations on a Chorale by J.S. Bach (2002), Keith Jarrett’s Encore From Tokyo (1978), and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Gavotte et 6 Doubles from Nouvelles Suites de Pieces de Clavecin (c. 1729-30).

Concert details:

Who: Pianist Simone Dinnerstein 
Presented by Mohawk Trail Concerts
What: Reflections – Music by J.S. Bach, Philip Lasser, Keith Jarrett, Jean-Philippe Rameau
When: Saturday, January 21, 2025 at 5pm
Where: ​​Charlemont Federated Church, 175 Main St., Charlemont, MA 01339
Tickets and information: www.mohawktrailconcerts.org/2024-season

June 13: Newport Classical Presents the GRAMMY-Nominated Trio Mediaeval in Final Chamber Series Concert of the Season

Photos available in high resolution here.

Newport Classical Concludes 2024-25 Chamber Series with Enchanting Finale

Trio Mediaeval

Friday, June 13 at 7:30pm
Friday, March 21, 2025 at 7:30pm

Newport Classical Recital Hall | 42 Dearborn St | Newport, RI
Tickets and Information

Newport, RI – Newport Classical closes its fourth full-season Chamber Series, which featured twelve concerts held at the organization’s home venue the Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.), with the GRAMMY®-nominated Trio Mediaeval on Friday, June 13, 2025 at 7:30pm.

Known for their crystalline voices and ethereal blend, The New York Times reports, “few vocal ensembles produce quite as beautiful and finely blended a sound as this Norwegian trio.” For the 2024-25 Chamber Series finale, Trio Mediaeval (Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth, Jorunn Lovise Husan) immerses Newport audiences in the sonic worlds of Swedish and Norwegian vocal folk music. The ensemble showcases the countries’ traditional songs, hymns, fiddle tunes, ballads, and distinctive tradition of singing without words – a style known as tulling, sulling, or tralling, in which a sequence of consonants is invented or improvised by the singer. 

Of their program, the Trio says, “Originally, these folk songs were all a part of daily life; people created tunes and texts for all sorts of daily events and special occasions. In this program we present a selection of love songs, wedding tunes, lullabies, sun-prayers, ballads and hymns. None of this music was composed to be a part of the concert scene nor to be performed for an audience, as we understand the term today. In the twentieth century, ethnographers and folk song collectors began to record these wonderful songs and tunes, and a vast number of melodies have been transcribed and preserved for future generations of singers and listeners. It is quite a listening friendly programme with beautiful melodies and rhythms. In the same way that cultures, languages, and dialects vary from place to place, so do forms of musical expression. We would like to see this performance as our contribution to a living oral tradition; although these songs bear our musical imprint, they are colored by all those who have performed and passed on the music before us.”

Formed in 1997, Trio Mediæval has toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States, as well as in Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Australia, performing at venues including Carnegie Hall in New York; the Barbican Centre in London; the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; the Vienna Konzerthaus; the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and other iconic halls throughout the world.

Recently, the trio has collaborated with musicians and orchestras such as Catalina Vicens, Vox Clamantis, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Arve Henriksen, Anders Jormin, John Potter, Sinikka Langeland Ensemble, Mats Eilertsen Trio, Grauschumaker Piano Duo & Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.

Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. The Chamber Series, newly expanded to twelve concerts held between September and June, reaffirms Newport Classical’s commitment to offer year-round classical music programming. Audiences are invited to enjoy performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with a complimentary glass of wine from Greenvale Vineyards and homemade treats by Newport Classical volunteers. 

As part of Newport Classical’s desire to create connections between classical music, the artists who perform it, and the Newport community, all musicians performing on the Chamber Series also visit Newport-area schools to perform for, speak with, and inspire students, through Newport Classical’s Music Education and Engagement Initiative.

Tickets are now available for the 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival, which takes place from July 4-22, 2025. Highlights include Opening Night featuring Two Pianos with Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung; two evenings with Broadway star Jessica Vosk, best known for her lead role in Wicked; performances by extraordinary pianists Inon Barnatan, Sara Davis Buechner, and Wynona Wang; celebrated soprano Karen Slack's African Queens project co-commissioned by Newport Classical with a national consortium; the US premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang co-commissioned by Newport Classical with an international consortium; performances by world-class artists including violinist Leila Josefowicz, The Westerlies, Third Coast Percussion, harpist Emily Levin, guitarists Ziggy and Miles, Palaver Strings, Attacca Quartet, Twelfth Night, The Gesualdo Six, Tallā Rouge, Empire Wild, and more; Opera Night: An American Tapestry; and Closing Night with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and violinist Stefan Jackiw. For the fifth year in a row, Newport Classical has commissioned a brand new work to be premiered at the Festival. This year's Composer-in-Residence is Cris Derksen, a Juno-nominated Indigenous cellist and composer, who has written a new work for the Galvin Cello Quartet. 

About Newport Classical

Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 56 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

Composer Anthony Cheung's Upcoming Highlights - Performances at Lincoln Center, Miller Theatre, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic

Composer Anthony Cheung’s 2025-2026 Season Highlights

Include Performances at Lincoln Center, Miller Theatre, and by the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic

July 16, 2025: the echoing of tenses
Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City
Run AMOC* Festival 

November 13, 2025: Miller Theatre
Composer Portrait Concert
Performances by Yarn/Wire, Claire Chase, JACK Quartet, and Cheung

 February 3, 2026: Piano Concerto
World Premiere by Los Angeles Philharmonic
Pianist Gloria Cheng, Conducted by Elim Chan
Curated by Creative Chair John Adams 

March 12-17, 2026: The People United ...
Collaborative Orchestration for the New York Philharmonic
Conducted by Gustavo Dudamel 

Forthcoming Fall 2025 Album on New Focus Recordings Features Volta
Recorded by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project Conducted by Gil Rose

Plus Debuts at Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Cal Performances, and More 

“gritty, inventive and wonderfully assured” – San Francisco Chronicle
“intensely colourful, exquisitely wrought ensemble-writing”” – Gramophone

Anthony Cheung’s Performance Schedule: www.acheungmusic.com/schedule

Composer and pianist Anthony Cheung writes music that explores the senses, a wide palette of instrumental play and affect, improvisational traditions, and multiple layers of textural meaning. Praised for “instrumental sensuality” (Chicago Tribune), Cheung’s work reveals an interest in the ambiguity of sound sources and constantly shifting transformations of tuning and timbre. Critic Paul Griffiths writes that his music’s precision “is responsible for a wealth of sonic magic.” Cheung is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize, and First Prize at the Dutilleux Competition, among other awards and honors. He served as the Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow with the Cleveland Orchestra from 2015-17, and was a co-founder, pianist, and artistic director of New York’s Talea Ensemble.

Anthony Cheung’s 2025-2026 concert season features milestone performances and premieres by world-class musicians and leading venues including Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Elim Chan, New York’s Miller Theatre at Columbia University, Berkeley’s Cal Performances, American Modern Opera Company, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, JACK Quartet, Yarn/Wire, flutist Claire Chase, pianist Gloria Cheng, tenor Paul Appleby, violinist Miranda Cuckson, and more. In addition, Cheung’s recent orchestral piece Volta will be included on a new album featuring Brown University faculty, to be released in fall 2025 on the New Focus Recordings label, recorded by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) conducted by Gil Rose. This new recording follows the five portrait albums of Cheung’s music which are already available on the New Focus, Kairos,Wergo, and Ensemble Modern labels, along with additional releases on Warner Classics, Tzadik, and Mode.

On July 16, 2025, Anthony Cheung’s multi-movement, large-scale song cycle the echoing of tenses will be performed at Alice Tully Hall as part of the Run AMOC* Festival, a monthlong slate of opera, dance, and music curated and produced by AMOC* (American Modern Opera Company) within Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City. In the echoing of tenses, Cheung sets the texts of seven prominent intergenerational Asian-American poets – Victoria Chang, Cathy Park Hong, Li-Young Lee, Arthur Sze, Ocean Vuong, Jenny Xie, and Monica Youn. At Lincoln Center, the performance features musicians from the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC) including tenor Paul Appleby and violinist Miranda Cuckson, with the composer on piano/keyboards, sound design by David Bird, and live readings by Victoria Chang, Arthur Sze, Jenny Xie, and Monica Youn. The work was commissioned by the Ojai Festival and AMOC in 2022 and presented in New York at the 92nd Street Y in 2023.

The echoing of tenses is a series of reflections and ruminations on memory. Cheung writes:

Memory here is made complicated by the circumstances and tensions of cultural and personal identity, family, migration, loss, and reflection. Opening with Arthur Sze’s “The Network,” which presents the image of a photograph lost to history – a kind of origin story of Asian-American immigration – the cycle begins by looking backwards. But in ensuing texts by Jenny Xie and Cathy Park Hong, past/present/future tenses elide and become confused in dreamlike states. Ocean Vuong’s “The Gift” converses with Li-Young Lee’s earlier poem of the same title, turning to striking childhood memories of each author’s mother and father, respectively. Monica Youn’s raw but dispassionate style contrasts strongly with the emotionally vulnerable explorations of intergenerational trauma in Victoria Chang’s “Obit” and the epistolary “Dear Memory.” Xie’s poems from “The Rupture Tense” share Chang’s exploration of postmemory, which Marianne Hirsch defines as “the relationship that the ‘generation after’ bears to the personal, collective, and cultural trauma of those who came before – to experiences they ‘remember’ only by means of the stories, images, and behaviors among which they grew up.”

Also this season, JACK Quartet continues performing Cheung’s Twice Removed, a piece the ensemble commissioned and premiered in fall 2024 in celebration of its 20th anniversary, at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival on August 1, 2025 and presented by Cal Performances in Berkeley, CA on March 15, 2026. Twice Removed is a set of reflections on artworks that are themselves responses to other works. Each movement draws inspiration from a different artistic dialogue: “Stretto House” responds to Steven Holl's architecture inspired by Bartók's music; “830 Fireplace Road” engages with John Yau's poetic variations on Jackson Pollock’s words; “Meditation on Motion” reflects on Dean Rader’s poems about Cy Twombly's visual art; and “Journey to Mount Tamalpais” contemplates Etel Adnan's written and visual meditations on the iconic Marin Hills peak. A recording with JACK will follow in 2026. 

Anthony Cheung’s Clocks for Seeing will be performed by Collage New Music in Boston, MA in November 2025, with additional performances by other groups planned later in the season. The piece is inspired by Roland Barthes' meditation from Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography on the relationship between time, sound, and visual mechanisms, particularly his observation that early cameras were “clocks for seeing,” and continues Cheung’s exploration of alternative tunings. The piece was commissioned for the Talea Ensemble by Chamber Music America in 2023.

Another highlight of Cheung’s concert season in New York will be his Miller Theatre Composer Portrait, a concert dedicated entirely to his music, on November 13, 2025, with performances by Yarn/Wire, Claire Chase, and JACK Quartet, with Cheung at the piano. The program includes an Improvised Intro on keyboards performed by Cheung, Twice Removed performed by JACK Quartet, Tactile Values performed by Yarn/Wire, and The Real Book of Fake Tunes performed by flutist Claire Chase and JACK Quartet. Tactile Values for two pianos/keyboards and two percussionists is dedicated to the musicians of Yarn/Wire, and explores concepts of dimensionality and sensory translation, drawing inspiration from Bernard Berenson's writings on how painters construct third dimensions through “tactile values” and Carolee Schneemann's ideas about transforming bodily experiences into “painterly, tactile translation edited as a music of frames.” Cheung composed The Real Book of Fake Tunes for Claire Chase and the Spektral Quartet in 2015. He writes that the title references, “the infamous Real Book that has served as a gateway anthology and/or gig enabler for so many aspiring jazz musicians since the 70s [but] belies a formal architecture of five movements with distinctive characteristics.” 

In Los Angeles, on February 3, 2026, pianist Gloria Cheng and the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Elim Chan will give the world premiere of Cheung’s new piano concerto at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of the Green Umbrella series, curated by Creative Chair John Adams. Of the new piece, Cheung says, “Gloria Cheng is a legendary and much-admired presence on the Los Angeles new music scene as well as a good friend, and I was absolutely honored when she and John Adams asked me to write this new concerto commissioned in her honor as part of the LA Phil’s Green Umbrella series. The piece will be my second piano concerto — again with chamber orchestra, but more contemplative in character than its predecessor. It also engages certain corners and cornerstones of the piano repertoire through alternative and reimagined histories.”

Cheung will also write a new chamber work commissioned by Winsor Music as part of their Lineage project on March 1, 2026, and will serve as mentor composer for their Opus 1 Project, working with young musicians in Boston to co-compose a new piece together.

Anthony Cheung will also contribute to the collectively orchestrated version of Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, which will have its premiere performances from March 12-17, 2026 at David Geffen Hall. Cheung joins the other selected composers – Kati Agócs, Marcos Balter, Brittany J. Green, Tania León, Andrew Norman, Maria Schneider, Nina Shekhar, Roberto Sierra, Conrad Tao, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, Joel Thompson, Wang Lu, and Nina C. Young – in interpreting the Chilean protest anthem as a hymn to the power of communities to effect social change.

Anthony Cheung’s music has been commissioned by leading groups such as Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Musikfabrik, ICE, Yarn/Wire, Atlas Ensemble, and American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), and performed by the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Chicago Symphony’s MusicNOW, and more. His recent projects have included Well with New Chamber Ballet, the field remembers with the Parker Quartet and Fleur Barron, and premieres with JACK Quartet and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Cheung has also written for flutists Claire Chase and Denis Bouriakov, the Escher and Spektral Quartets, violinists Miranda Cuckson and Jennifer Koh, and pianists Gilles Vonsattel, David Kaplan, Shai Wosner, and Joel Fan. 

