Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov. 20: Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera Perform Blue + Bob A Concert Featuring Piano Music of “Blue” Gene Tyranny and Robert Ashley – Presented by Roulette

Nov. 20: Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera Perform Blue + Bob A Concert Featuring Piano Music of “Blue” Gene Tyranny and Robert Ashley – Presented by Roulette

Sarah (left) and Joseph (right) sit in front of a piano smiling.

L-R: Sarah Cahill, Joseph Kubera
Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera at the Berkeley Arts Center in 2002

Pianists Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera Perform Blue + Bob
Presented by Roulette

A Concert Featuring Piano Music of “Blue” Gene Tyranny and Robert Ashley

Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 8pm
Roulette | 509 Atlantic Ave. | Brooklyn, NY
Tickets and More Information

SarahCahill.com | JosephKubera.com

Brooklyn, NY – Pianist Sarah Cahill, described as “keen and captivating” by The Washington Post and pianist Joseph Kubera, described by The Village Voice as one of “new music’s most valued performers,” come together on Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 8pm to perform Blue + Bob a special tribute concert presented by Roulette (509 Atlantic Ave.) as part of its four-night series Music for Two Pianos from November 19-22, which features new, historic, and reimagined compositions by some of the great composers of our time.

Blue + Bob celebrates the work of “Blue” Gene Tyranny and Robert Ashley and includes Tyranny’s two-piano gems Decertified Highway of Dreams (1991) and A Letter from Home (2002) and Ashley’s Viva’s Boy (1991) and Details (2b) (1962), along with solo compositions by both composers. Kubera and Cahill worked on these scores with both composers, and will also perform pieces that Tyranny dedicated to each of them, including The Drifter (1994) and Spirit (1996/2002).

“Blue” Gene Tyranny – born Robert Nathan Sheff in San Antonio, Texas – performed a diverse repertoire throughout his career, from the piano music of John Cage and Charles Ives to collaborations with Laurie Anderson and Iggy Pop. Following his involvement with the ONCE Festival of New Music in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he taught and worked as a recording studio technician at Mills College in Oakland from 1971–1982, later moving to New York.

After co-founding the ONCE Group in his native Ann Arbor, Robert Ashley directed the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College from 1969–1981, before also moving to New York. He was known for his experimental approach to opera, a fruitful source for his collaborations with Tyranny, notably in Perfect Lives.

Robert Ashley and “Blue” Gene Tyranny were both esteemed and beloved teachers in the Mills College Music Department. They were opposites in many ways, but when they met in the early 1960s working with the legendary ONCE Group, while Tyranny was still a teenager, they forged a fifty-year collaboration and lifelong friendship.

About Sarah Cahill: hailed as “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by The New York Times, has commissioned and premiered over seventy compositions for solo piano. Composers who have dedicated works to her include John Adams, Annea Lockwood, Terry Riley, Frederic Rzewski, Pauline Oliveros, Julia Wolfe, Roscoe Mitchell, and Ingram Marshall. She was named a 2018 Champion of New Music, awarded by the American Composers Forum (ACF). Recent performances include The Barbican Centre in London, The National Gallery of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, and an NPR Tiny Desk concert. She recently premiered Viet Cuong’s piano concerto, Stargazer, with the California Symphony. Sarah’s recordings include Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Piano with Javanese Gamelan, recorded at the Cleveland Museum of Art with Evan Ziporyn, Jody Diamond, and Gamelan Si Betty, and Eighty Trips Around the Sun, a four-disc tribute to Terry Riley. Sarah’s radio show, Revolutions Per Minute, can be heard every Sunday evening from 6 to 8 pm on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco. She is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory and is a regular pre-concert speaker with the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

About Joseph Kubera: Praised in The Wire (UK) for his “instrumental athleticism, technical precision and conceptual lucidity,” and his “capacity to stretch limits and redefine horizons,” Joseph Kubera has been a leading new music pianist for the past four decades. Recently he played at De Singel in Antwerp, at the “Christian Wolff at 90” celebration in New York, and recorded piano music by Laurie Spiegel, Daniel Goode, and Lejaren Hiller. He has directed performances of Julius Eastman’s music in New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, and has worked closely with such luminaries as Morton Feldman, Julius Eastman, Robert Ashley, and La Monte Young. Composers who have written works for him include Larry Austin, Michael Byron, Anthony Coleman, Alvin Lucier, Roscoe Mitchell, and “Blue” Gene Tyranny. A longtime Cage advocate, Kubera has made definitive recordings of Music of Changes and the Concert for Piano and toured widely with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at Cage’s invitation. He has worked with S.E.M. Ensemble, Steve Reich and Musicians, and myriad other ensembles in New York City. In addition to his work with Sarah Cahill, he has collaborated with pianists Adam Tendler and Marilyn Nonken and baritone Thomas Buckner. Kubera has been awarded grants through the NEA and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. He has recorded for Wergo, New Albion, New World, Lovely Music, Tzadik, and many other labels.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera perform a special two piano tribute recital, Blue + Bob, presented by Roulette as part of its four-night series Music for Two Pianos from November 19-22, which features new, historic, and reimagined compositions by some of the great composers of our time. The concert features the music of “Blue” Gene Tyranny (1945–2020) and Robert Ashley (1930–2014) – two esteemed and beloved teachers in the Mills College Music Department.

Concert details:

Who: Pianists Sarah Cahill and Joseph Kubera in Blue + Bob
Presented by Roulette part of its Music for Two Pianos series
What: Keyboard Music of “Blue” Gene Tyranny and Robert Ashley
When: Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 8pm
Where: 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Tickets and information: roulette.org/event/music-for-two-pianos-bob-and-blue

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov. 29-30: Cincinnati Premiere of Lisa Bielawa’s Violin Concerto PULSE – Performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Featuring Violinist Tessa Lark Conducted by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru

Nov. 29-30: Cincinnati Premiere of Lisa Bielawa’s Violin Concerto PULSE – Performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Featuring Violinist Tessa Lark Conducted by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru

Photo of Tessa Lark by Lauren Desberg available here & Lisa Bielawa by Shawn Poynter available here.

Cincinnati Premiere of Lisa Bielawa’s Violin Concerto PULSE
on November 29 & 30, 2025

Performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru
Featuring Violin Soloist Tessa Lark

Saturday, November 29, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday November 30, 2025 at 2pm
Cincinnati Music Hall | 1241 Elm St. | Cincinnati, OH
Tickets and More Information

Lisa Bielawa: www.lisabielawa.net | Tessa Lark: www.tessalark.com

Cincinnati, OH – Composer Lisa Bielawa’s new work, a violin concerto titled PULSE, will receive its Cincinnati premiere performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, which co-commissioned the new piece. The concerts will be led by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru and will feature violin soloist Tessa Lark, for whom the piece was written, on Saturday November 29, 2025 at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 30, at 2pm in the Cincinnati Music Hall (1241 Elm St.). There will be a pre-concert talk with CSO Associate Principal Timpanist Joe Bricker and Lisa Bielawa as part of "Fresh Ears," a new pre-concert series.