Cheung’s recordings include five portrait discs: All Roads (New Focus, 2022), Music for Film, Sculpture, and Captions (Kairos, 2022), Cycles and Arrows (New Focus, 2018), Dystemporal (Wergo, 2016), and Roundabouts (Ensemble Modern Medien 2014). His music and performances have also appeared on Warner Classics (performed by Bertrand Chamayou), Tzadik, and Mode.

Anthony Cheung received a BA in Music and History from Harvard and a doctorate from Columbia University, and was a Junior Fellow at Harvard. He previously taught at the University of Chicago and is an Associate Professor of Music at Brown University, where he teaches courses on topics ranging from theory and composition to the jazz orchestra and Asian musical modernisms.

Concert details are available on Anthony Cheung’s performance schedule: www.acheungmusic.com/schedule

For more information about Anthony Cheung: www.acheungmusic.com/about

August 1: Cellist Maya Beiser Releases New Album - Salt - Music by Missy Mazzoli, Meredith Monk, Clarice Jensen, Tavener, Purcell, and more

Maya Beiser: Salt

A profound musical meditation on memory, reflection, and women’s voices across time

Music by Missy Mazzoli, John Tavener, Meredith Monk, C. W. Gluck, Clarice Jensen, Claudio Monteverdi, Y. Admon, and Henry Purcell

 Release Date: August 1, 2025

Islandia Music Records

 Press download and CDs available upon request. Hi res photos available here.

New York, NY – On August 1, 2025, cellist and producer Maya Beiser, hailed as a “force of nature” by The Boston Globe, will release her newest solo album, Salt, on her Islandia Music Records label. This conceptually rich collection centers around the biblical figure of Lot's Wife, exploring themes of memory, witness, and the cost of remembering. 

“There's a moment in the story of Lot's Wife that has haunted me for years,” says Maya Beiser. “It's not the turning to salt—it's the turning to look. That instinctual, human act of looking back at what you love, even as it's being destroyed. That moment holds everything: memory, defiance, tenderness—and the impossible cost of remembering.”

The new album emerges from Maya’s ongoing artistic engagement with the figure of Lot’s Wife, whom she first explored in her 2012 “cello opera,” Elsewhere. In it, Maya offers a powerful reinterpretation of this ancient story: “She disobeyed not out of rebellion, but out of memory. She preferred the pain of looking back to the emptiness of blind escape. She chose the past— its beauty, its ruin, its truth—over the safety of an unknown future. And for that, she was turned to salt,” she says. “I've always seen that pillar not as punishment, but as a monument.” 

On her new album, Maya gives voice to this nameless biblical figure who, for her, became “a symbol of all the women who have been punished for remembering, for feeling too much, for refusing to move on. I imagined her not as a cautionary tale, but as a witness. A woman who couldn’t unsee what she had loved. A woman who dared to turn around.”

At the album's core is Missy Mazzoli's Salt, a powerful mini-opera for alto voice, amplified cello and electronics, featuring text by celebrated screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson and vocals by the extraordinary performer Helga Davis. Maya describes the work as, “a conversation across time: Lot's Wife speaking from her 'salted jail' to the future.” She adds, “Playing this piece feels like uncovering a fossilized voice—fragile, ancient, and ferociously present.”

The album weaves together works that meditate on these central themes of remembrance, resistance, and reflection, including Maya’s arrangements of Gluck’s Melody from Orfeo ed Euridice, Tavener's Lament to Phaedra and Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna, which she approaches as musical explorations of mythic women condemned for their profound longing. 

Clarice Jensen’s Salt Air, Salt Earth conjures a sonic landscape that seems to evoke geological time. Maya describes the piece as, “playing through sediment—layers of ancient sound and sensation, buried but not gone.” Jensen has said she was inspired both by the story of Lot’s Wife and the ancient ritual of “salting the earth” of a conquered city.

Maya’s reimagining of Meredith Monk's Hocket examines memory and fragmentation—of two voices within one instrument. Her reconstruction of Shedemati, a song from her childhood in Israel, is performed with the compelling vocal artist Odeya Nini. She says of the piece, which she has known for most of her life, “I felt the bittersweet pull of land, loss, and identity. My ancestors sang it as pioneers; I now play it as a mourner.”

The album concludes with Purcell's When I Am Laid in Earth, which Maya calls, “not just an ending—but a laying to rest.” 

“In January 2025, we were deep in the making of this album as fires raged across Los Angeles, war tore through the Middle East, and political discourse in the U.S. grew ever more ominous,” Maya adds. “In this moment, Salt feels uncannily timely.”

About Maya Beiser:

Hailed by The Washington Post as “the reigning queen of avant-garde cello,” Maya Beiser is a cellist, sound artist, and musical innovator whose work has redefined the scope of contemporary classical performance. Raised on a commune in the Galilee Mountains of Israel by her Argentinean father and French mother, Beiser grew up immersed in the music and rituals of Jews, Muslims, and Christians—an early fusion of worlds that continues to shape her boundary-defying artistic vision.

A Yale graduate and United States Artists Distinguished Fellow, Beiser has performed on the world’s most iconic stages, from Carnegie Hall to the Barbican, challenging norms and reinventing the solo cello as an expansive sonic canvas. Her fifteen solo albums—many topping classical charts—span reimagined masterpieces, original works, and cinematic collaborations. She is the featured soloist on numerous film soundtracks and a sought-after collaborator across genres and continents.

As the founder of Islandia Music Records, Beiser creates projects with deep cultural, spiritual, and social resonance—pushing the art-music genre into uncharted territory. 

For more information, visit www.mayabeiser.com.

Track Listing: 

Maya Beiser: Salt
Islandia Music Records
Release Date: August 1, 2025 

1-5 Salt [21:35]
Composed by Missy Mazzoli, text by Erin Cressida Wilson
Featuring Helga Davis, vocals 

6 Lament to Phaedra [14:31]
Composed by John Tavener, arranged by Maya Beiser 

7 Hocket [5:54]
Composed by Meredith Monk, reimagined by Maya Beiser 

8 Melody from Orfeo ed Euridice [3:56]
Composed by C. W. Gluck, arranged by Maya Beiser 

9 Salt Air, Salt Earth [15:28]
Composed by Clarice Jensen 

10 Lament d’Ariana [4:54]
Composed by Claudio Monteverdi, arranged by Maya Beiser 

11 Shedemati [5:06]
Composed by Y. Admon, reimagined by Maya Beiser
Featuring Odeya Nini, vocals 

12 When I am Laid in Earth [7:03]
Composed by Henry Purcell, arranged by Maya Beiser

Total Length: 78:33

All tracks performed by Maya Beiser, cello/electronics 

With:
Track 1-5 Helga Davis, vocals
Track 11 Odeya Nini, vocals 

Produced by Maya Beiser
Engineered and mixed by Dave Cook*
Mastered by Scott Hull

*Missy Mazzoli’s Salt was engineered by Lawson White, edited and mixed by Dave Cook and generously supported by Linda and Stuart Nelson. 

Album design and concept art by Denise Burt
Photos of Maya by Abigail Fenton 

Recorded at The Art at Foothill Farm, Lenox, Massachusetts
Mixed at Area 52 Studios, Saugerties, NY
Mastered at Masterdisk Peekskill, NY 

About Islandia Music Records:

Islandia Music Records is an independent label founded by cellist and producer Maya Beiser. A home for boundary-breakers and sonic visionaries, it brings together avant-garde musicians, visual artists, sound designers, and technologists to forge new frontiers in art and sound.

Maya Beiser by Abigail Fenton, available in high resolution here.

May-June: GatherNYC presents Guitarist Rupert Boyd and Orpheus + Boyd Meets Girl - Mindful Musical Mornings at MAD in Columbus Circle - Sundays at 11AM

GatherNYC Continues 2024-2025 Season in NYC
at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Columbus Circle

Every Other Sunday Morning at 11AM
Mindful Musical Mornings Include Spoken Word and Brief Celebration of Silence 

Coming Up:

 5/25 Rupert Boyd, guitar
6/8 Orpheus + Boyd Meets Girl

“thoughtful, intimate events curated with refreshing eclecticism by its founders, the cellist Laura Metcalf and the guitarist Rupert Boyd, complete with pastries and coffee – The New Yorker 

“A sweet chamber music series” – The New York Times 

“Impressive Aussie/American led concert series proves music can be a religion.” – Limelight Magazine

 Museum of Arts and Design | The Theater at MAD | 2 Columbus Circle | NYC

Tickets & Information: www.gathernyc.org

New York, NY – GatherNYC, a revolutionary concert experience founded in 2018 by cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd, concludes its 2024-2025 season at the series’ home venue, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) (2 Columbus Circle) with two upcoming concerts -- guitarist Rupert Boyd on May 25 and Orpheus + Boyd Meets Girl on June 8. Concerts are held every other Sunday at 11am in The Theater at MAD. Coffee and pastries are served before each performance at 10:30am. Admission for children under 12 is free.

Guests at GatherNYC are served exquisite live classical music performed by New York’s immensely talented artists, artisanal coffee and pastries, a taste of the spoken word, and a brief celebration of silence. The entire experience lasts one hour and evokes the community and spiritual nourishment of a religious service – but the religion is music, and all are welcome.

Spoken word artists perform briefly at the midpoint of each concert, many of whom are winners of The Moth StorySLAM events. “It’s an interesting moment of something completely different from the music, and it often connects with the audience,” Metcalf told Strings magazine in a feature about the series last year. “Then we have a two-minute celebration of silence when we turn the lights down, centering ourselves in the center of the city. Then the lights come back on, and the music starts again out of the silence. We find that the listening and the feeling in the room changes after that.”

Metcalf and Boyd say, “We have been thrilled to return to the beautiful Museum of Arts and Design, offering 17 concerts throughout our 2024-25 season, our largest lineup yet. We look forward to inviting audiences to join us for these mindful, musical mornings with world-class artists in an intimate, unique setting – complete with spoken word, silence, coffee and a communal, welcoming environment.” 

Up Next, Sundays at 11AM:

May 25: Rupert Boyd, guitar
GatherNYC artistic director and classical guitar virtuoso Rupert Boyd takes listeners on a journey across centuries and continents on the six strings of his guitar. From Malian kora music to atmospheric sounds from Japan to contemporary music from his home country of Australia to classic works for the Spanish guitar, Boyd’s riveting program has something for everyone. 

June 8: Orpheus + Boyd Meets Girl
Building on a highly successful collaboration during the 2023-24 season, GatherNYC artistic directors Laura Metcalf and Rupert Boyd in their duo formation of Boyd Meets Girl once again team up with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for an expanded collaborative program featuring classical favorites and creative, virtuosic takes on popular tunes. 

For tickets and information, visit www.gathernyc.org.

Press photos available here.

Sony Classical Celebrates 90th Birthday of Visionary American Composer Terry Riley with Terry Riley - The Columbia Recordings - Out August 22

SONY CLASSICAL CELEBRATES THE 90TH BIRTHDAY OF
VISIONARY AMERICAN COMPOSER TERRY RILEY

 WITH THE RELEASE OF
TERRY RILEY – THE COLUMBIA RECORDINGS
ON AUGUST 22, 2025 | PRE-ORDER NOW

THE DEFINITIVE REISSUE OF TERRY RILEY’S PIONEERING WORKS
PACKAGED IN A NEW FOUR-DISC SET HIGHLIGHTING HIS REVOLUTIONARY RECORDINGS 

IN C / A RAINBOW IN CURVED AIR / CHURCH OF ANTHRAX / SHRI CAMEL
PLUS A 50-PAGE BOOKLET WITH RARE STUDIO PHOTOS AND ESSAYS

One of the most consequential musicians of the 20th century – the visionary American composer Terry Riley – is celebrated with the Sony Classical release of Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings.  Set for release on August 22 and available for pre-order now, the four-disc box set includes Terry Riley’s unique recordings for Columbia Masterworks between 1968 and 1980 that changed the direction and expanded the range of late 20th-century music. 

Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings box set includes the albums In C (1968); A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969); Church of Anthrax (1971, in collaboration with John Cale of the Velvet Underground); and Shri Camel (1980), all made for Columbia Masterworks at a time when the label was boldly embracing new directions in American music. This collection offers an essential document of Riley’s most transformative period when the pulse of innovation met the possibilities of high-fidelity sound.

In addition to all four complete recordings and rarely seen archival photographs from recording sessions in Columbia’s fabled 30th Street Studios in Manhattan, Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings includes a 50-page booklet featuring first-hand reflections from David Behrman, the original producer of In C and A Rainbow in Curved Air; and an essay by Thomas M. Welsh, Terry Riley’s longtime manager and archivist; and reprints of all essays and notes from the original vinyl releases.

“The magic of Terry Riley’s music derives from many worlds, among them the minimalist world, the indeterminate world, and the music of the world,” Grammy-nominated producer and former Sony Masterworks executive Tom Laskey wrote in his essay for Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings. “And the way it all fuses together creates its own world. And like going to a new world, maybe it’s awkward at first. And then, maybe, it’s like you’ve lived there all your life. Or maybe your experience of listening to Terry’s music is like mine: it’s not the world I live in, but when I visit, I don’t want to leave.”

Terry Riley, a Californian who celebrates his 90th birthday in June, is widely regarded as the father of minimalist music, particularly because of the electrifying, global impact that In C had when the recording was released in 1968 as a part of Columbia’s Music of Our Time series.

The composer’s ideas had an immediate impact on other innovators in the 1960s, a group that included Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and La Monte Young, all eventually recognized as key figures in the minimalist movement. (Young was an early friend and collaborator of Riley’s, and Reich was among the performers in the original concert performance of In C.) Modern jazz and Indian classical music were basic influences on Riley’s work, as well as the potential in improvisation and the expressive possibilities in tape and electronic music.

It was the impact of the recording of In C – perhaps because it revealed to a mass audience such an epic, indescribable but mesmerizing new musical expression – signaled a turning point in 20th-century music, a rare instance when the avant garde and a liberated audience converged in a popular commercial success for a musical visionary with a major American record label.