PULSE is dedicated to the memory of Jim Rosenfield, a Cincinnati native,” says Bielawa. “He was a lifelong music and arts lover, a great friend, a supporter of my work, and the work of so many composers of our time.”

Lisa Bielawa is a Guggenheim Fellow and Rome Prize winner who takes inspiration for her work from literary sources and close artistic collaborations. She has received awards and fellowships from the Koussevitzky Foundation, American Academy of Arts & Letters, OPERA America, American Antiquarian Society, Loghaven Artist Residency, and was part of the inaugural Louisville Orchestra’s Creators Corps. She received a Los Angeles Area Emmy nomination for her unprecedented, made-for-TV-and-online opera Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser.

Of her new violin concerto, Bielawa writes, “This concerto was conceived as a way of keeping my finger on the pulse of American life during a period of seismic change and self-examination. Composed over a six-month period starting just before the 2024 presidential election, it is also informed by my immersion during this time in our sentimental history as told through our traditional musics. Tessa Lark’s artistry draws from multiple musical traditions, from Old-time to jazz to the classical avant-garde. I have had the enviable opportunity to hear Tessa play in the Smoky Mountains with Appalachian traditional musicians, at the Blue Note in midtown Manhattan, and on concert stages in concertos and chamber music both new and old.”

Lark, for whom Bielawa wrote this concerto, is one of the most captivating artistic voices of our time, consistently praised by critics and audiences for her astounding range of sounds, technical agility, and musical elegance. Increasingly in demand in the classical realm, in 2020 she was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Classical Instrumental Solo category. She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with programming that includes Appalachian and bluegrass music and inspiring composers to write for her.

PULSE was co-commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation, Library of Congress; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; and Louisville Orchestra; with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Santa Fe Pro Musica. Support has also been provided by James Rosenfield, Justus Schlichting, Kari and Jon Ullman, New Music USA's Amplifying Voices Program, and the Loghaven Artist Residency. The world premiere performances by Tessa Lark and the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Music Director Teddy Abrams take place on October 24 and 25, 2025.

In addition to PULSE, Lisa Bielawa’s 2025-2026 season features more bold programming, new collaborations, and world premieres of several new works. Knoxville Broadcast, a new installment in Bielawa’s Broadcast series, premiered on October 17 and 18, 2025 in Knoxville, TN in three site-specific performances at Knoxville’s World’s Fair Park presented by Big Ears. On February 26, 2026, Miller Theatre at Columbia University in New York will present a Composer Portrait concert dedicated exclusively to Bielawa’s music, including the world premiere of a new work, all performed by Contemporaneous led by David Bloom, with Bielawa singing. She is also currently at work on her Guggenheim Fellowship project, a hybrid film and live action opera called La Ballonniste or Balloon: A Hot Air Opera – a heartfelt comedy centering on 18th century French opera singer Élisabeth Tible, the first woman to fly in a hot air balloon.

Lisa Bielawa’s music has been premiered at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, SHIFT Festival, National Cathedral, Rouen Opera, MAXXI Museum in Rome, and Helsinki Music Center, among others. Orchestras that have championed her music include The Knights, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, ROCO, and the Orlando Philharmonic. Premieres of her work have been commissioned and presented by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Rider, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Radio France, Yerevan Concert Hall in Armenia, the Venice Architectural Biennale, American Music Week in Salzburg, the INFANT Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia, and more. Bielawa consistently incorporates community-making as part of her artistic vision. She has created music for public spaces in Lower Manhattan, a bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville, KY, the banks of the Tiber River in Rome, on the sites of former airfields in Berlin and San Francisco, and to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. During the pandemic, Bielawa cultivated a virtual community using submitted testimonies and recorded voices from six continents through her work Broadcast from Home, now archived by the Library of Congress.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Composer Lisa Bielawa’s new violin concerto, PULSE, will be performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru with violin soloist Tessa Lark, on November 29 and 30 at Cincinnati Music Hall. There will be a pre-concert talk with CSO Associate Principal Timpanist Joe Bricker and Lisa Bielawa as part of the CSO’s new pre-concert series, "Fresh Ears." The concert program will also include Tales: A Folklore Symphony by Carlos Simon, Variations on a Shaker Melody from Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland, and Symphony No. 7 by Antonín Dvořák.

Concert details:

What: PULSE - a new violin concerto by Lisa Bielawa
Who: The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with soloist Tessa Lark
Conducted by Music Director Cristian Măcelaru
When: Saturday, November 29, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday November 30, 2025 at 2pm
Where: Cincinnati Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Tickets and information: cincinnatisymphony.org/tickets-and-events/buy-tickets/cso/2526-cso-season/dvoak-symphony-no.-7/

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Poiesis Quartet Begins Residency at Caramoor as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence

Poiesis Quartet Begins Residency at Caramoor as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence

Photo of Christie Dashiell by Colville Heskey available in high resolution here.

Poiesis Quartet Begins Residency at Caramoor
as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence

“Magnetic. These musicians have palpable chemistry and a remarkable warmth.” – San Francisco Classical Voice

“[T]he Poiesis [Quartet] created waves of excitement” – BBC Music Magazine

Information & Tickets: caramoor.org

KATONAH, NY – Fresh from winning the Grand Prize at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and just three years after forming, the Poiesis Quartet (violinists Sarah Ying Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby) begins its season as the 2025-2026 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, giving the first concert of the residency as part of the Rosen House Concert Series on Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 3pm.

 

Caramoor is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration. Its Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence program was founded in 1999, and annually supports an exceptional emerging string quartet. The year-long residency includes three performances at Caramoor and two 10-day periods (November 11-21, 2025 and April 27-May 5, 2026) in which the Quartet works with students in local schools. One thousand students will benefit from engagements in 11 schools across Westchester County. The Quartet-in-Residence program extends access to the arts for high school students by providing one-to-one mentoring with professional musicians, giving students insight into pursuing a career in the arts. Caramoor also commissions a new work by a composer of the Quartet's choosing – the Poiesis Quartet will premiere the new piece written for the group at Caramoor in summer 2026. 

Formed in 2022 at Oberlin, the Poiesis Quartet (pronounced poy-EE-suhss), has swiftly risen to prominence. In addition to being the Grand Prize winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet, the ensemble is also the winner of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Renowned for their cohesive artistry and adventurous programming, the group lives up to its name – poiesis, from the Greek “to make” – with performances that forge new paths in chamber music. Dedicated to championing the voices of emerging and historically underrepresented composers, the Poiesis Quartet brings this vibrant mission to life in their Caramoor residency.

The Poiesis Quartet’s program for its November 16 concert, titled Surfacing, is an exploration of the raw, human responses to existential and life-altering events. Incorporating musical influences as varied as electronic dance music, East Asian folk tunes, R&B, jazz, gospel, and traditional spirituals, four composers take us on a journey through phases of healing and growth, ultimately surfacing from confusion and pain with resilience and a renewed sense of hope. The concert includes String Quartet by Brian Raphael Nabors (2024); String Quartet No. 3 (2014) and String Quartet No. 7, “Surfacing” (2024) by Kevin Lau (commissioned by the Poiesis Quartet); Many Many Cadences by Sky Macklay (2015); Calvary, an African-American spiritual arranged for violin quartet by Max Ball; and String Quartet No. 1, Calvary by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1956). Tickets are free for audience members ages 18 and under. 