Terry Riley’s rich musical life has continued through the decades to explore the potential of his musical ideas, building on the early success and his four seminal recordings for Columbia Masterworks.

TERRY RILEY – THE COLUMBIA RECORDINGS - SET CONTENTS:

DISC 1 - CD
1 In C (2009 Remastered)

DISC 2 – CD

1 A Rainbow in Curved Air
2 Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band
3 A Rainbow in the Curved Air (Radio Spot) (Bonus Track)

DISC 3 – CD
1 Church of Anthrax
2 The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles
3 The Soul of Patrick Lee
4 Ides of March
5 The Protégé

DISC 4 – CD
1 Anthem of the Trinity
2 Celestial Valley
3 Across the Lake of the Ancient World
4 Desert of Ice

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit  www.sonymusicmasterworks.com/.

California Symphony Presents Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed - Classes for the Classically Curious in July

California Symphony Presents
Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed in July

Four Thursday Evening Classes from July 10-31, 2025, 6:30-8pm
Hosted by Award-Winning Instructor Scott Foglesong 

Chateau Room at Pleasant Hill Senior Center
233 Gregory Lane | Pleasant Hill, CA
Registration $30 for 4 Classes: www.californiasymphony.org/shows/fresh-look-the-symphony-exposed 

“the most forward-looking organization around” –Mercury News

www.californiasymphony.org 

WALNUT CREEK, CA –  California Symphony presents Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed this July, expanding access to music education and offering a fun and informative introduction to classical music for “classically curious” adults in the Bay Area. Hosted by award-winning instructor Scott Foglesong, the four-part summer lecture series will be held on Thursdays, July 10, 17, 24, and 31, 2025 from 6:30-8pm at Pleasant Hill Senior Center (233 Gregory Lane). Fresh Look provides an introduction to classical music and the rich offerings of California Symphony, making classical music and the orchestra accessible to a broader audience. 

Previous participants of the program have described the course as “most enjoyable, very accessible to all, and PACKED with good info and good listening!” and called Scott Foglesong as “knowledgeable and enthusiastic” with a “sense of humor and breadth of knowledge.” Scott Foglesong has been lecturing about music since 2011, first as a Professor of Music for the University of San Francisco’s Fromm Institute, followed by posts at the University of California, Berkeley, and, most recently, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has also served as pre-concert lecturer for the San Francisco Symphony, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and California Symphony.

The Fresh Look curriculum – which was developed by Scott Foglesong, California Symphony Music and Artistic Director Donato Cabrera, and General Manager Sunshine Deffner – explores the instruments of the orchestra, different musical periods and styles — including one class that focuses almost exclusively on Beethoven — and the state of classical music today. As a special end-of-course treat, the final class includes a live performance and Q&A with California Symphony musicians.The fee for Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed is $30 for the entire course, which can be redeemed toward the purchase of any adult-price California Symphony ticket for a 2025-26 season concert.

Since its initial launch in partnership with the Walnut Creek Library in 2018, the course has developed steady participation and interest among the Walnut Creek community. With a target of 25 participants, the 2018 pilot series attracted 63 individuals and in summer 2024 reached venue capacity with 160 people enjoying the course. In order to meet this demand, for Fresh Look’s seventh year, California Symphony has partnered with Pleasant Hill Senior Center. 

Fresh Look exemplifies California Symphony’s dedication to strengthening music education and access within their local community. Of the Symphony’s many nationally recognized education and community programs – including their acclaimed Young American Composer-in-Residence program, the nationally recognized Sound Minds program for underserved local students, and Education Concerts initiative for Title I schools in the Walnut Creek area – California Symphony is committed to providing diverse programming that provides an accessible entry point to top-tier classical music for all age groups and education levels.

About Scott Foglesong: Scott Foglesong is a pianist, musician, teacher, writer, cat-lover, music history devotée, occasional computer geek and sometime programmer. He has been on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1978; nowadays he serves as a department chair in addition to enjoying the honor of educating some of today's most promising young musicians. In 2008 he was named recipient of the Sarlo Family Foundation Award for excellence in teaching. He has taught Music 27 (Introduction to Music) for the Fall Freshman program at UC Berkeley since 1991, is associated with the San Francisco Symphony, both as a Contributing Writer and as an "Inside Music" lecturer for the Symphony's weekly subscription concerts, and is Program Annotator for the California Symphony, after formerly serving in the same capacity for the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, New Hampshire Music Festival, and Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra. Professor Foglesong was formally educated at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the San Francisco Conservatory, but his informal education continues everywhere, without cease.

About California Symphony:  Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera since 2013. It is distinguished by its vibrant concert programs that span the breadth of orchestral repertoire, including works by American composers and by living composers. Its concert season at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California serves a growing number of music lovers from across the Bay Area.

California Symphony believes that the concert experience should be fun and inviting, and its mission is to create a welcoming, engaging, and inclusive environment for the entire community. Through this commitment to community, imaginative programming, and its support of emerging composers, California Symphony is a leader among orchestras in California and a model for regional orchestras everywhere.

Since 1991, California Symphony's three-year Young American Composer-in-Residence program has provided a composer with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to collaborate with the orchestra over three consecutive years to create, rehearse, premiere, and record three major orchestra compositions, one each season. Every Composer-in-Residence has gone on to win top honors and accolades in the field, including the Rome Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Grammy Awards, and more. 

The orchestra's nationally recognized educational initiative Sound Minds impacts students' trajectories by providing instruction for violin or cello and musicianship skills. Sound Minds has proven to contribute directly to improved reading and math proficiencies and character development, as students set and achieve goals, learn communication and problem-solving skills, and gain self-confidence. Inspired by the El Sistema program of Venezuela, the program is offered completely free of charge to the students and families of Downer Elementary School in San Pablo, California.

Through its innovative adult education program Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed, California Symphony provides lifelong learners a fun-filled introduction to the orchestra and classical music. Led by celebrated educator and California Symphony program annotator Scott Foglesong, these live classes are held over four weeks in the summer annually and are available to stream online year-round.

In 2017, California Symphony became the first orchestra with a public statement of a commitment to diversity. Its website is available in both Spanish and English.

Reaching far beyond the performance hall, since 2020 the orchestra's concerts have been broadcast nationally on multiple radio series through Classical California (KUSC/KDFC) and the WFMT Radio Network, reaching over 1.5 million listeners across the country.

For more information, visit CaliforniaSymphony.org.

June 20: GRAMMY®-Nominated Neave Trio Releases La Mer – New Album on Chandos Records Featuring the Music of Debussy (arr. Sally Beamish), Saint-Saëns, and Bonis

GRAMMY®-Nominated Neave Trio Releases La Mer
New Album on Chandos Records

Featuring the Music of
Claude Debussy (arr. Sally Beamish), Camille Saint-Saëns, and Mel Bonis

Listen to the First Single – Out Now
Saint-Saëns’s Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 92, Mvt. II

Worldwide Release: June 20, 2025
Pre-Order Available Now

Downloads and CDs available to press on request

“Passion, vibrancy and a riot of colours” –The Strad

“I was spellbound by the generous and warm-hearted, utterly beguiling playing” –BBC Music Magazine

www.neavetrio.com | www.chandos.net

On June 20, 2025, the GRAMMY®-nominated Neave Trio (violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura), releases La Mer, the ensemble’s seventh album on Chandos Records. Following the folk-inspired program of Neave’s 2024 album Rooted, La Mer is a celebration of French works for piano trio focused on three pieces composed around the turn of the twentieth century – Trio No. 2, Op. 92 in E minor by Camille Saint-Saëns; Soir-Matin, Op. 76 by Mel Bonis; and La Mer by Claude Debussy, arranged by Sally Beamish. The first single, the second movement of Saint-Saëns’s Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 92, is out now – listen here.

With this album, the Neave Trio continues its dedication to crafting compelling recordings with inspired thematic focus – a passion that has thrived since the release of Musical Remembrances in 2022, which was nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble category.

“Together, these works form a richly textured soundscape, capturing the sea’s many forms: majestic, mysterious, and vulnerable,” says the Neave Trio. “In creating La Mer, we sought not only to explore the emotional range of this repertoire, but to reflect on our shared connection to the natural world — and the urgent need to preserve its beauty.”

The album’s titular work is Claude Debussy's orchestral masterpiece La Mer, as arranged by Sally Beamish. This three-movement symphonic work presented Beamish with an exceptional challenge. Beamish says she strove to “reinvent Debussy's orchestral score with the piano trio in mind… This meant exploring what strings and piano can do in terms of texture and concentrating on idiomatic and natural techniques.” By studying and recreating Debussy's colors and textures, rather than attempting to transcribe every note, Beamish produced an arrangement that presents the performers and listeners with a completely new perspective on these well-loved seascapes.

Saint-Saëns’ Piano Trio No. 2 dates from 1892. Unusually for Saint-Saëns, the work took a great deal of time from conception to completion – over five years – and then went through several subsequent revisions before Saint-Saëns was finally satisfied. Though smaller in scale, Mel Bonis’s two pieces, Soir and Matin, are equally powerful works, bridging the worlds of Romanticism and Impressionism. Soir is dominated by a cantabile melody, while Matin is more chromatic and harmonically complex.

Of La Mer’s oceanic theme and its connection with the musicality of the works on the album, the Neave Trio says:

“La Mer is a meditation on the sea – its power, fragility, and timeless mystery. At a time when the ocean is more than ever at the center of our global consciousness, we were drawn to music that explores, whether overtly or in more subtle ways, the sea’s emotional and atmospheric depths. Sally Beamish’s masterful arrangement of Debussy’s La Mer for piano trio anchors the album – preserving the vast scope and color of the original while offering an intimate and transparent new lens. While the works by Camille Saint-Saëns and Mel Bonis are not programmatic in the same way, we felt they resonate with Debussy’s vision. Each offers a vivid, almost visual impression of motion, power, atmosphere, and beauty. The opening of the Saint-Saëns Trio No. 2 rolls forward with the momentum of crashing waves, while Bonis’s trio evokes a glowing sonic landscape – fluid, layered, and alive.”

The Neave Trio has emerged as one of the finest young ensembles of its generation. It has been praised by WQXR Radio in New York City, with the station noting the alignment of the trio’s unique name and exemplary musicality: “'Neave' is actually a Gaelic name meaning 'bright' and 'radiant', both of which certainly apply to this trio's music making." The trio is also described by The Strad as having "elegant phrasing and deft control of textures," and praised by The New York Times for its "excellent performances."

Previous albums include Rooted (Chandos, 2024), which celebrates the folk inspired music of Bedřich Smetana, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Josef Suk, and Frank Martin; Musical Remembrances (Chandos, 2022), which features Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1, Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8, and Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 67; the highly celebrated Her Voice (Chandos, 2019), which features the works of women composers ​​Louise Farrenc, Amy Beach, and Rebecca Clarke; A Room of Her Own (Chandos, 2024), the thematic successor to Her Voice that highlights music by Cécile Chaminade, Ethel Smyth, Germaine Tailleferre, and Lili Boulanger – two pairs of women composers from two different generations; French Moments (Chandos, 2018), which includes the only known piano trios by Debussy, Fauré, and Roussel; and Neave’s Chandos debut, American Moments (2016), featuring works by Korngold, Foote, and Bernstein. In 2018, Neave Trio also released its critically acclaimed album, Celebrating Piazzolla (Azica Records, 2018), featuring mezzo-soprano Carla Jablonski.

Formed in 2010, the Neave Trio – currently Ensemble-in-Residence at Virginia Commonwealth University – strives to champion new works by living composers and reach wider audiences through innovative concert presentations, regularly collaborating with artists of all mediums. These collaborations include the premiere of Robert Paterson’s Triple Concerto with the Mostly Modern Orchestra under the direction of JoAnn Falletta; D-Cell: an Exhibition & Durational Performance, conceived and directed by multi-disciplinary visual artist David Michalek; the commissioning and premiere of Vast Palette – a new work by Jennifer Higdon – and Gathering Light, a collaboration with visual artist and Harvard professor Sharon Harper; in the premiere of Klee Musings by acclaimed American composer Augusta Read Thomas; in the premiere of Eric Nathan’s Missing Words V, sponsored by Coretet; in Leah Reid’s Cloud Burst for piano trio and electronics; in Dale Trumbore’s Another Chance; and in a music video by filmmaker Amanda Alvarez Díaz of Astor Piazzolla’s "Otoño Porteño.” The Neave Trio’s latest project is Rising, a collaboration with Pigeonwing Dance, composer Robert Sirota, and choreographer Gabrielle Lamb. Rising is a meditation not only on rising temperatures and sea levels but also on humanity’s rising awareness of our connection to and dependence on the Earth’s oceans.

For more information, visit www.neavetrio.com.

La Mer – French Works for Piano Trio | Neave Trio | Chandos Records
Release Date: June 20, 2025 (Worldwide)
Recorded July 23-25, 2024 at Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, England

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): Trio No. 2, Op. 92 in E minor • in e-Moll • en mi mineur for Piano, Violin, and Cello
À Madame la Vicomtesse de Guitaut (née Anna Hoskier) (1892) [32:51]

[1] I. Allegro non troppo [11:10]
[2] II. Allegretto – Allegro – Allegretto – Allegro –
Allegretto (poco meno) – A tempo ma tranquillo [5:44]
[3] III. Andante con moto [4:11]
[4] IV. Grazioso, poco allegro [4:13]
[5] V. Allegro – Allegro moderato [7:32]

Mel [Mélanie Hélène Domange, née] Bonis (1858-1937): Soir-Matin, Op. 76 for Piano Trio (1907) [8:16]
[6] Soir. Andante cantabile – Cédez un peu [4:19]
[7] Matin. Andantino – Più vivo [3:56]

Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918): La Mer (The Sea) (1903-05) [23:58]
Arranged by Sally Beamish (b. 1956)

Three Symphonic Sketches for Orchestra
À Jacques Durand – 1905
Arranged 2013 (revised 2015) for Piano Trio

[8] I. De l’aube à midi sur la mer [8:00]
[9] II. Jeux de vagues [7:51]
[10] III. Dialogue du vent et de la mer [8:05]

Total Time: [65:05]

Recording producer: Jonathan Cooper
Sound engineer: Jonathan Cooper
Editor: Jonathan Cooper
Front cover Photograph of Neave Trio by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
Back cover Photograph by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
Design and Typesetting: Cass Cassidy
Chandos Records Ltd, Colchester, Essex CO2 8HX, England

June 21: Garden of Memory – Beloved Summer Solstice Concert Presented by New Music Bay Area and Chapel of the Chimes

Photo credit: Ted Sapphire

Garden of Memory
Beloved Bay Area Concert Set for Summer Solstice on June 21

Presented by New Music Bay Area and Chapel of the Chimes

Celebrating Performers and Composers of the Bay Area

Saturday, June 21, 2025, 5-9pm
Chapel of the Chimes | 4499 Piedmont Avenue | Oakland, CA
Parking is limited. Public transit and carpooling are recommended.