The Poiesis Quartet’s second performance as part of the Rosen House Concert Series takes place on Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 3pm, and includes Michi Wiancko’s To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores (2020); Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartet No. 2 (1994); and Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 (1934). Tickets are free for audience members ages 18 and under. 

In addition to the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence program, as part of its ongoing commitment to mentorship for young musicians Caramoor offers the Evnin Rising Stars program, which has nurtured emerging talent since 1992. Each year, the program’s Artistic Director Marcy Rosen identifies some of the most promising musicians at the cusp of professional careers, bringing them to Caramoor for a weeklong chamber music residency with distinguished artist mentors. This year’s mentors are violinist Ani Kavafian and violist Rebecca Albers. The 2025 Evnin Rising Stars are violinists Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, Clara Neubauer, and Cherry Choi Tung Yeung; violists Samuel Rosenthal and Luther Warren; cellists Annie Jacobs-Perkins and Leland Ko; and pianist Evren Ozel. The Evnin Rising Stars will give two Rosen House Concert Series performances on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 3pm (featuring music by Boccherini, Ginastera, and Brahms) and Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 3pm (featuring music by Mozart, Shostakovich, and Dvořák). Tickets are free for audience members ages 18 and under. 

About Caramoor

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.

Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Music Room, Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, and the Sunken Garden), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.

Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures which draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), a seasonal concessions tent, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events.

At-a-Glance Calendar: Upcoming Rosen House Concert Series Performances

Sunday, October 26 at 3pm: Raphaël Feuillâtre, guitar
Saturday, November 1 at 3pm: Evnin Rising Stars
Sunday, November 2 at 3pm: Evnin Rising Stars
Friday, November 7 at 7:30pm: Christie Dashiell Quartet
Sunday, November 9 at 3pm: The English Concert
Sunday, November 16 at 3pm: Poiesis Quartet
Friday, November 21 at 7:30pm: The Arcadian Wild
Saturday, December 6 at 8pm: Rosanne Cash - Benefit Concert
Sunday, December 7 at 3pm: An Amarcord Christmas
Sunday, March 8 at 3pm: Schwab Vocal Rising Stars
Friday, March 20 at 7:30pm: Goitse
Sunday, March 22 at 3pm: Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Sunday, April 12 at 3pm: Junction Trio|
Sunday, April 19 at 3pm: Steven Isserlis, cello & Connie Shih, piano
Friday, May 1 at 7:30pm: Anat Cohen Quartethinho
Sunday, May 3 at 3pm: Poiesis Quartet
Friday, May 8 at 7:30pm: Solomon Hicks

For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/events

Ticketing Information

Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914.232.1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am-4pm; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance.

Caramoor is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, NY.

More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Feb. 27: Pianist Alexander Malofeev Announces Sony Classical Debut Album Forgotten Melodies – New Single Out Today

Feb. 27: Pianist Alexander Malofeev Announces Sony Classical Debut Album Forgotten Melodies – New Single Out Today

© Dovile Sermokas

Pianist Alexander Malofeev Announces Sony Classical Debut Album
Forgotten Melodies

Out Today: New Single Forgotten Melodies I, Op. 38/Vi. Canzona Serenata
Listen Here

“…His intensity overwhelms…[he] makes a monumentally thunderous impression with his music…” The Los Angeles Times

Worldwide Album Release Date: February 27, 2026
Pre-Order Available Now

Sony Classical is thrilled to announce the debut album of world-renowned pianist Alexander Malofeev titled Forgotten Melodies set for release on February 27, 2026 and available for preorder here. The first single, Forgotten Melodies I, Op. 38/VI. Canzona serenata is out today – listen here.

“A world piano revolution” (Der Standard) at just twenty-three, Alexander Malofeev has already become one of the most captivating pianists of his generation. Praised by Il Giornale for embodying “the piano mastery of the new millennium,” he has performed with leading orchestras worldwide.

Born in Moscow in 2001, Malofeev studied at two of Russia’s most renowned institutions: the Gnessin Special School and the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 2014, at just thirteen, he won first prize at the junior edition of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Today, Alexander Malofeev lives in Berlin. With this recording, he seeks to connect traces of his heritage with those of the present. “I chose Berlin more or less by accident, but previously it had been home to Glinka, Glazunov and Medtner at some point in their lives.”

For his album, Malofeev has selected four composers who were all born in Russia but died far from their homeland: Alexander Glazunov in Paris (1936), Mikhail Glinka in Berlin (1857), Sergei Rachmaninoff in Beverly Hills (1943), and Nikolai Medtner in London (1951).

Yet more than the theme of exile - which shaped the lives of these four composers -what moves Malofeev most is another idea: “They all share a similar feeling of nostalgia,” he explains. “But you cannot really figure out which moment in time they are actually nostalgic for. It’s almost as if they are nostalgic for a very similar setting which never really existed in history. It’s like it is totally made up, almost a dream world - and you can find it everywhere on this album.”

Alongside Medtner’s cycle Forgotten Melodies, the most extensive work on the album is Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Sonata, composed while he was still in Russia and revised nearly two decades later in Switzerland. “I’ve loved Rachmaninoff for as long as I can remember,” Malofeev admits - referring to his composing and piano: “His freedom, his spirit, his hands, his genius.” Malofeev deliberately chose the revised version of the Sonata, as it is shorter, more concise, and more economical in its writing - and therefore closer to Medtner.

Not yet in his mid-twenties, Alexander Malofeev has already stepped into the international spotlight, thanks to his phenomenal technique and, above all, the remarkable expressiveness of his playing. Conductor Riccardo Chailly notes that he is “not just a child prodigy,” recognizing that Malofeev “already possesses depth as well as technical, musical and mnemonic abilities.” The international press has hailed him as a “Russian genius” (Corriere della Sera); his performances are described as a “piano-world revolution” (Der Standard), his “magnetic pull” and ability to create a “weightlessly singing tone” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) already marking him, at such a young age, as a truly exceptional artist.

ALEXANDER MALOFEEV – FORGOTTEN MELODIES – TRACKLIST:

Glinka – A Farewell to Saint Petersburg: No. 10, The Lark
Glinka – Mazurka in C Major
Glinka – Mazurka in C Minor
Glinka – Polka in D Minor
Glinka – Farewell Waltz 
Medtner – I – Sonata reminiscenza 
Medtner – II. Danza graziosa 
Medtner – III. Danza festiva 
Medtner – IV. Canzona fluviala 
Medtner – V. Danza rustica 
Medtner – VI. Canzona serenata 
Medtner – VII. Danza silvestra 
Medtner – VIII. Alla reminiscenza 
Medtner – 2 Fairy Tales, Op. 48: No. 2, Tale of the Elves
Rachmaninoff – 5 Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 2, Prélude in C-Sharp Minor - Lento
Rachmaninoff – Fragments, Op.posth
Rachmaninoff – I. Allegro agitato
Rachmaninoff – II. Non allegro 
Rachmaninoff – III. Allegro molto 
Rachmaninoff - 12 Romances, Op. 21: V. Lilacs
Rachmaninoff – 5 Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 1, Élégie in E-Flat Minor
Rachmaninoff – No. 3: Grave
Rachmaninoff – No. 7: Moderato
Rachmaninoff – No. 8: Grave
Glazunov – 3 Études for Piano, Op. 31: No. 3. La nuit
Glazunov – Song of the Volga Boatmen, Op. 97
Glazunov – Idylle, Op. 103 
Glazunov – 3 Miniatures for Piano, Op. 42: Valse - Allegretto