Tickets ($20 general, $15 students & seniors, $5 children 5-12) available through Eventbrite.
No tickets sales on-site; online sales only; Limited to 3000 Tickets

More information: www.gardenofmemory.com

Oakland, CA – On Saturday, June 21, 2025 from 5-9pm, New Music Bay Area and Chapel of the Chimes present Garden of Memory at the Chapel of the Chimes (4499 Piedmont Avenue). The beloved annual summer solstice celebration commemorates the year’s longest day with an exciting and inspiring variety of musical performances. Tickets, which will be available through online sales only, are limited to 3000. There is no waitlist.

Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a walk-through fun house of musical and visual splendor” and by the East Bay Times as “the best party of the year,” this highly anticipated and regularly sold-out solstice event features an abundance of performances happening concurrently throughout the gorgeous grounds of the Chapel of the Chimes. Composers, musicians, sound artists, and other performers present a wide assortment of music – acoustic, solo, group, electronic – sound installations, and interactive events. Those in attendance are free to explore the multilevel labyrinth of the iconic columbarium’s interior gardens, cloisters, stairwells, fountains, alcoves, pools, and antechambers during the performances. There is no formal schedule and artists are tucked into virtually every available space, leading to a myriad of possibilities around how each person can plot out their journey and personal experience with the music throughout the day.

Since 1996, New Music Bay Area, a nonprofit organization which provides opportunities and information to composers and performers of new music throughout the Bay Area, has hosted the Garden of Memory solstice concert every year on June 21. Board president and Bay Area-based pianist Sarah Cahill came up with the idea after wandering into the Chapel of the Chimes, and now Cahill and fellow board member Lucy Farber Mattingly organize the concert each year, in collaboration with the small board of New Music Bay Area and the Chapel of the Chimes.

Cahill recalls, “As I meandered around the building, I heard distant organ music, and tried to follow the sound to its source, through a labyrinth of magical gardens and gothic alcoves with the afternoon light filtering through stained glass. I imagined putting musicians all around this maze, so that when you turn a corner you might encounter a string quartet or an electronic music installation or a Georgian choir. So that's what we did.”

Highlights of this year’s performers and programming include:

Sarah Cahill is a “fiercely gifted” (New York Times) pianist and champion of new music. She has commissioned and premiered over seventy compositions for solo piano. For her performance, Cahill will fill the gorgeous Chimes Chapel with the sounds of composer Terry Riley’s music in honor of his 90th birthday on June 24. Cahill’s program will include Be Kind to One Another, Keyboard Studies, and Fandango on the Heaven Ladder.

Esotérica Tropical (created by singer-songwriter María José Montijo) is a queer Boricua bruja who transcends musical boundaries with her commanding voice, intuitive folk harp, and a fusion of Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba rhythms and electronic innovation. Her work boldly challenges colonial mentality, advocating for sovereignty and surrealism.

Kaitlin McSweeney is a visual artist, musician and writer. She works in several healing modalities (yoga, meditation, astrology, tarot) and is inspired by collaboration. As part of her performance, McSweeney will invite listeners to contribute notes, prayers, and wishes on small strips of paper, and then integrate their words into voice and cello loops, gradually creating an altar of sorts.

The Cornelius Cardew Choir is a SF Bay Area-based vocal performance ensemble that sings at the intersection of community and experimental music, strongly influenced by Cardew and his circle in the 1960s in England. Inspired by the experimental music tradition, Pauline Oliveros, John Cage and others, the Cardew Choir intends their mutually supportive work to be compassionate, joyful and liberating political action. The choir will invite audience members to join them during a four-hour performance of Pauline Oliveros' Heart Chant, the first time the ensemble has performed it indoors since the pandemic.

Liu Xi「柳溪」(Willow Stream) Diana Rowan and Winnie Wong form a dynamic duo that merges the ethereal sounds of the Celtic harp and the timeless resonance of the Chinese guzheng. Drawing upon their rich cultural heritages, they create a musical experience that transcends borders and eras, blending Chinese and Celtic traditions with the vibrant, multicultural energy of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Matt Robidoux is a San Francisco based composer, improviser, and educator interested in the convergence of movement and sound as it relates to free improvisation and accessibility. Their primary instrument is the “corn synth” — (Kinetically Operated Randomness Network) a modular system that interprets physical input from two “ears of corn” sculptures cast in aluminum. Physical interactions with the architecture will directly translate into sound—each movement of the body intertwined in acoustic events revealing the unique resonant qualities of these sacred spaces.

Additional artists confirmed to perform this year, many of whom are familiar in the Bay Area, include:

The Dennis Aman/Andy Meyerson Problem; Amendola/Manring/Evangelista Trio; Anne Hege, Julie Herndon & Rachel Beetz; Beth Custer; Brenda Hutchinson and the dailybell ensemble; Cornelius Cardew Choir; duo B.; Dylan Mattingly; Edward Schocker; Fred Frith Trio; freeHorn Ensemble (Krys Bobrowski, Giacomo Fiore, Amy Beal and guests); Gino Robair‘s Radical Divination; Harmonic Drift; Jens Ibsen & Tin Yi Chelsea Wong; Joel St. Julien; John Benson’s Vibrating Milk; John Schott & Cecilia Engelhart; Kaitlin McSweeney; Kitka; Kristin Norderval; Laura Inserra; Liam Herb; Majel Connery + Jonathan Vinocour; Matt McBane; Matt Robidoux; The Mycos Project; Orchestra Nostalgico; Pamela Z; Paul Dresher & Joel Davel; Plonsey Scheme (Dan Plonsey & family); Randy Porter; Ray-Kallay Duo; Regular Music; Rova Saxophone Quartet; Shanti Lalita; Sidney Chen; SoRIAH with Thomas Dimuzio; Stephen Kent; Thea Farhadian; Theresa Wong & Kanoko Nishi-Smith; Wayne Grim; Wendy Reid, Lulu & the Bird Ensemble; and Xxhe; Zachary James Watkins.

Garden of Memory offers a unique and personal musical experience to every listener roving freely through the Chapel of the Chimes. Getting lost is part of the experience as guests climb up and down the three floors of this Oakland Historic Landmark building and its unique architectural elements, which rise into vaulted ceilings. Seamless in feel, there are three separate design sections created by four architects; Cunningham & Politeo 1909, Julia Morgan 1926-1951 (consulting until her retirement 1951), Aaron Green 1956-1986 and JST Architects 1986-1998. In the older section the complexity of chapels, columbaria, and mausoleum areas are adorned with murals, paintings, sculpture, mosaics, California tile and 16th century antiquities. All architectural and garden areas have excellent acoustics and are illuminated by gentle natural light, often through beautiful arrangements of stained glass.

Drawing crowds of over four thousand people in past years (including a large number of children), Garden of Memory has become a favorite summer solstice celebration for Bay Area audiences.  Information about performances, directions, parking, accessibility, food/beverage, and is available at www.gardenofmemory.com.

Chapel of the Chimes, the largest above-ground cemetery west of the Mississippi, started out as a street car station and became the California Memorial Crematorium and Columbarium in 1909. The property was expanded and transformed by Julia Morgan and later, Aaron Green – a protégé of Frank Lloyd Wright. The lobby and hallways feature artwork by Diego Rivera, a marble table top from the Medici family crest and a page from the Gutenberg Bible.

The facility’s numerous chapels, columbaria, and mausoleum areas are adorned with antiquities that date back to the 16th century. All architectural and garden areas have excellent acoustics and are illuminated by gentle natural light, often through beautiful arrangements of stained glass.

June 14-23: Telegraph Quartet Comes to Mount Gretna for Artist Residency with Gretna Music – Seven Performances in Nine Days

Photo of the Telegraph Quartet by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution here.

Award-Winning Telegraph Quartet Comes to Mount Gretna for Nine-Day Artist Residency with Gretna Music from June 14-23

The Quartet will Perform Seven Concerts including
Music with Silent Films, Concerts for Kids, and House Concerts

“soulfulness, tonal beauty and intelligent attention to detail ... an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape.” – San Francisco Chronicle

Tickets & More Information

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Mt. Gretna, PA – The Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group described by The Strad as having "precise tuning, textural variety and impassioned communication,” will be Gretna Music’s 2025 Artists-in-Residence this summer, giving a total seven performances over nine days from June 14-23, 2025 with events taking place at Mt. Gretna Playhouse (200 Pennsylvania Ave) and Hall of Philosophy (212 Gettysburg Ave.), and private residences. As part of the residency, the Telegraph will perform a wide variety of classical works both historical and modern, will connect with the community through interactive programs dedicated to children and families, and through intimate house concerts presented around the Mt. Gretna area.

The Telegraph Quartet formed in 2013 with an equal passion for standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape” and “powerfully adept… with a combination of brilliance and subtlety,” the Telegraph Quartet was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

This residency will bring the Telegraph Quartet together with the Mt. Gretna community in ways that illuminate the group’s exemplary musicianship and affinity for educational experiences. Audiences can choose from a variety of settings to hear the group during their time in Mt. Gretna – at more traditional concert venues, at performances for families with younger listeners, or at casual and intimate house concerts. Highlights of the Telegraph Quartet’s performances include a concert featuring the music of Brahms, Henry Cowell, and Béla Bartók on June 15 with cellist Clyde Thomas Shaw and violist Doris Lederer collaborating on the Brahms’ String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36; live music with pianist Jeffrey LaDeur accompanying the screening of short films, including College, the 1927 silent film directed by Buster Keaton on June 19; and a concert featuring music by Rebecca Clarke, Kenji Bunch, and Beethoven on June 22. Telegraph’s free family performances on June 16 and June 23 are open to the public. They will combine live classical music for young audiences, string instrument demonstrations, and an opportunity for children to ask the musicians questions. Full details on the Telegraph Quartet’s performances are below.

The Telegraph Quartet’s latest album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths, was released in 2023 on Azica Records. The first in the Telegraph’s three-album series focused on string quartets of the first half of the 20th century, Divergent Paths explores the bewildering and unbridled creativity of the period through the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Maurice Ravel, whose music on this album weaves threads of great contrast and surprising similarity. The album has been met with critical acclaim, with The New York Times reporting, “[I]n the Schoenberg, they achieve something truly special, meticulously guiding its often wayward progress. At times Schoenberg makes the four strings sound almost orchestral, but the Telegraph players can also make his contrapuntal tangles radiantly clear. Every minute of their account sounds gripping and purposeful, which is one of the highest compliments you can pay the piece.”

More about Telegraph Quartet: The Quartet has performed in concert halls, music festivals, and academic institutions across the United States and abroad, including New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Masters Series, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival. The Quartet is currently the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Michigan.

Notable collaborations include projects with pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein; cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton; violinist Ian Swensen; and the St. Lawrence Quartet and Henschel Quartett. A fervent champion of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, the Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by Osvaldo Golijov, John Harbison, Robert Sirota, and Richard Festinger.

In August 2023, the Telegraph Quartet released its latest album Divergent Paths, the first in a series of recordings titled 20th Century Vantage Points, on Azica Records. This first volume features two works that (to the best of the Quartet’s knowledge) have never been recorded on the same album before: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major and Arnold Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7. Through this series, the Telegraph Quartet intends to explore string quartets of the 20th century – an era of music that the group has felt especially called to perform since its formation. The New York Times praised the Telegraph’s performance as “…full of elegance and pinpoint control…” Divergent Paths follows Into The Light (Centaur, 2018), an album highlighting a gripping set of works by Leon Kirchner, Anton Webern, and Benjamin Britten.

Beyond the concert stage, the Telegraph Quartet seeks to spread its music through education and audience engagement. The Quartet has given master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Collegiate and Pre-College Divisions, through the Morrison Artist Series at San Francisco State University, and abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Telegraph has also served as artists-in-residence at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp, SoCal Chamber Music Workshop, and Crowden Music Center Chamber Music Workshop. In November 2020, the Telegraph Quartet launched ChamberFEAST!, a chamber music workshop in Taiwan. In fall 2020, Telegraph launched an online video project called TeleLab, in which the ensemble collectively breaks down the components of a movement from various works for quartet. In the summers of 2022 and 2024, the Telegraph Quartet traveled to Vienna to work with Schoenberg expert Henk Guittart in conjunction with the Arnold Schoenberg Center, researching all of Schoenberg's string quartets.

For more information, visit www.telegraphquartet.com.