ALEXANDER MALOFEEV 2025 – 2026 PERFORMANCE DATES:

Oct 24 – Frankfurt, Germany – Alte Oper Frankfurt
Nov 9 – Leipzig, Germany – Mendelssohn-Haus Leipzig
Nov 10 – Berlin, Germany – Philharmonie Berlin
Nov 13 – Munich, Germany – Isarphilharmonie Munich
Nov 27 – Bari, Italy – Teatro Petruzzelli
Nov 30 – Trento, Italy – Sala Filarmonica
Dec 14 – Brussels, Belgium – Bozar / Centre for Fine Arts
Jan 12 – Bologna, Italy – Teatro Auditorium Manzoni
Jan 14 – Lausanne, Switzerland – Week-End Musical de Pully
Jan 15 – Grenoble, France – Auditorium du Musée
Jan 17 – Vienna, Austria – Konzerthaus
Jan 21 – Milan, Italy – Milan Conservatory / Sala Verdi
Jan 23 – Paris, France – Salle Gaveau
Jan 28 – Hamburg, Germany – Elbphilharmonie
Jan 31 – Shenzhen, China – Shenzhen Concert Hall / Verbier Festival
Feb 6 – Shenzhen, China – Shenzhen Concert Hall / Verbier Festival
Feb 7 – Shenzhen, China – Shenzhen Concert Hall / Verbier Festival
Feb 8 – Shenzhen, China – Shenzhen Concert Hall / Verbier Festival
Feb 14 – Brussels, Belgium – Festival Musiq3 / Flagey
Feb 25 – Hamburg, Germany – Elbphilharmonie / Großer Saal
Mar 3 – Orlando, FL, USA – Steinmetz Hall
Mar 5 – Houston, TX, USA – Jones Hall

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/.


Alexander Malofeev Official Channels

Official Website
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Nov. 7: Caramoor Continues Rosen House Concert Series with GRAMMY®-Nominated Jazz Vocalist Christie Dashiell and her Quartet

Nov. 7: Caramoor Continues Rosen House Concert Series with GRAMMY®-Nominated Jazz Vocalist Christie Dashiell and her Quartet

Photo of Christie Dashiell by Colville Heskey available in high resolution here.

Caramoor Continues Rosen House Concert Series
with the Christie Dashiell Quartet led by
GRAMMY®-Nominated Jazz Vocalist Christie Dashiell

Friday, November 7, 2025 at 7:30pm
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | Rosen House
149 Girdle Ridge Drive | Katonah, NY
Tickets & Information

“one of today's most innovative vocalists and composers” – DownBeat Magazine

“Dashiell possesses a sumptuously rich timbre, a powerful storytelling gift and the ability to craft songs which lodge immediately in the heart.” – Jazzwise

KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY, continues its intimate Rosen House Concert Series with a performance by the Christie Dashiell Quartet, led by one of jazz’s most captivating voices, GRAMMY®-nominated vocalist and composer Christie Dashiell, on Friday, November 7, 2025 at 7:30pm. Caramoor, once the estate of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, is one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performance, cultural engagement, and exploration. Caramoor’s Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May, held in the exquisite Music Room of the historic home – a Mediterranean-style villa from 1939 filled with treasures from around the world. Audiences enjoy performances by some of today’s most in-demand artists in the same living room salon setting where the Rosens once entertained their many friends.

Christie Dashiell returns to Caramoor with her quartet (pianist Allyn Johnson, bassist Romeir Mendez Mendez, drummer Carroll (C.V.) Dashiell) after an impressive performance as part of the 2024 Jazz Festival. With her soulful sound and remarkable technical skill, she weaves stories that touch the heart and lift the spirit. Washington, DC-born and North Carolina-raised, Dashiell lives at the musical crossroads of jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel and soul. Known for her improvisational prowess and effortlessly rich and clear tone, she has become one of the most sought-after artists on the scene today.

Dashiell’s album Journey in Black was nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Jazz Vocal Album category and earned a coveted five-star review from DownBeat. Journey in Black showcases her ability to explore profound themes of freedom, legacy, and joy through her music, and boasts a stellar cast of musicians, including Shedrick Mitchell, Marquis Hill, Allyn Johnson, Romeir Mendez, and Carroll Dashiell III with creative guidance from NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves.

Dashiell appeared on season three of NBC’s The Sing-Off as a member of Afro Blue, and she has performed in concert with Esperanza Spalding, Fred Hammond, Smokey Robinson, Geri Allen, Allan Harris, and more. Her latest album, with Terri Lyne Carrington, is We Insist 2025!, a bold reimagining of the seminal 1961 album We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.

Growing up in a musical family, Dashiell has been singing all of her life. She is the third of four multi-talented and musical children of jazz bassist, Carroll Dashiell, Jr. Her musical lineage is deeply rooted. She honed her skills at Howard University and at the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to performing with her quartet, she works with many artists including GRAMMY-nominated vocal ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. She has appeared as a featured artist on Blue Note Record’s Supreme Sonacy, Marquis Hill’s The Way We Play, Wynton Marsalis’ work The Ever Fonky Lowdown and the social-justice compilation album Black Lives: From Generation to Generation. Dashiell tours internationally, performing on some of the world’s most prestigious stages including Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Baku Jazz Festival in Azerbaijan, and Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo. She is on the faculty at Temple University, Howard University, and The University of the District of Columbia.

This performance is presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center. The concert is underwritten in part by a generous donation from Amy & John Peckham and the Peckham Family Foundation.

Watch Christie Dashiell:

 
 

About Caramoor

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts is a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY. Once the home of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor has evolved into one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performances, cultural engagement, and exploration – a sanctuary for music, art, and nature.

Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Music Room, Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, and the Sunken Garden), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.

Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures which draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), a seasonal concessions tent, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events.

At-a-Glance Calendar: Upcoming Rosen House Concert Series Performances

Sunday, October 26 at 3pm: Raphaël Feuillâtre, guitar
Saturday, November 1 at 3pm: Evnin Rising Stars
Sunday, November 2 at 3pm: Evnin Rising Stars
Friday, November 7 at 7:30pm: Christie Dashiell Quartet
Sunday, November 9 at 3pm: The English Concert
Sunday, November 16 at 3pm: Poiesis Quartet
Friday, November 21 at 7:30pm: The Arcadian Wild
Saturday, December 6 at 8pm: Rosanne Cash - Benefit Concert
Sunday, December 7 at 3pm: An Amarcord Christmas
Sunday, March 8 at 3pm: Schwab Vocal Rising Stars
Friday, March 20 at 7:30pm: Goitse
Sunday, March 22 at 3pm: Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Sunday, April 12 at 3pm: Junction Trio|
Sunday, April 19 at 3pm: Steven Isserlis, cello & Connie Shih, piano
Friday, May 1 at 7:30pm: Anat Cohen Quartethinho
Sunday, May 3 at 3pm: Poiesis Quartet
Friday, May 8 at 7:30pm: Solomon Hicks

For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/events

Ticketing Information

Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914.232.1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am-4pm; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance.