Telegraph Quartet: Gretna Music’s 2025 Artists-in-Residence - Public Events

Telegraph Quartet with Cellist Clyde Thomas Shaw and Violist Doris Lederer
Sunday, June 15, 2025 at 3pm
Mt. Gretna Playhouse | 200 Pennsylvania Ave | Mt. Gretna, PA
Henry Cowell – String Quartet No. 4, “The United”
Béla Bartók – String Quartet No. 2
Brahms – String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36 (with Doris Lederer and Clyde Shaw)
Tickets: www.gretnamusic.org

Free Family Event with the Telegraph Quartet
Monday, June 16, 2025 at 10am
Hall of Philosophy | 212 Gettysburg Ave. | Mt. Gretna, PA
Free and Open to the Public

Music with Film: Buster Keaton Silent Film - College
Telegraph Quartet and Pianist Jeffrey LaDeur
Thursday, June 19 at 7pm
Mt. Gretna Playhouse | 200 Pennsylvania Ave. | Mt. Gretna, PA
Tickets: www.gretnamusic.org

Telegraph Quartet
Sunday June 22, 2025 at 7:30pm
Mt. Gretna Playhouse | 200 Pennsylvania Ave. | Mt. Gretna, PA
Rebecca Clarke: Poem for String Quartet
Kenji Bunch: String Quartet No. 5: "Songs For A Shared Space"
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1
Tickets: www.gretnamusic.org

Free Family Event with the Telegraph Quartet
Monday, June 23, 2025 at 10am
Hall of Philosophy | 212 Gettysburg Ave. | Mt. Gretna, PA
Free and Open to the Public

ECM New Series Celebrates Keith Jarrett: Eighty on May 8

Photo by Rose Anne Colavito

ECM New Series Celebrates Keith Jarrett: Eighty on May 8

Keith Jarrett’s Classical Releases on ECM New Series Include: 

1988: J.S. Bach – The Well-Tempered Klavier, Book I
1988: J.S. Bach – Goldberg Variations
1991: J.S. Bach – The Well-Tempered Klavier, Book II
1992: Dmitri Shostakovich – 24 Preludes and Fugues, Op.87
1993: J.S. Bach – The French Suites
1994: J.S. Bach – Three Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord
1995: G.F. Handel – Suites for Keyboard
1996: W.A. Mozart – Piano Concertos, Masonic Funeral Music, Symphony in G Minor
1999: W.A. Mozart – Piano Concertos, Adagio and Fugue
2013: J.S. Bach – Six Sonatas for Violin and Piano
2015: Barber / Bartók / Jarrett
2023: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Württemberg Sonatas 

Keith Jarrett’s Complete ECM Discography:
www.ecmrecords.com/artists/keith-jarrett

As Keith Jarrett turns 80 today, May 8, ECM reflects with gratitude on an extraordinary musical journey, documented in a discography unprecedented in creative range. 

At ECM the story began with 1971’s Facing You – the first of his many collaborations with producer Manfred Eicher – and it continues with the upcoming New Vienna, due in a few weeks. A relationship of more than half a century at one label, based on artistic affinity and friendship. 

Beyond the legendary improvised solo piano recordings, where the perennially-popular Köln Concert is but one of very many highlights – including Bremen-Lausanne, Sun Bear Concerts,  La Scala, Radiance, Rio, Budapest Concert and more –  there are the great Jarrett bands to consider, each with its profound impact on jazz history. The American quartet with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian, and the European quartet with Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen, were bands of strikingly different temperament. Jarrett’s writing for the groups underlined the individual and collective strengths of the players. And the mystery and intensity of The Survivors’ Suite remain as compelling as the lyricism and buoyancy of Belonging or My Song. The association with Jan Garbarek led to evocative music with string orchestra on Luminessence and Arbour Zena, the latter also featuring Charlie Haden. Jarrett and Haden’s closeness as jazz improvisers is in evidence, too, on the ‘reunion’ albums Jasmine and Last Dance.

For 30 years, Jarrett’s trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette set standards in multiple senses. Raising the bar for interpretive performances of music of the Great American Songbook, honoring the melodies of Broadway songwriters and bebop instrumentalists, but also playing standards with an exhilarating sense of freedom on numerous recordings including the definitive jazz club box set At The Blue Note. And sometimes, indeed, setting standards aside – in albums of sustained group creativity such as Changeless, Inside Out and Always Let Me Go. Also of musical-historical significance: the night when Paul Motian substituted for DeJohnette, documented on At The Deer Head Inn and The Old Country. 

Jarrett’s improvised projects outside of jazz have resolutely defied classification – from experiments with the mighty baroque organ of Ottobeuren Abbey (Hymn/Spheres) to intimate clavichord discoveries (Book of Ways), and multi-instrumental undertakings (Spirits, No End).

A recording of Sacred Hymns introduced the music of G. I. Gurdjieff to a new audience, and Jarrett’s contribution to Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, partnering Gidon Kremer in a realization of Fratres, was no less revelatory or crucial. From the 1980s onwards, in parallel with his jazz activities, he went on to establish himself as an insightful interpreter of music of classical tradition with performances of J.S. Bach and C.P.E. Bach, Händel, Mozart, Shostakovich, Bartók, and Samuel Barber. 

Speaking of his thoughtful Bach renditions, Jarrett once said: “Correct playing has nothing to do with disputes over style.  The first thing to consider is if there is music being made.” Amen.  This has seldom been in question, of course, in any context with Keith Jarrett’s participation!

Newport Classical Announces Executive Director Gillian Fox is Completing her Tenure

Photo by Lisette Rooney for Newport Classical. Available in high resolution here.

Newport, RI – Newport Classical announced today that Gillian Fox, the organization’s Executive Director since 2021, will be stepping down to become the next President and CEO of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, NY, beginning on June 9.

Fox will work closely with the Board and staff through the start of the Music Festival to ensure a smooth transition, returning on July 5 to celebrate her tenure on Opening Night. The Board of Directors has begun the process to launch a robust national search for Newport Classical’s next Executive Director.

Fox leaves Newport Classical in a position of strength, both artistically and structurally. The organization has significantly expanded beyond its annual summertime Newport Classical Music Festival to encompass a wide array of programming that brings exceptional classical music to Newport on an ongoing, year-round basis. In 2021, Newport Classical established a new home at Emmanuel Church on Dearborn Street and opened the Newport Classical Recital Hall. The Chamber Series, held at the Recital Hall from September through June, brings world-class musicians to downtown Newport; Newport Classical’s Community Concerts Series brings free performances to families right in their own neighborhoods; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative has inspired and enriched the lives of over 2,500 children through in-school and community engagements since 2021. The Newport Classical Music Festival has also drawn record numbers of new audience members in the summer, with one-third of patrons attending for the first time, and is known nationally as a destination for live classical music.

Newport Classical Board President Suzanna Laramee says, “In the four and a half years that Gillian has been at Newport Classical she has worked tirelessly with the Board and her staff to bring our organization to international recognition with outstanding artistry and organizational stability, which we are thrilled to sustain and build upon. We are grateful for Gillian’s transformative leadership, which now leaves Newport Classical stronger than ever, with a newly completed three-year strategic plan about to be announced and implemented. Working closely with her has been a distinct pleasure and privilege.”

“It has been a true honor to lead Newport Classical at this remarkable moment in its history,” says Gillian Fox. “This is a magical organization – one that presents truly one-of-a-kind concerts and is supported by an extraordinarily vibrant and passionate community of music lovers. I am deeply grateful for the meaningful relationships I’ve built over the past four and a half years – with the dedicated and talented Board of Directors, the creative and committed staff, and the many generous supporters and patrons. I am especially thankful for the partnership, friendship, and inspiring leadership of Board President Suzanna Laramee and Vice President Steve Huttler. Thank you for welcoming my family and me into this extraordinary community. We will always cherish our time here.” 

Newport Classical continues its spring and summer with a full slate of performances. Tickets are now available for the 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival, which takes place from July 4-22, 2025. Highlights include Opening Night featuring Two Pianos with Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung; two evenings with Broadway star Jessica Vosk, best known for her lead role in Wicked; performances by extraordinary pianists Inon Barnatan, Sara Davis Buechner, and Wynona Wang; celebrated soprano Karen Slack's African Queens project co-commissioned by Newport Classical with a national consortium; the US premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang co-commissioned by Newport Classical with an international consortium; performances by world-class artists including violinist Leila Josefowicz, The Westerlies, Third Coast Percussion, harpist Emily Levin, guitarists Ziggy and Miles, Palaver Strings, Attacca Quartet, Twelfth Night, The Gesualdo Six, Tallā Rouge, Empire Wild, and more; Opera Night: An American Tapestry; and Closing Night with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and violinist Stefan Jackiw. For the fifth year in a row, Newport Classical has commissioned a brand new work to be premiered at the Festival. This year's Composer-in-Residence is Cris Derksen, a Juno-nominated Indigenous cellist and composer, who has written a new work for the Galvin Cello Quartet. 

About Newport Classical

Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 56 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

May 23: Benjamin Appl Honors his Mentor Legendary Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau with Centenary Tribute Album and Extensive Booklet

Baritone Benjamin Appl Pays Tribute to his Mentor Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Coinciding with May 2025 Centenary

For Dieter: The Past and The Future
Album + 140-Page CD Booklet by Appl on Fischer-Dieskau

Worldwide Digital Release Date: May 23, 2025
US CD Release Date: June 20, 2025
Alpha Classics

Pre-Save / Listen to Singles: https://lnk.to/ForDieterAr

“Appl’s voice has a burnished, oaky beauty as well as considerable sweetness, while the interpretations are suffused with a gentle intelligence, an instinct for unforced but direct communication and what feels like a real love for the repertoire.” – Gramophone

Review CDs and downloads available upon request.

www.benjaminappl.de | alpha-classics.com

German baritone Benjamin Appl pays tribute to his teacher and mentor, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (1925-2012), with For Dieter: The Past and The Future, to be released by Alpha Classics worldwide digitally on May 23, 2025 and on CD in the US on June 20, 2025, coinciding with Fischer-Dieskau’s centenary on May 28, 2025. Two singles – Heidenröslein from The Singspielsesenheim by Albert Fischer-Dieskau and Nur Wer Die Sehnsucht Kennt, Op. 6/6 from Tchaikovsky’s Six Romances – are available now. Appl’s next performances in North America include For Dieter concerts presented by San Francisco Performances on October 24, 2025 and Carnegie Hall in New York on October 28, 2025, with additional dates to be announced.

The repertoire on this monumental release is structured to reflect the major stages of Fischer-Dieskau’s incredible life and includes compositions by his family members Albert and Klaus Fischer-Dieskau, repertoire he sang as a soldier during World War II and as an American Prisoner of War in Italy, and pieces that were composed especially for him, as well as favourite lieder by Schubert. Appl is joined on the recording by one of his regular collaborators, pianist James Baillieu. ​

The album also includes a 140-page booklet created by Benjamin Appl, which contains a personal narrative written by Appl alongside historical insights and numerous previously unpublished photos and letters, offering a glimpse into who Fischer-Dieskau was as a person, outside of his obvious public successes and accolades. ​

Benjamin Appl’s musical journey began as a young chorister at the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen; he later continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. Mentored by the legendary Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Appl describes the partnership as, “an invaluable and a hugely formative influence. He [Fischer-Dieskau] is an inspiration – someone who is always searching and seeking a deeper understanding of music and of life. He was a role model for how to prosper as an artist, never just delivering, but each time creating.”

Appl says, “The first time I heard [Fischer-Dieskau’s] voice was at school when I was twelve years old. In 2009, I applied for his master class at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg which was the start of a long and transformative relationship. I was fortunate to work with him on my entire repertoire over countless hours in his homes in Berlin and Bavaria.”

In an excerpt from the booklet, Appl writes of the experience working on this project:

I was very nervous when, on 1 September 2009, I went on stage in front of a full audience to work with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau for the first time. After the four-day course he sent for me, gave me his personal contact details and offered me the opportunity to study with him privately. From that moment onwards I had the incredible fortune of working with him on my entire repertoire for countless hours at his homes in Berlin and Berg until just a few weeks before his death. To this day I regard this experience as one of the greatest gifts of my professional life.

It is thanks to curating this 100th anniversary celebratory album and related concerts that I have been able to spend countless hours over the past months and years studying an immense number of his letters, contracts, programmes, diary entries, photo albums and books. These were very personal moments for me, as they brought me closer not only to Fischer-Dieskau the artist but even more so to the man himself; they sharpened my memories of character traits I knew so well and also allowed me to observe new facets of his multi-lavered personality. This project is intended to provide a subjective representation of Fischer-Dieskau as well as to give an insight into the man behind all the great successes and accolades, and onto what moved him and what shaped him as a human being.

About Benjamin Appl: Benjamin Appl’s exclusive partnership with Alpha began with Winterreise which was received to outstanding critical acclaim in 2021, and released in parallel with a film commissioned by BBC 4 which followed Benjamin’s Winter Journey through the Swiss Alps, with Schubert’s music for company. His eclectic second album Forbidden Fruit followed in 2023, then in 2024, The Christmas Album reached number two on the UK Classical Charts – a recording combining traditional German and English carols with the Regensburger Domspatzen and Munich Radio Orchestra. Lines of Life: Schubert & Kurtág (released February 2025) is an album that celebrates the relationship between Benjamin and György Kurtág, in an intimate collection of performances from Kurtág on piano, alongside many of his own compositions. Appl’s latest release For Dieter: The Past and the Future is an equally heartwarming dedication, this time to his longtime mentor and friend, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, celebrating 100 years since his birth.

Benjamin Appl is a recipient of the prestigious Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award and the title of both BBC New Generation Artist and Echo Rising Star. His career has led him to perform at some of the most prestigious festivals and venues worldwide. In Europe, he appears regularly at London’s Wigmore Hall, Schleswig Holstein, Rheingau, BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festivals, and he has performed at major concert venues including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Royal Albert Hall and Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, to name but a few. Benjamin enjoys regular recitals stateside including at Carnegie Hall, Boston Celebrity Series, Park Avenue Armory New York, Dallas Opera, San Francisco Performances, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.​

Appl’s profile has led him to enjoy some significant musical partnerships with orchestras across the globe, including Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Klaus Mäkelä, Munich Philharmonic/Andrew Manze, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse/Ton Koopman, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Andreas Reize, NHK Symphony Orchestra/Paavo Järvi, Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Staatskapelle Dresden/Christian Thielemann, Philharmonia/Maxim Emelyanychev, Vienna Symphony/Karina Canellakis and many others, in repertoire ranging from Bach to Jörg Widmann.

A versatile artist, Appl enjoys performing on the opera stage. His recent and upcoming roles include Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Papageno in Die Zauberföte.​ www.benjaminappl.com

About James Baillieu: Described by The Daily Telegraph as “in a class of his own,” James Baillieu is one of the leading song and chamber music pianists of his generation, and a Senior Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, alongside a coach for the Jette Parker Young Artist Program at the Royal Opera House. He has given solo and chamber recitals throughout the world and collaborates with a wide range of singers and instrumentalists including Benjamin Appl, Lise Davidsen, the Elias and Heath Quartets, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, and Adam Walker. James has performed at many of the world’s most distinguished music centres including Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera House, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berlin Konzerthaus, and Vienna Musikverein.​ www.james-baillieu.com

Album Track List & Credits:

For Dieter: The Past and The Future | Benjamin Appl, Baritone & James Baillieu, Piano | Alpha Classics
Release Dates: May 23, 2025 (Digital Worldwide); June 20, 2025 (CD, US)
Recorded: April 27-30, 2024 at Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal, Cologne (Germany)

Prologue

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
[1] An Die Musik, D547 (Schober) [2:50]

Childhood in Berlin

Albert Fischer-Dieskau (1865-1937)
[2] Heidenröslein, From The Singspielsesenheim (Goethe)* [2:36]

Klaus Fischer-Dieskau (1921-1994)
[3] Nocturne I, Op. 1/1 (Excerpt) (Dedicated To Mother)* [1:08]
[4] Wehmut, Op. 3/2 (Goethe)* [2:30]

Teenage Years and First Steps as a Singer

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
[5] Wie Bist Du, Meine Königin, Op. 32/9 (Daumer) [3:57]

A Soldier in War 1943-1945

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
[6] Andenken (Matthisson) [2:20]

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
[7] Liebesbriefchen, Op. 9/4 (Honold) [2:29]

Franz Schubert
[8] Strophe Aus “die Götter Griechenlands”, D677 (Schiller) [4:32]

Aribert Reimann (1936-2024)
[9] Tenebrae (Celan) [3:15]

A Prisoner Of War 1945-1947

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
[10] Schöner Abend, L. 84 (Bourget/Fischer-Dieskau) [2:29]

Christian Sinding (1856-1941)
[11] Sylvelin, Op. 55/1 (Vislie/Henzen) [1:42]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
[12] Nur Wer Die Sehnsucht Kennt, Op. 6/6 (Goethe) [3:13]

Eduard Künneke(1885-1953)
[13] Ich Bin Nur Ein Armer Wandergesell (Haller/Rideamus) 1:39

Returning Home In 1947

Fanny Hensel (1805-1847)
[14] Ach, Die Augen Sind Es Wieder (Heine) 1:23

Hanns Eisler (1898-1962)
[15] Die Heimkehr (Brecht) [1:42]

Klaus Fischer-Dieskau (1921-1994)
[16] Aus Schmerzen Und Freuden Geboren, Op. 22/1 (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau)* [2:28]

Birth of Three Sons

Bruno Walter (1876-1962)
[17] Des Kindes Schlaf (Eichendorff) [1:57]

Song Accompanists and Friends

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
[18] An Mein Klavier, D342 (Schubert) [4:04]

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
[19] Proverb III, From Songs and Proverbs of William Blake, Op. 74 (Blake) 0:57

The Bitter Loss of Irmel, His First Wife In 1963

Carl Loewe (1796-1869)
[20] Süßes Begräbnis, Op. 62/4 (Rückert) [2:56]

Death of His Mother Theodora In 1966

Hanns Eisler (1898-1962)
[21] Mutterns Hände (Tucholsky) [2:07]

Marital Life
(Ruth Leuwerik 1965-1967, Kristina Pugell 1968-1975, Julia Varady 1977-2012)

Franz Grothe (1908-1982)
[22] Excerpt From Music For The Film: Vater Braucht Eine Frau [1:26]

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
[23] Liebhaber In Allen Gestalten, D558 (Goethe) [1:38]

Clara Schumann(1819-1896)
[24] Liebst Du Um Schönheit, Op. 12/2 (Rückert) [2:13]

Commissions and World Premieres

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
[25] Hörnersang, Op. 66 from War Requiem (Owen/Fischer-Dieskau) [2:49]

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Three Songs, Op. 45 (1974)
[26] Now I Have Fed and Eaten Up the Rose (Keller/Joyce) [1:59]
[27] A Green Lowland of Pianos (Harsymowicz/Miłosz) [2:15]
[28] O Boundless, Boundless Evening (Heym/Middleton) [3:04]

Teaching and Personal Experiences

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
[29] An die Laute, D905 (Rochlitz) [1:36]

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
[30] Sterb’ ich, so hüllt in Blumen meine Glieder (Heyse) [2:39]

Farewell To Stage

Carl Maria Von Weber (1786-1826)|
[31] Meine Lieder, meine Sänge, Op. 15/1 (Löwenstein-Werthheim) [2:58]

Epilogue

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
[32] Requiem, Op. 90/7 (Dreves) [3:51]

Total Time: 79:00

* World premiere recording

A co-production between Benjamin Appl, Deutschlandradio & Alpha Classics / Outhere Music France 2025
Alpha Classics Director: Didier Martin
Executive Producer: Mascha Drost (Dlfkultur)
Recording Producer: Michael Havenstein
Sound Engineer: Eva Pöpplein
Production: Louise Burel
Editorial coordination: Amélie Boccon-Gibod
French Adaptation: Claire Boisteau
English Translation: Peter Lockwood
Design & Artwork: Valérie Lagarde
Front Cover, Back Cover & Inside Photos (pp. 27, 53, 81, 109, 140): David Ruano
Front Cover: Selbst (dispersion, 75cmx75cm), 1985
p.27: Grunewaldsee (oil, 80cmx60cm), 1961, p.109: Luzern (ink, 15cmx21cm), 1979, p. 140: Selbst (dispersion, 75cmx75cm), 1985
Back Cover: Weg nach Münsing (acrylic/dispersion, 50cmx60cm), 1984

Sony Classical Celebrates Composer John Williams with Historic 3-Volume Set including Soundtracks from First Three Star Wars Films - Available for Pre-Order May 4

Sony Classical Celebrates Composer John Williams

With a Historic 3-Volume Set to be Released Throughout 2025 in Celebration of his Extraordinary Career

John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 1 1969-1990

First Volume of this 3-Part Anthology Showcasing Williams’ Acclaimed Film Scores from 1969 to 1990 

Available July 18, 2025 

PREORDER HERE

The 22-Disc First Volume Includes Original Soundtrack Recordings of the First Three Star Wars Films, Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the First Two Indiana Jones Adventures, Superman, and 18 Other Films

(MAY 4 – NEW YORK, NY) Sony Classical embarks on a definitive, one-of-a-kind celebration of the music of five-time-Oscar®-winning composer John Williams, with the release of John Williams: The Anthology. The three-volume comprehensive collection will be released as three individual box sets throughout 2025. It will encompass the seven-decade career of the most popular and admired composer of his time, plus feature many of the maestro’s original soundtrack recordings and concert music recordings.  

John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 1 1969-1990 is set for release on July 18th and available now preorder. The 22 discs in Volume 1 showcase Williams’ music for 27 films that established him as one of the most influential and imaginative composers in the history of film music. They include his unforgettable scores for the first three Star Wars films, Jaws, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the first two Indiana Jones adventures, Superman and a range of others from The Reivers (1969) to Home Alone (1990).

Three of the scores included in this first volume – Jaws (1975), Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – won Williams the Academy Award® for Best Original Score. Fifteen more Oscar® nominations were accorded to other scores in Volume 1, as well as five BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globes and 14 Grammy® Awards.

“I have often said that without John Williams, bicycles do not fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches or heroes in red capes. Dinosaurs do not walk the earth. Sharks do not terrorize idyllic summer beaches. And Jedi do not return,” the director Steven Spielberg, the composer’s most frequent collaborator, writes in the foreword for this collection.

“Without the magic of John Williams, audiences do not wonder, or weep, or believe. Whether in an elegant concert hall or a darkened cinema, John’s music is instantly recognizable both for its emotional power and its ability to tap into our collective unconscious… to inspire us, to captivate us, and to illuminate our shared journey through the human experience.”

This historic box set retrospective will be completed later this year with the releases of John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 2 1991-2008 and John Williams: The Anthology – Vol. 3 2011-2022.  All three volumes combined will comprise a magnificent 75-disc collection celebrating the most beloved composer of our time. 

JOHN WILLIAMS: THE ANTHOLOGY – VOL. 1 1969-1990

SET CONTENTS:
DISC 1: THE REIVERS
DISC 2: THE COWBOYS 
DISC 3: EARTHQUAKE + THE TOWERING INFERNO 
DISC 4: JAWS + JAWS 2 
DISC 5: STAR WARS (EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE)
DISC 6: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
DISC 7: THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS + 1941
DISC 8: THE FURY 
DISC 9: SUPERMAN 
DISC 10: DRACULA + MONSIGNOR 
DISC 11: STAR WARS (EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)
DISC 12: RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK 
DISC 13: E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
DISC 14: STAR WARS (EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI)
DISC 15: INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM 
DISC 16: SPACECAMP 
DISC 17: THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK 
DISC 18: EMPIRE OF THE SUN 
DISC 19: THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST 
DISC 20: INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
DISC 21: BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY + Always
DISC 22: HOME ALONE 

ABOUT JOHN WILLIAMS 

John Williams began his career in Hollywood in the 1950s, as a studio musician as well as a composer, while also writing music for television. In the mid-1960s, he began scoring major Hollywood films. His rise coincided with that of Steven Spielberg, and the partnership of the two is unique in film history – all but three of the feature films Spielberg has directed since 1974 have had scores by Williams.

The composer is the second-most nominated person (after Walt Disney) in the 97-year history of the Academy Awards. In addition to his five Oscars – out of 54 career nominations – he has won 26 Grammy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, five Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. When he was 91 years of age, Williams became oldest nominee in Oscar history with his nomination for Best Original Score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

John Williams is also a recipient the Kennedy Center Honor (2004), the National Medal of the Arts (2009) and was the only composer to receive the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award (2016). Among his many other honors, he was named by Queen Elizabeth II an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for “services to film music.”

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, Milan Records, XXIM Records, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit  www.sonymusicmasterworks.com

June 8 - Celestial Wind: A Concert Featuring Organist Victoria Sirota and Composer Robert Sirota

Photo by Ryuhei Shindo available in high resolution at: www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/robert-sirota

Celestial Wind
A Concert Featuring Victoria Sirota, Organist
& Robert Sirota, Composer

Presented by
The Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Portland, Maine

Sunday, June 8, 2025 at 2pm
Cathedral Church of St. Luke | 143 State Street | Portland, ME
Suggested Free Will Offering of $15.00
www.stlukesportland.org

“a compelling musical voice of our time”
– The American Organist on Robert Sirota

www.robertsirota.com

Portland, ME – On Sunday, June 8, 2025 at 2pm, organist Victoria R. Sirota and composer/pianist Robert Sirota will give a concert titled Celestial Wind, presented by The Cathedral Church of St. Luke’s (Episcopal) in Portland (143 State Street). For the performance, the married musicians – who have been a part of the Searsmont, Maine community since 1986 – have crafted a thoughtful program of music by J.S. Bach, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Robert Sirota.

Victoria Sirota says, “Bob and I have been each other’s primary muse since before we were married over 50 years ago. Over those years he has written more than a dozen works for organ. This one hour recital, which we are calling Celestial Wind, includes music by two composers who have had a strong influence on our musical and spiritual lives: J.S. Bach and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, as well as three Robert Sirota works: Letters Abroad for Piano and Organ (1982), Celestial Wind (1987), and his most recent organ composition, Prayer (2020).”

Over five decades, composer Robert Sirota has developed a distinctive voice, clearly discernible in all of his work – whether symphonic, choral, stage, or chamber music. Writing in the Portland Press Herald, Allan Kozinn asserts: “Sirota’s musical language is personal and undogmatic, in the sense that instead of aligning himself with any of the competing contemporary styles, he follows his own internal musical compass.”

Sharing a long history intertwined with family, faith, and music, Robert and Victoria will join together for the concert’s collaborative highlight, Letters Abroad for Piano and Organ – a nine-movement work written by Robert Sirota in 1982. Around this extensive work, Victoria Sirota will perform J.S. Bach’s Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, BWV 686, which references a Lutheran hymn of 1524 written by Martin Luther as a paraphrase of the Biblical Psalm 130; Fanny Mendelssohn’s Präludium für Orgel F-Dur, one of the last pieces Mendelssohn wrote before her marriage to Wilhelm Hensel; Robert Sirota’s 2020 composition Prayer for organ; and his 1987 work Celestial Wind – a work also inspired by Biblical scripture which Victoria premiered in 1987.

The central piece of the program, Letters Abroad, is imbued with feelings Robert Sirota experienced during the summer of 1980 when Victoria traveled abroad to pursue research on Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel while he remained in Massachusetts with their young son, Jonah. The work reflects a collection of musical “postcards” Sirota composed in order to, as he says, “ease the pain of separation” from Victoria. Not only does the piece contain a climax that’s intended as an homage to Fanny Mendelssohn but when the Sirotas collaborated on the recording, Robert and Victoria needed to be physically separated by a distance of 100 feet to successfully capture each individual part. Robert Sirota explains that this divide embodies the central metaphor of the work: “The organ and the piano speak to each other over time and space, and create a sense of separation, and ultimately of being reunited.” In this way, both Letters Abroad and Celestial Wind as a whole reflect the kind of personal and artistic intuition for which Robert Sirota is known.