Caramoor is located at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, NY.

More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov. 16: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Chamber Music Marin – Featuring the Music of Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven

Nov. 16: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Chamber Music Marin – Featuring the Music of Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven

Telegraph Quartet Presented by Chamber Music Marin
Featuring the Music of Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven

Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 5pm
Chamber Music Marin
Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church | 410 Sycamore Ave. | Mill Valley, CA

Tickets and More Information

Telegraph Quartet’s New Album
20th Century Vantage Points Vol. 2: Edge of the Storm Out Now

Review downloads & CDs available upon request.

“precise tuning, textural variety and impassioned communication” – The Strad

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Mill Valley, CA – On Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 5pm, the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group The New York Times describes as “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” is presented in concert by Chamber Music Marin. The performance will take place in Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church (410 Sycamore Ave). Known for their technical prowess and appreciation for the history behind music, the Telegraph Quartet bring their fluid synchronicity and refined artistry to a program titled From Countryside to Concert Hall a concert program that showcases how these three composers adapted, adopted, or fully embodied folk music, bringing the rustic and unassuming spirit of that idiom into the bright light of the concert stage. The program includes Derrick Skye’s American Mirror, Part 1; Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 – the first of his “Razumovsky” quartets, nicknamed for Prince Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna who commissioned Beethoven to write these pieces.

According to composer Derrick Skye, "American Mirror reflects on the coming together of cultures in our society, which consists of many generations and descendants of refugees, immigrants, and slaves, and how intercultural collaborations are essential to the well-being of American society.” The piece infuses influences from West African, North African, and Eastern European vocal techniques and ornamentations with open harmonies commonly found in Appalachian folk music. Bartók’s second quartet exhibits his immersion into what he called the “purest music” – that of the remote Hungarian countryside – a style he sought to absorb and recreate as a new form of highly complex concert music. The fourth movement of Beethoven's first "Razumovsky" quartet playfully features a theme from his patron's homeland fulfilling the patron’s request – that Beethoven include a Russian theme in each of the Quartets – in a cheeky fashion.

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.

Of bringing this folk-oriented program to Chamber Music Marin, the Telegraph Quartet says:

“We're excited to be sharing three different centuries of classical composers who infused each of their chamber works with folk music. While Beethoven impishly transformed a slow somber Russian folk song into a light-hearted finale, Bartok fully absorbed the Hungarian folk idiom to create an "updated" and truly modernist composition reflecting the apprehension of its WWI context. Derrick Skye's American Mirror is a self-professed reflection of many musical cultures mixing together to create one distinctly new voice that nimbly glides between one and the other.”

In August 2023, the Telegraph Quartet released 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths, the first in a trilogy of recordings on Azica Records exploring the string quartets of the first half of the 20th century – an era of music that the group has felt especially called to perform since its formation. Divergent Paths 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. The Quartet’s new album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Edge of the Storm is out now on Azica Records. Read the press release online here. This second volume of the trilogy examines music from the turbulent war years of 1941-1951 and features a thoughtfully curated program of works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Benjamin Britten, and Mieczysław Weinberg.

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.

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.

For Calendar Editors:

Concert details:

Who: Telegraph Quartet in Countryside to Concert Hall
Presented by Chamber Music Marin
What: Music by Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven
When: Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 5pm
Where: Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church, 410 Sycamore Ave., Mill Valley, CA 94941
Tickets and information: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/millvalleychambermusicsociety/1632606

Description: The award-winning Telegraph Quartet, a group “full of elegance and pinpoint control” (The New York Times), is presented in concert by Chamber Music Marin. The ensemble will perform a lively concert program titled Countryside to Concert Hall, featuring American Mirror: Part I by Derrick Skye, Quartet No. 2 by Béla Bartók, and Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1 “Razumovsky” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

GatherNYC Announces 2025-2026 Season at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) – 31 Concerts from October 2025 to May 2026

GatherNYC Announces 2025-2026 Season at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) – 31 Concerts from October 2025 to May 2026

GatherNYC Launches Expanded 2025-2026 Season in NYC
at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in Columbus Circle

31 Concerts – Now Held Weekly, Every Sunday Morning at 11AM
from October 26, 2025 through May 31, 2026

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, launches its expanded 2025-2026 season at the series’ home venue, Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) (2 Columbus Circle). For the first time, GatherNYC will offer weekly concerts, held every Sunday morning 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. The series will present an astonishing thirty-one concerts between October 26, 2025 and May 31, 2026. The season opens on October 26 with a performance by Metcalf and Boyd’s cello and guitar duo Boyd Meets Girl, plus all-star guests Audrey Wright, violin (New York Philharmonic) and Jo-Ann Sternberg, clarinet.

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. “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 are thrilled to be offering 31 concerts throughout our expanded 2025-2026 season, by far our largest lineup yet. In these challenging times, we feel it’s essential to provide our community with a gathering place each week where we can enjoy world-class artists together in an intimate, unique setting – complete with spoken word, silence, coffee and a communal, welcoming environment. We look forward to welcoming new and old friends week after week.”

GatherNYC 2025-2026 Schedule – All Concerts Take Place on Sundays at 11AM:

October 26: Boyd Meets Girl + All-Star Guests – A Season Opening Celebration

Artistic Directors of GatherNYC, cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd, are joined by New York Philharmonic violinist Audrey Wright, returning for her second performance at GatherNYC, and acclaimed clarinetist Jo-Ann Sternberg for a vibrant, eclectic program of music by Paul Wiancko, Olivier Messiaen and more.

November 2: Hanzhi Wang, accordion with Ivan Filipchyk, accordion

This concert traces a musical journey from the Baroque era to contemporary times, showcasing the accordion’s remarkable versatility. Beginning with solo works and expanding to the dynamic interplay of two accordions, the program explores the instrument’s orchestral depth and tonal diversity. A highlight of the morning is the duo accordion arrangement of Petrushka, offering a fresh perspective on Stravinsky’s iconic work.

November 9: Matt Haimovitz, cello

Renowned as a musical pioneer, multi-GRAMMY-nominated cellist Matt Haimovitz has inspired classical music lovers and countless new listeners by bringing his artistry to concert halls, clubs, outdoor festivals, and intimate coffee houses – any place where passionate music can be heard. For his GatherNYC debut, Haimovitz pairs new music from his innovative “Primavera Project” with timeless classics by J.S. Bach.

November 16: The Westerlies

Returning to GatherNYC for the second time, The Westerlies, a singular brass quartet with "a unique reputation for exploring the emotional textures of American music" across sounds and traditions (DownBeat), return to GatherNYC to celebrate the release of their EP Songbook, Vol. 3, a typically virtuosic and eclectic homage to the compositions of their many high-profile friends and collaborators. These nine arrangements showcase not just an ensemble at the peak of their musical powers, but one that is deeply committed to connection and community onstage and off of it.