More about Robert Sirota: Robert Sirota’s works have been performed by orchestras across the US and Europe; ensembles such as Alarm Will Sound, Sequitur, yMusic, Chameleon Arts, and Dinosaur Annex; Concerts on the Slope; the Chiara, American, Elmyr, Blair and Telegraph String Quartets; the Peabody, Concord, and Webster Trios; and at festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen, Yellow Barn, and Cooperstown; Bowdoin Gamper and Bowdoin International Music Festival; and Mizzou International Composers Festival. Recent commissions include Jeffrey Kahane and the Sarasota Music Festival, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Palladium Musicum, American Guild of Organists, the American String Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, the Naumburg Foundation, Neave Trio, and yMusic, Thomas Pellaton, Carol Wincenc, Linda Chesis, Trinity Episcopal Church (Indianapolis), and Sierra Chamber Society, as well as arrangements for Paul Simon.

Since 2021, Sirota has presented Muzzy Ridge Concerts, an annual series featuring performances by world-class musicians, in his home studio in Searsmont, Maine. Robert Sirota has received grants from the Guggenheim and Watson Foundations, NEA, Meet the Composer, and the American Music Center. His music is recorded on Legacy Recordings, National Sawdust Tracks, and the Capstone, Albany, New Voice, Gasparo and Crystal labels, and is published by Muzzy Ridge Music, Schott, Music Associates of New York, MorningStar, Theodore Presser, and To the Fore. For complete information, visit www.robertsirota.com.

About Victoria R. Sirota: Victoria Sirota, organist, Episcopal priest and author, holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Boston University and Harvard Divinity School. She has studied organ with Andre Marchal in Paris and Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam and has performed organ recitals in the United States, France and Germany. The Rev. Dr. Sirota has taught at Boston University, Yale Divinity School and Institute of Sacred Music, and The Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary and University. Former National Chaplain for the American Guild of Organists and The Association of Anglican Musicians, she is the author of articles, reviews and texts for hymns, cantatas and song cycles. Her book Preaching to the Choir: Claiming the Role of Sacred Musician is available from Church Publishing, and, in addition to recordings on Northeastern and Gasparo labels, her recording of organ works by Robert Sirota Celestial Wind is available from Albany Records.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Searsmont, ME composer Robert Sirota, whose music is described by The Portland Press Herald as “personal and undogmatic,” and organist Victoria R. Sirota, are presented in concert by The Cathedral Church of St. Luke in Portland, Maine. The Sirotas will perform a program titled Celestial Wind, which features Victoria Sirota on organ and Robert Sirota on piano, performing the music of J.S. Bach, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Robert Sirota.

Short description: Composer Robert Sirota, whose music is described as “personal and undogmatic,” (Portland Press Herald), and organist Victoria R. Sirota are presented by St Luke’s Cathedral performing music by J.S. Bach, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Robert Sirota.

Concert details:

Who: Organist Victoria Sirota and Composer Robert Sirota Presented by
St. Luke’s Cathedral, Portland, ME
What: Music by J.S. Bach, Fanny Mendelssohn, and Robert Sirota
When: Sunday, June 8, 2025 at 2pm
Where: Cathedral Church of St. Luke, 143 State St., Portland, ME
(Suggested free will offering $15)

May 23: ECM New Series Releases Erkki-Sven Tüür's ÆRIS recorded by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra

ECM New Series Releases

Erkki-Sven Tüür: ÆRIS
Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Olari Elts

Release Date: May 23, 2025
ECM 2784

Press downloads and CDs available upon request.

On May 23, 2025, ECM New Series releases ÆRIS, the ninth album on the label to feature the vibrant and highly expressive music of Erkki-Sven Tüür. Olari Elts, a long-time champion of Tüür’s compositions, conducts the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra in compelling, intensely-focused performances of Phantasma, De Profundis and Tüür’s tenth symphony ÆRIS, a vast drama of shifting energies and interactions, which is scored for horn quartet and orchestra. 

The symphony is in four movements that transition seamlessly. Tüür says, “Each movement expresses a different development between the ensemble of soloists and the orchestra. Sometimes their motifs spread into the orchestra like memes that start changing and gradually take on lives of their own.” The album was recorded at Tallinn’s Estonian Concert Hall.

Track List:
1. Phantasma for orchestra (2018) [13:12]
2. Symphony No. 10 "ÆRIS" for horn quartet and orchestra (2021) [29:45]
3. De Profundis for orchestra (2013) [18:01]
Dedicated to Olari Elts

Recorded September 2022
Estonian Concert Hall, Tallinn
Tonmeister: Tammo Sumera
Executive Producer: Manfred Eicher
An ECM Production

Newport Classical Presents April and May Chamber Series Concerts in Downtown Newport

Photos available in high resolution here.

Newport Classical Presents
April and May Chamber Series Concerts in Downtown Newport

Violinist Bella Hristova performs Bach and Grieg
Friday, April 25 at 7:30pm 

Pianist Orion Weiss performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations
Friday, May 16 at 7:30pm

Newport Classical Recital Hall | 42 Dearborn St | Newport, RI
Tickets and Information

Newport, RI – Newport Classical continues its fourth full-season Chamber Series, featuring twelve concerts held on select Fridays at 7:30pm at the organization’s home venue the Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.), with internationally renowned Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova performing on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 7:30pm and one of the most sought-after soloists and chamber music collaborators of his generation, pianist Orion Weiss performing on Friday, May 16, 2025 at 7:30pm. 

Bella Hristova, who has won acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (The New York Times), performs frequently with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, and has given recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and Boston’s Isabella Gardner Museum. She is a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and many other awards, including First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In collaboration with returning pianist Anna Polonsky, Hristova will make her Newport debut in a compelling program that includes favorite works by Bach, a transcription of a movement from Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, Grieg’s thrilling second violin sonata, and folk songs from the childhood of Indian-American composer Reena Esmail. The Washington Post has praised Bella Hristova’s “impressive power and control.” She has distinguished herself on the world stage as a performing artist with a remarkably diverse repertoire and a bold approach to programming.

Watch Bella Hristova

Pianist Orion Weiss, known for his “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post) returns to Newport for a solo recital of Bach’s beloved Goldberg Variations, the composer’s most popular keyboard work, consisting of an aria and 30 variations. Weiss is widely regarded as a “brilliant pianist” (The New York Times), and has performed with all of the major orchestras of North America, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic. As a recitalist and chamber musician, Weiss has appeared at venues and festivals including the Ravinia Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the Edinburgh International Festival, Hong Kong Premiere Performances, the Lucerne Festival, Bravo! Vail, and many others. He recently released his latest album, Arc III, the final album in his recital trilogy, which he describes as an exploration of "our resilience, our rebound, our irrepressibility.”

Watch Orion Weiss in Bach’s Goldberg Variations

Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. The Chamber Series, newly expanded to twelve concerts held between September and June, reaffirms Newport Classical’s commitment to offer year-round classical music programming. Audiences are invited to enjoy performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with a complimentary glass of wine from Greenvale Vineyards and homemade treats by Newport Classical volunteers.

As part of Newport Classical’s desire to create connections between classical music, the artists who perform it, and the Newport community, all musicians performing on the Chamber Series also visit Newport-area schools to perform for, speak with, and inspire students, through Newport Classical’s Music Education and Engagement Initiative. 

Up next, Newport Classical presents two Community Concerts – Ji Su Jung’s Percussion Playground on April 27 at the historic Great Friends Meeting House, and Rasa String Quartet with percussionist Brian Shankar Adler on May 18 on the Newport Craft Brewing Lawn. Audiences can look forward to enjoying these casual, engaging, and welcoming concerts right in their Newport neighborhoods. Newport Classical’s Community Concerts Series is free and open to the community; advanced registration is requested but not required for both performances.

The Newport Classical Chamber Series at Newport Classical Recital Hall concludes on June 13 with the GRAMMY®-nominated Norwegian Trio Mediaeval, who captivate audiences with their crystalline voices, in an enchanting evening of Norwegian and Swedish traditional songs, hymns, fiddle tunes, and ballads. 

Tickets are now available for the 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival, which takes place from July 4-22, 2025. Highlights include Opening Night featuring Two Pianos with Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung; two evenings with Broadway star Jessica Vosk, best known for her lead role in Wicked; performances by extraordinary pianists Inon Barnatan, Sara Davis Buechner, and Wynona Wang; celebrated soprano Karen Slack's African Queens project co-commissioned by Newport Classical with a national consortium; the US premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang co-commissioned by Newport Classical with an international consortium; performances by world-class artists including violinist Leila Josefowicz, The Westerlies, Third Coast Percussion, harpist Emily Levin, guitarists Ziggy and Miles, Palaver Strings, Attacca Quartet, Twelfth Night, The Gesualdo Six, Tallā Rouge, Empire Wild, and more; Opera Night: An American Tapestry; and Closing Night with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and violinist Stefan Jackiw. For the fifth year in a row, Newport Classical has commissioned a brand new work to be premiered at the Festival. This year's Composer-in-Residence is Cris Derksen, a Juno-nominated Indigenous cellist and composer, who has written a new work for the Galvin Cello Quartet.

About Newport Classical

Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.

Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 56 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.

Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.” 

In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.

May 15-17: World Premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Cello Concerto Performed by Johannes Moser & the San Francisco Symphony Conducted by Dalia Stasevska

Photo by Anna Maggy. High resolution photos available here.

World Premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Cello Concerto

Before we fall
Performed by Cellist Johannes Moser & the San Francisco Symphony
Conducted by Dalia Stasevska

May 15, 16, and 17, 2025 at 7:30pm
Davies Symphony Hall | 201 Van Ness Ave. | San Francisco, CA
Tickets & Information: http://sfsymphony.org/stasevska

“[Thorvaldsdottir] has carved her own corner in contemporary music by creating symphonic works of sustained brilliance” – The Times

www.annathorvalds.com

San Francisco, CA – Composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s highly anticipated cello concerto, Before we fall, will have its world premiere performances on May 15, 16, and 17, 2025 at 7:30pm, performed by cello soloist Johannes Moser and the San Francisco Symphony led by conductor Dalia Stasevska at Davies Symphony Hall (201 Van Ness Ave.), paired with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 5. The new concerto is written for Moser and co-commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony, BBC Proms, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and Odense Symphony Orchestra.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s striking sound world has made her “one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music” (NPR). Speaking to Alex Ross of The New Yorker, Esa-Pekka Salonen said of her music, “She has identity, voice, a unique sound world. Her clear sense of form counterbalances her complex textures. And she can create breathtaking moments of real emotion.” The Guardian reports, “Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s natural instrument is the symphony orchestra, but in her hands it is reborn as a natural organism.”

Her unique command of the orchestra on vivid display, the concerto carries Thorvaldsdottir's signature “combination of power and intimacy” (Gramophone) yet also distinctively expands her oeuvre. A cellist herself, Anna writes of the new piece: 

“The core inspiration behind Before we fall centres around the notion of teetering on the edge, of balancing on the verge of a multitude of opposites. The musical structure flows between lyricism and a sense of distorted energy – two main forces that stabilise this entropic pull. Driven by the strong sense of lyricism that permeates the piece, the work also orbits a forward-moving energy that connects and balances the opposites in different ways. The stable fundament – a grounding power of sustained harmonic presence – communicates with ethereal and distorted sounds, together providing the earth for the essence of the solo cello, the structure upon which it stands and within which it moves. The cello, both alone and deeply connected to the orchestral elements in its expression, generates the atmospheric progression of the world it inhabits, yet continuously on the verge of falling outside the reality it is building for itself. 

As with my music generally, the inspiration is not something I am trying to describe through the music or what the music is ‘about,’ as such. Inspiration is a way to intuitively tap into parts of the core energy, structure, atmosphere and material of the music I am writing each time. It is a fuel for the musical ideas to come into existence, a tool to approach and work with the fundamental materials, the ideas and sensations, that provide and generate the initial spark to the music – the various sources of inspiration are ultimately effective because I perceive qualities in them that I find musically captivating. I do often spend quite a bit of time finding ways to articulate some of the important elements of the musical ideas or thoughts that play certain key roles in the origin of each piece but the music itself does not emerge from a verbal place, it emerges as a stream of consciousness that flows, is felt, sensed, shaped and then crafted. So inspiration is a part of the origin story of a piece, but in the end the music stands on its own.”

Her other large orchestral works AERIALITY (2011), METACOSMOS (2017), AIŌN (2018), CATAMORPHOSIS (2020), and ARCHORA (2022) continue to receive country and local premieres as well as repeat performances throughout the world, and are all recorded on the Sono Luminus label.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s current season includes performances of her music across at least nineteen countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and Wales. The current schedule of performances of Anna’s music is available on her website.

Other highlights for Anna this season include serving as the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich’s Creative Chair. Since 2015, the orchestra has invited a composer to hold this position each season, including, formerly, Arvo Pärt, Esa-Pekka Salonen, John Adams, and Toshio Hosokawa, among others. From September 2024 to June 2025, a wide variety of Anna’s music is being performed, ranging from string quartets to large orchestral pieces. The season-opening concerts in September featured ARCHORA, conducted by music director Paavo Järvi. Two of Anna’s orchestral works received their Swiss premieres – CATAMORPHOSIS at the Sonic Matter Festival Zurich conducted by André de Ridder on November 29 and METACOSMOS conducted by Eva Ollikainen on April 3 and 4.

Additionally, Anna continues her two-year period as one of ten CHANEL Next Prize winners. The biennial prize is awarded to ten international contemporary artists who are redefining their chosen discipline. Each artist embodies CHANEL’s mission to advance the new and the next and receives €100,000 in funding, allowing them to fully realize their most ambitious artistic projects. The NEXT Prize was established in 2021 as part of the CHANEL Culture Fund, CHANEL’s global initiative to accelerate the ideas that advance culture, extending the House’s century-long legacy of cultural patronage.