November 23: Rachel Lee Priday, violin – Fluid Dynamics

During the pandemic, ocean scientist Georgy Manucharyan reached out to violinist Rachel Lee Priday with fascinating videos of fluid dynamics experiments he had captured in his lab. These films struck Rachel as water choreography, seeking a musical response from a group of leading American composers to engage with the ways in which the laws of physics, which unite us all, leave space for individuality, chance, and interpretation. These stunning new compositions written by some of the most acclaimed composers of our time including Leilehua Lanzilotti, Paul Wiancko, Timo Andres, Gabriella Smith and more, reflect how we all derive energy from nature and in turn project our inner lives onto the observed world around us. Threads of minimalism, cyclical structures, unbridled lyricism, motoric energy and physicality run through the entire program.

November 30: Kayla Williams + Friends

Violist, vocalist, and composer Kayla Williams explores a multidisciplinary approach to contemporary chamber music. Her ensemble strives to bridge the gaps between classical, jazz, folk, and roots music bringing each of these musical communities into conversation and collaboration.

December 7: GatherNYC Downtown – Natalie Tenenbaum, piano

In this special offsite performance taking place in a private loft in Manhattan, the superstar pianist Natalie Tenenbaum, known for her fluency in a wide variety of musical styles including classical, jazz, pop, Broadway and more, will share an intimate acoustic set of her original works and improvisations.

December 14: Renaissance String Quartet

Founded in 2021 by violinists Randall Goosby and Jeremiah Blacklow, violist Jameel Martin, and cellist Daniel Hass, the New York City based quartet was formed on the basis of over a decade of friendship at The Perlman Music Program and The Juilliard School. The quartet feels a responsibility to command a diverse repertoire of classic, underrepresented, and new works, so they can contribute to the reclamation, redefinition, and continuation of a musical tradition that belongs to all of us. They represent and articulate an inclusive vision of the future of classical music, which sees a culture of music wherein all lives and histories are welcomed and celebrated. For their first appearance at GatherNYC, the quartet performs music from its debut album Love & Levity.

December 21: Bridget Kibbey, harp

GatherNYC welcomes back acclaimed harpist Bridget Kibbey for her second appearance on the series. In a virtuosic and charming holiday baroque program, Kibbey plays a set of solo transcriptions by J.S. Bach and Domenico Scarlatti alongside her own improvisations and arrangements celebrating the holiday season.

January 4: Devony Smith, mezzo-soprano + Jesse Blumberg, baritone with Boyd Meets Girl

GatherNYC rings in the new year with a pair of powerhouse vocalists known for their creativity and curiosity. Mezzo-soprano Devony Smith and baritone Jesse Blumberg join GatherNYC artistic directors Rupet Boyd and Laura Metcalf for an eclectic program of music by Schubert, Mazzolli, Falla and more.

January 11: Yasmin Williams, guitar

Yasmin Williams, a young guitar and plucked string virtuoso who is taking the world by storm with her captivating performances, will present a solo performance of her own original compositions, including her distinct and innovative approach to playing the guitar, in a unique blend of folk, blues, classical and Appalachian influences.

January 18: Ember (violin + cello + harp)

GatherNYC is proud to present this newly-formed ensemble consisting of harpist Emily Levin, violinist Julia Choi and cellist Christine Lamprea, in a concert featuring repertoire from their debut album Birds of Paradise, released in fall 2025 to great critical acclaim. With this release, the ensemble challenges the role of the harp as an instrument of femininity and domesticity, centering it in a position of power and strength.

January 25: Isabel Hagen, viola + comedy

Isabel Hagen is a stand-up comedian and classically trained violist. As a stand-up, she has been featured on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon multiple times, and as a New Face of Comedy at the prestigious Just for Laughs festival in Montréal. Isabel started stand-up immediately after earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in viola performance from the Juilliard School. As a violist, she has played in the orchestra of many Broadway shows, and worked with artists such as Vampire Weekend, Bjork, Max Richter, and Steve Reich. You might be wondering if Isabel ever combines comedy and viola. The answer: sometimes!

February 1: Empire Wild

Empire Wild, founded by Juilliard-trained cellists Mitchell Lyon and Ken Kubota, joins forces with acclaimed jazz pianist Addison Frei for a genre-bending program that fuses pop, folk, jazz, and classical traditions into an electrifying, original sound. Honored with the Concert Artists Guild Ambassador Prize, the ensemble captivates audiences with inventive compositions, reimagined classics, and the limitless possibilities of cross-genre collaboration.

February 8: Sonnambula

Praised as “remarkable” and “superb” by the New Yorker, Sonnambula is a historically-informed ensemble that brings to light unknown music for various combinations of early instruments with the lush sound of the viol at the core. The ensemble is currently the 2025-26 ensemble in residence at The Frick Collection, and will share music from their recently-released and critically-acclaimed album Passing Fancy: Beauty in a Moment of Chaos. Do not miss the chance to hear these rare and beautiful instruments up close!

February 15: Tallā Rouge

Tallā Rouge's brings selections from their debut album, Shapes in Collective Space, to GatherNYC, weaving together a narrative of love, loss, childlike glee, and reflection. Featuring diverse and genre-defying compositions by inti figgis-vizueta, Kian Ravaei, Karl Mitze, and Leilehua Lanzilotti, Tallā Rouge sonically explores the raw emotions that shape our collective humanity — beckoning us to embrace and cherish the impermanence of life.

February 22: Boyd Meets Girl

GatherNYC’s own artistic directors, cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd, take the stage to share several world premieres for the unique combination of cello and guitar by Stephen Goss, Reinaldo Moya and more, as well as works from their upcoming third album release.

March 1: Exponential Ensemble

Exponential Ensemble, led by clarinetist Pascal Archer, is one of the most innovative ensembles on the NYC music scene. Exponential Ensemble’s mission includes commissioning and premiering works by living composers that are inspired by math, science and literacy, and their GatherNYC debut showcases the woodwind players from the Ensemble performing works by French and American composers, including “Wild Birds” by Brad Balliett inspired by wild birds living in New York City’s Central Park!

March 8: Inbal Segev, cello

Inbal Segev, a formidable cello soloist who stands out not only for her captivating sound and stage presence, but also for her curiosity and creativity. She has commissioned and premiered numerous concertos for cello and orchestra, and for this intimate solo performance she invites us into her compelling sound world, playing both her own compositions and music of Anna Clyne, Missy Mazzolli and more.

March 15: Palaver Strings

GatherNYC is proud to present this masterful and creative Portland, ME- based string chamber orchestra. Their program “The Apple of Their Eyes” explores the African-American experience in classical music, through the eyes of Black composers. It begins with William Grant Still’s lush and lyrical Mother and Child, and continues with Perry’s understated Prelude for Piano, arranged for strings. At the heart of the program is Edmund Thornton Jenkins Romance and Reverie Phantasy for Violin and String Orchestra, restored, edited, and arranged by Tuffus Zimbabwe, featuring Palaver violinist Maïthéna Girault. The Apple of their Eyes encapsulates the African-American experience, and celebrates the richness and depth of Black classical music.

March 22: The Knights – An Interactive Family Concert

Following their wildly successful family concert in November 2024, The Knights return to GatherNYC with a new program, also designed for the whole family. “Toy Bricks” is an interactive family concert that highlights playful interactions between stringed instruments, both large and small! Musical games and friendly competition bring friends together in a range of repertoire, culminating in a performance of Paul Wiancko’s Toy Bricks for violin, two cellos, and bass. This program is created and hosted by Knights cellist Caitlin Sullivan.

March 29: String Trios – Miranda Cuckson, violin + Jessica Meyer, viola + Laura Metcalf, cello

This program brings together four electrifying contemporary string trios by living female composers: Jessica Meyer, Missy Mazzolli, Nina C. Young, and Dobrinka Tabakova. These powerful works push the boundaries of what is possible on three stringed instruments.

April 5: Rachell Ellen Wong, violin + David Belkovski, harpsichord

Following their much-loved performance at GatherNYC in 2023 as part of the early music collective Twelfth Night, Wong and Belkovski return to the stage for a charming and intimate recital featuring impeccably performed Baroque gems.

April 12: Boyd Meets Girl and Friends play Clarice Assad & Osvoldo Golijov

This exciting program for flute, guitar and string quartet pair works by two superstar Latin-American composers whose styles contrast and compliment each other. Golijov’s achingly beautiful Tenebrae is juxtaposed with Clarice Assad’s exhilarating Sephardic Suite. Boyd Meets Girl is joined by violinists David Felberg and Jennifer Choi and violist En-Chi Cheng.

April 19: Kebra-Seyoun Charles, bass + composer

Kebra-Seyoun Charles is a distinguished double bass soloist and composer lauded for their counter-classical musical language and their ability to aptly communicate complex ideas and emotions to audiences. For their GatherNYC debut, they will perform a new work entitled “Shango” for bass and percussion duo, interspersed with virtuosic double bass solos.

April 26: Poeisis Quartet

Fresh off their win at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition (arguably the most important competition of its kind in the world), this fast-rising young string quartet will treat audiences to its vital and energetic approach to music-making and programming.

Says Poeisis of their program: “In collaboration with five emerging QTPOC (Queer/Trans People of Color) composers from our alma mater, Oberlin College & Conservatory, the Oberlin Commission Project expands the string quartet canon with approaches to music-making that are too often unheard. This initiative brings underrepresented voices, genres, and influences to the forefront, and also serves as an act of resistance and perseverance. Composer Zola Saadi-Klein's composition is rooted in the Persian Dastgāh music tradition, and through their work they are "acknowledging our queer and ancestral identities can freely coexist beyond the binaries of classical music and societal expectations." As queer musicians and as Oberlin graduates, this project serves as our way of giving back to the communities who raised us and brought us together.”

May 3: Thomas Mesa, cello + JP Jofre, bandoneon

Two of the most exciting soloists working today, Mesa and Jofre come together for a morning of tango and tango-inspired works that spotlight the unusual combination of their instruments, cello and bandoneon, while allowing each performer to shine.

May 10: Curtis Stewart, violin + composer

GatherNYC favorite, Curtis Stewart, returns to the stage with a preview of his much-anticipated project “24 American Caprices.” The 24 American Caprices are inspired by a kaleidoscope of recorded American music, with some honorary American additions...musical aspects of each inspiration are abstracted and imbued with challenging violin techniques emulating the sounds and styles of their origin. In the full meaning of caprice, these violin fragments dance and sing lightly from inspiration to ornamentation, both with flights of fantasy and fastidious settings of referenced material, creating playful musical dialogue around American lineage and individual perspective in Classical music.

May 17: Catalyst Quartet

The GRAMMY-winning Catalyst Quartet, known for their masterful, comprehensive recordings of music by Black composers throughout history, bring their signature polish and style back to GatherNYC for the second time.

May 24: Aeolus Quartet

The acclaimed Aeolus Quartet presents a touching and thoughtful program for their first performance at GatherNYC. From a Bach chorale composed to unite the voices of church congregations to the expansive Overture and Chorale by Andrea Casarrubios inspired by it; from the textural celebration of Montgomery's Strum to the bubbling virtuosity of Bacewicz’s Quartet No. 3 composed in the new world that arose from the ashes of WWII. In this program, storytelling and silence give way to the tender slow movement of Price’s G Major Quartet rooted in the tradition of Black spirituals.

May 31: Season Finale – Musicians from the NY Phil with Boyd Meets Girl

GatherNYC artistic directors Laura Metcalf and Rupert Boyd once again team up with members of the New York Philharmonic, including returning violist Leah Ferguson, violinist Alina Kobialka and more, to craft an exhilarating program centered around Aaron Jay Kernis’ tour de force for guitar and string quartet, “100 Greatest Dance Hits.” Dance into the summer and celebrate the conclusion of another wonderful season of GatherNYC!

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

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Telegraph Quartet presents Second Viennese School of Music Festival at University of Michigan and in San Francisco - Free Concert Nov 6 in SF

Telegraph Quartet presents Second Viennese School of Music Festival at University of Michigan and in San Francisco - Free Concert Nov 6 in SF

The Telegraph Quartet Presents Second Viennese Focus Festival
October 27-November 2: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
November 6-7: San Francisco, CA

Culminating in Side-by-Side Performance with University of Michigan Students:
Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 7:30pm
Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
Free Reservations & Information

“precise tuning, textural variety and impassioned communication” – The Strad

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Ann Arbor, MI & San Francisco, CA – The Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group The New York Times describes as “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” formed in 2013 with an equal passion for standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. The ensemble is currently the Quartet-in-Residence at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and as part of their residency will present a two-part festival focused on the musical period that has long fascinated the group – the Second Viennese School, from early 20th century Vienna.

The Telegraph Quartet’s Second Viennese Focus Festival begins with a weeklong intensive from October 27-November 2, 2025 centered on the music of composers Arnold Schönberg and Anton Webern at the The University of Michigan, culminating in performances by the Telegraph Quartet and their students on November 1 and 2, 2025 at the University. Then, the group will travel with five selected students to San Francisco, where the Telegraph was formerly based at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, to present two side-by-side performances on Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 7:30pm at Noe Valley Ministry and Friday, November 7, 2025 at Maybeck Studio in Berkeley, CA.

While the Maybeck Studio performance has limited capacity, the concert at Noe Valley Ministry (1021 Sanchez Street, San Francisco, CA) on Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 7:30pm is free and open to the public, with advance reservations. The program features tumultuously personal chamber music from the early 20th century – Webern’s Fünf Sätze for String Quartet, Op. 5 performed by a Telegraph Quartet member alongside the University of Michigan students, Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 17 performed by the Telegraph, and Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht for String Sextet, Op. 4 performed by the Telegraph Quartet members with their students. All three of these masterworks express the unrest of the time period, as well as the personal unrest of the composers in their search for a new style of expression. Both Webern and Bartók’s early string quartets deal with dark material, from the former's mourning of his mother's passing to the latter's experiences of civilian life during World War I. Inspired by the then scandalous poetry of Richard Dehmel, Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht or Transfigured Night begins in despair and dread only to be utterly transformed by empathy and hope.