The 2024-2025 season also brought a new album featuring Anna’s chamber work Ubique, which was released worldwide on Sono Luminus on February 28. The 45-minute piece was co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, The Pnea Foundation, The Cheswatyr Foundation, and Kurt Chauviere for Claire Chase’s Claire Chase’s Density project. The world premiere was given in May 2023 at Carnegie Hall, performed by Claire Chase, flutes; Katinka Kleijn and Seth Parker Woods, cellos; Cory Smythe, piano; and Levy Lorenzo, live sound. The same musicians have recorded the new album, and will perform its West Coast premiere at the Ojai Festival in California on June 7. Anna writes of the piece, “Ubique lives on the border between enigmatic lyricism and atmospheric distortion. Through a combination of sounds, pitches, and textural nuances, low deep drones envelop lyrical materials and harmonies that breathe in and out of focus throughout the progress of the piece. The flow of the music is primarily guided by continuous expansion and contraction — of various kinds and durations — as it streams with subtle interruptions and frictions but ever moving forward in the overall structure.” Listen here.

Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s music is composed as much by sounds and nuances as by harmonies and lyrical material – it is written as an ecosystem of sounds, where materials continuously grow in and out of each other, often inspired in an important way by nature and its many qualities, in particular structural ones, like proportion and flow. Her work is frequently performed internationally and has been commissioned by many of the world’s leading orchestras, ensembles, and arts organizations, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Danish String Quartet, International Contemporary Ensemble, BBC Proms, and Carnegie Hall. Her “detailed and powerful” (The Guardian) orchestral writing has garnered her awards from the New York Philharmonic, Lincoln Center, the Nordic Council, and the UK’s Ivors Academy. Anna was Composer-in-Residence with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra from 2018-2023, and was in 2023 also in residence at the Aldeburgh Festival and the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. She holds a PhD from the University of California in San Diego, and is currently based in the London area. All of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s orchestral music and many of her other works are recorded on the Sono Luminus label, and featured on Apple Music’s Anna Thorvaldsdottir Essentials Playlist. The music of Anna Thorvaldsdottir is published by Chester Music, part of Wise Music Group. For more information: www.annathorvalds.com/bio

Hailed by Gramophone Magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists,” German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser has performed with the world’s leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, BBC Philharmonic at the Proms, London Symphony, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Tokyo NHK Symphony, Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras with conductors of the highest level including Riccardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Jurowski, Franz Welser-Möst, Christian Thielemann, Pierre Boulez, Paavo Järvi, Semyon Bychkov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Gustavo Dudamel. His recordings include the concertos by Dvořák, Lalo, Elgar, Lutosławski, Dutilleux, Tchaikovsky, Thomas Olesen and Fabrice Bollon (electric cello), which have gained him the prestigious Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik and the Diapason d’Or. Johannes is renowned for his efforts to expand the reach of the classical genre to all audiences, and his passionate involvement in commissioning new works for his instrument. He performs on an Andrea Guarneri Cello from 1694 from a private collection. For more information about Johannes Moser: www.johannes-moser.com/biography-english

May 16-17 Announcing The Birch Festival 2025 Spring Edition: Shostakovich and Bach

The Birch Festival: 2025 Spring Edition

Shostakovich and Bach
May 16-17, 2025

Yevgeny Kutik, Artistic Director & Rachel Barker, Executive Director

Featured Performance: May 17, 2025 at 3pm
First Congregational Church Stockbridge
4 Main Street | Stockbridge, MA

Music of Dmitri Shostakovich and J.S. Bach

Violinist Francesca dePasquale, Violist Margaret Dyer Harris, Cellist Julian Schwarz
and Violinist Yevgeny Kutik

Tickets and Registration Information: www.thebirchfestival.org

Lenox & Stockbridge, MA — The Birch Festival returns to the Berkshires this spring with its newest installment, Shostakovich and Bach, featuring a free event on Friday, May 16, 2025 and a concert on Saturday May 17, 2025 in Lenox and Stockbridge. Now in its fourth iteration, the beloved festival presents a featured performance with guest artists that will include violinist Francesca dePasquale, Violin Professor at Oberlin Conservatory; violist Margaret Dyer Harris of the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra and GRAMMY® nominated orchestra The Knights; and cellist Julian Schwarz, Cello Professor at Shenandoah Conservatory. These three exceptional artists will collaborate with Birch Festival Artistic Director and Co-Founder Yevgeny Kutik for a dramatic and moving concert program.

This year’s festival honors the music of one of the most important composers of the 20th century, Dmitri Shostakovich, in this 50th year since his passing. Shostakovich’s music has long been a source of inspiration for many, and his work continues to offer profound reflections on the strength and resilience of the human spirit. During the festival’s featured performance, Shostakovich’s work will be interspersed with several selections from J.S. Bach’s timeless The Art of the Fugue. In addition to the main concert, festival attendees can look forward to a festive opening evening that includes a brief performance complemented by small plates and a free wine tasting; and a morning “Don’t Tap on the Glass” open rehearsal.

Birch Festival Artistic Director Yevgeny Kutik says, “Shostakovich’s music has always been a source of inspiration for me, and in these times, his work offers profound reflections on the strength and resilience of the human spirit. I'm so thrilled to be able to share two of his most important quartets, No.'s 8 and 9 with these truly remarkable artists along with the timeless music of J.S. Bach. As part of our mission to be accessible to the community in a variety of ways, we are delighted to continue our open rehearsal series, Don't Tap on the Glass. The general public rarely gets to see the behind-the-scenes of preparations for a performance, and this series aims to give everyone the opportunity to glimpse into the "fishtank." It can be a fascinating experience to watch artists at work!”

The Birch Festival was founded in 2022 by Lenox-based husband-and-wife team Yevgeny Kutik, an internationally renowned violinist who serves as Artistic Director, and Rachel Barker, who is the non-profit organization’s Executive Director.

The Birch Festival’s mission is to bring world-leading musicians for artist residencies in Berkshire County schools, and work in tandem with local business and cultural partnerships. Kutik, a Belarusian-Jewish refugee resettled in Pittsfield by the Jewish Federation in the 1990s, named the festival for his grandmother Sima Berezkina, whose last name means “birch tree.” With significance in many global cultures, birch trees symbolize growth, resilience, and adaptability – qualities that Sima embodied.

On Friday, May 16, 2025 from 6-8pm, The Birch Festival will return to Doctor Sax House in Lenox, MA (35 Walker St) in the Carriage House for an opening night of food, music, and conversation. Those in attendance will have the chance to meet and mingle with Dyer, dePasquale, Schwarz, and Kutik while enjoying some small bites, a festival signature drink, and free wine tasting hosted by Dare Bottleshop and Provisions.. The event is free and open to the public; space is limited and registration is required. The next morning, Saturday, May 17 at 10am, the public is welcome to come to the festival’s “Don’t Tap on the Glass” open rehearsal at the First Congregational Church, in Stockbridge, MA (4 Main St). This is a chance to see an up-close view of a rehearsal in action. No registration is required.

The Birch Festival’s main performance, Shostakovich and Bach, will be at the First Congregational Church Stockbridge (4 Main St) on Saturday, May 17 at 3pm. Francesca dePasquale, Margaret Dyer, Julian Schwarz, and Yevgeny Kutik will give emotive performances of J.S. Bach’s Contrapunctus 1; Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8; Bach’s Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit, BWV 668; Bach’s Contrapunctus 4; and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 9. There will be a pre-concert talk at 2:15pm hosted by Shostakovich scholar Matthew Heck. An informal reception, open to all ticket holders, will follow the performance. Berkshire County Students and a guardian may attend for free. Tickets are available at www.thebirchfestival.org.

The Birch Festival promotes and propels distinct voices in music, whether through new composition or creative interpretation of old favorites. The Festival offers leading musicians a chance to play and establish relationships in the Berkshires, while recognizing the importance of their work by offering compensation that sustains and values their efforts in this industry.

The Birch Festival’s 2025 Spring Schedule:

Artist Meet-and-Greet & Wine Tasting
Friday, May 16, 2025 from 6-8pm
Doctor Sax House - Carriage House
35 Walker St. Lenox, MA
Free, registration required: www.thebirchfestival.org

The Birch Festival returns to Doctor Sax House, opening the spring 2025 edition in its Carriage House with signature drinks, mocktails, and a chance to mingle with the artists. Wine tasting hosted by Dare Bottleshop and Provisions. Space is limited, registration is required.

“Don’t Tap on the Glass” Open Rehearsal
Saturday, May 17, 2025 at 10am
First Congregational Church Stockbridge
4 Main Street
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Free and open to the public.

The Birch Festival welcomes the community of the Berkshires to enjoy a morning preview of the festival’s featured concert at its “Don’t Tap on the Glass” open rehearsal at First Congregational Church Stockbridge. No registration required. 

The Birch Festival Feature Performance – Shostakovich and Bach
Sunday, May 17, 2025 at 3pm
First Congregational Church Stockbridge
4 Main Street
Stockbridge, MA 01262
Tickets: www.thebirchfestival.org

Violinist Francesca dePasquale, violist Margaret Dyer, cellist Julian Schwarz, along with violinist and Birch Festival Artistic Director and Co-Founder Yevgeny Kutik, will perform a program titled Shostakovich and Bach, highlighting the music of Dmitri Shostakovich and J.S. Bach. The program will include: J.S. Bach’s Contrapunctus 1; Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8; Bach’s Vor deinen Thron tret’ ich hiermit, BWV 668; Bach’s Contrapunctus 4; and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 9. There will be a pre-concert talk at 2:15pm hosted by Shostakovich scholar Matthew Heck. An informal reception, open to all ticket holders, will follow the performance. Berkshire County Students and a guardian may attend for free.

About the Artists & Festival Directors:

About Yevgeny Kutik: With a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique” (The New York Times), violinist Yevgeny Kutik has captivated audiences worldwide with an old-world sound that communicates a modern intellect. Praised for his technical precision and virtuosity, he is lauded for his poetic and imaginative interpretations of both standard works and newly composed repertoire. A native of Minsk, Belarus, Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and immigrated to the U.S. with his family at the age of five. An advocate for the Jewish Federations of North America, the organization that assisted his family in coming to the US, he regularly speaks and performs across the country to promote the assistance of refugees from around the world. Kutik’s discography, all on Marquis Classics, includes The Death of Juliet and Other Tales (2021), Meditations on Family (Marquis Classics 2019), Words Fail (2016), Music from the Suitcase (2014), and Sounds of Defiance (2012). Committed to the music of our time, Kutik regularly gives premiere and repeat performances of major works by today’s most celebrated composers.  For more information, please visit www.yevgenykutik.com. 

About Rachel Barker: Rachel Barker is an educator and writer with over a decade of experience working in public and international schools and currently writes about science and engineering for Harvard University. Barker has been awarded spots in writers workshops for both nonfiction and fiction, including the Key West Literary Seminar, the Aspen Institute's Aspen Summer Words, and multiple residencies with Write On, Door County. She has consulted and presented for a number of organizations throughout the country, including the Yale Council for African Studies, Flint Institute of Music, Boston University's African Studies Center, Primary Source, and the Wayland/Weston Interfaith Council on Teaching Religion in Schools. Rachel Barker’s MEd. is from Boston College, where she graduated with a focus on social justice and teaching English language learners. Her undergraduate degree in Anthropology is from Boston University, and she currently studies Religion at Harvard University.

About Francesca dePasquale: Described by critics as “scintillating” and celebrated for her “rich, expressive playing” (MusicalAmerica), violinist Francesca dePasquale is the First Prize winner of the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition and recipient of the prestigious 2014-2016 career grant from the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing and Visual Arts. Earning her the 2015 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award, her self-titled debut album released in March of 2016 encompasses works that scope from Bach to a new commission from composer Paola Prestini for violin and electronics. For the album and accompanying recital tour, Francesca was praised for “sincerity, intensity” and “individual voice” (Philadelphia Inquirer), and “immaculate and discreet phrasing” (Strad Magazine). Additionally, she was featured in Strings magazine and on SiriusXM, WNYC, WQXR, WRTI (Philadelphia), and WFMT (Chicago).

About Margaret Dyer Harris: Margaret Dyer Harris currently holds positions as Assistant Principal violist in the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, violist in Wicked on Broadway, and proud new member of The Knights! In recent seasons, she has appeared as guest artist with the Daedalus, Parker, and Hausmann Quartets as well as Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall. Margaret was a founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated chamber orchestra, A Far Cry, and she is in frequent demand as a guest orchestral principal violist, most recently appearing in that role with the Sarasota Orchestra, the Santa Fe Opera, Princeton Symphony, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Long Island Philharmonic. From 2010-2012, Margaret was a fellow in Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW. She has given masterclasses and workshops in Mexico, Peru, UAE, and across the United States. Margaret received her training at the San Francisco Conservatory and at New England Conservatory in Boston.

About Julian Schwarz: Julian Schwarz has been heralded from a young age as a cellist destined to rank among the greatest of the 21st century, Julian’s powerful tone, effortless virtuosity, and extraordinarily large color palette are hallmarks of his style. As a chamber musician, Mr. Schwarz performs extensively in recital with pianist Marika Bournaki. In 2016 Schwarz & Bournaki were awarded first prize at the inaugural Boulder International Chamber Music Competition’s “The Art of Duo”, and subsequently embarked on an extensive 10-recital tour of China in March 2017. Mr. Schwarz is a founding member of the New York based touring ensemble “Frisson” and was recently appointed the newest core member of the Olmos Ensemble in San Antonio, TX. He is a member of the Palladium Chamber Players (St Petersburg FL), the Alaria Ensemble (New York NY), and has given over 100 performances at Brooklyn’s Bargemusic. He has appeared at the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival, Verbier Festival, and the Salzburg Mozarteum. In addition, he runs programming for the Tuesday evening chamber music series at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC. A devoted teacher, Mr. Schwarz serves as Associate Professor of Cello and String Area Coordinator at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University (Winchester, VA), and on the artist faculty of NYU’s Steinhardt School of Music. In the summer, he teaches and performs at the Eastern Music Festival and the Josef Gingold Festival.

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