The University of Michigan students joining the Telegraph Quartet for these Bay Area performances are Frances Norton, Spencer Quarles, Adam Zeithamel, Katarina Elise, and Anna Sykes.

"We are thrilled to be working alongside and showcasing the hard work and creativity of these five students from the University of Michigan!” says the Telegraph Quartet. “We have been working with them throughout this semester to explore what for many is a new vocabulary of expression, something that at first might feel foreign and yet is full of expressivity. It's our joy to be able to share the fruits of this labor with our deeply supportive audiences in the Bay Area and bring these two communities together!"

About the Telegraph Quartet: The Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello) 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 is a previous recipient of the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

The Quartet is currently the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Michigan. They have performed in concert halls, music festivals, and academic institutions across the United States and abroad, including New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Town Hall, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Chamber Music Tuesdays, Philharmonie de Paris, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Music in the Vineyards in Napa Valley, Interlochen Arts Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival. Prior to their residency at the University of Michigan, the Telegraph was the Quartet-in-Residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music between 2017-2024.

The Telegraph Quartet is releasing a three-album series of recordings titled 20th Century Vantage Points, on Azica Records. 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 first volume, Divergent Paths (2022), features Maurice Ravel’s Quartet in F Major and Arnold Schoenberg’s Quartet No. 1. In August 2025, Telegraph released the second volume in the series, Edge of the Storm, featuring Grażyna Bacewicz’s Quartet No. 4, Benjamin Britten’s Quartet No. 1, and Mieczysław Weinberg’s Quartet No. 6. The series follows the quartet’s debut album, Into The Light (Centaur, 2018), which features a gripping set of works by Leon Kirchner, Anton Webern, and Benjamin Britten. In 2026, the Telegraph will release an album of the complete string quartets by composer Kenji Bunch on Phenotypic Records.

The Quartet has given master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Collegiate and Pre-College Divisions, the University of Maryland, Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, UT Austin's Butler School of Music, Brown University, and abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Telegraph has also served as artists-in-residence at Center Stage Strings at the University of Michigan, 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. For more information, visit www.telegraphquartet.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Concert details:

What: Second Viennese Focus Festival presented by the Telegraph Quartet
Who: Telegraph Quartet and Students from the University of Michigan
When: Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 7:30pm
Where: Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez Street, San Francisco, CA 94114 (November 6)
Tickets and information: www.ticketsource.com/telegraph-quartet/telegraph-quartet-uofm-on-tour/e-mqdjqk

Description: The award-winning Telegraph Quartet, a group “full of elegance and pinpoint control” (The New York Times), brings its Second Viennese Focus Festival to the Bay Area, performing alongside their students from the University of Michigan in a program featuring tumultuously personal chamber music from the early 20th century – Webern’s Fünf Sätze for String Quartet, Op. 5, Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2, Op. 17, and Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht for String Sextet, Op. 4. All three of these masterworks express the unrest of the time period, as well as the personal unrest of the composers in their search for a new style of expression. Both Webern and Bartók’s early string quartets deal with dark material, from the former's mourning of his mother's passing to the latter's experiences of civilian life during World War I. Inspired by the then scandalous poetry of Richard Dehmel, Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht or Transfigured Night begins in despair and dread only to be utterly transformed by empathy and hope. This concert is the culmination of the Telegraph’s two-part festival focused on music from the Second Viennese School, which runs October 27-November 2, 2025 at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor, MI and November 6-7, 2025 in San Francisco and Berkeley, CA.

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov. 9: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Placitas Artists Series – Featuring the Music of Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven

Nov. 9: Telegraph Quartet Presented by Placitas Artists Series – Featuring the Music of Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven

Telegraph Quartet Presented by Placitas Artists Series
Featuring the Music of Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven

Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 3pm
Las Placitas Presbyterian Church | 7 Paseo de San Antonio | Placitas, NM

Tickets and More Information

Telegraph Quartet’s New Album
20th Century Vantage Points Vol. 2: Edge of the Storm Out Now

Review downloads & CDs available upon request.

“precise tuning, textural variety and impassioned communication” – The Strad

www.TelegraphQuartet.com

Placitas, NM – On Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 3pm, the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group The New York Times describes as “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” is presented in concert by Placitas Artists Series. The performance will take place in Las Placitas Presbyterian Church (7 Paseo de San Antonio).

Known for their technical prowess and appreciation for the history behind music, the Telegraph Quartet bring their fluid synchronicity and refined artistry to a program titled From Countryside to Concert Hall a concert program that showcases how these three composers adapted, adopted, or fully embodied folk music, bringing the rustic and unassuming spirit of that idiom into the bright light of the concert stage. The program includes Derrick Skye’s American Mirror, Part 1; Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59 No. 1 – the first of his “Razumovsky” quartets, nicknamed for Prince Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna who commissioned Beethoven to write these pieces.

According to composer Derrick Skye, "American Mirror reflects on the coming together of cultures in our society, which consists of many generations and descendants of refugees, immigrants, and slaves, and how intercultural collaborations are essential to the well-being of American society.” The piece infuses influences from West African, North African, and Eastern European vocal techniques and ornamentations with open harmonies commonly found in Appalachian folk music. Bartók’s second quartet exhibits his immersion into what he called the “purest music” – that of the remote Hungarian countryside – a style he sought to absorb and recreate as a new form of highly complex concert music. The fourth movement of Beethoven's first "Razumovsky" quartet playfully features a theme from his patron's homeland fulfilling the patron’s request – that Beethoven include a Russian theme in each of the Quartets – in a cheeky fashion.

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.

Of this folk-oriented program, the Telegraph Quartet says:

“We're excited to be sharing three different centuries of classical composers who infused each of their chamber works with folk music. While Beethoven impishly transformed a slow somber Russian folk song into a light-hearted finale, Bartok fully absorbed the Hungarian folk idiom to create an "updated" and truly modernist composition reflecting the apprehension of its WWI context. Derrick Skye's American Mirror is a self-professed reflection of many musical cultures mixing together to create one distinctly new voice that nimbly glides between one and the other.”

In August 2023, the Telegraph Quartet released 20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths, the first in a trilogy of recordings on Azica Records exploring the string quartets of the first half of the 20th century – an era of music that the group has felt especially called to perform since its formation. Divergent Paths 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. The Quartet’s new album, 20th Century Vantage Points: Edge of the Storm is out now on Azica Records. Read the press release online here. This second volume of the trilogy examines music from the turbulent war years of 1941-1951 and features a thoughtfully curated program of works by Grażyna Bacewicz, Benjamin Britten, and Mieczysław Weinberg.

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.

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.

For Calendar Editors:

Concert details:

Who: Telegraph Quartet in Countryside to Concert Hall
Presented by Placitas Artists Series
What: Music by Derrick Skye, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig van Beethoven
When: Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 3pm
Where: Las Placitas Presbyterian Church, 7 Paseo de San Antonio, Placitas, NM 87043
Tickets and information: https://placitasartistsseries.org/

Description: The award-winning Telegraph Quartet, a group “full of elegance and pinpoint control” (The New York Times), is presented in concert by Placitas Artists Series. The ensemble will perform a lively concert program titled Countryside to Concert Hall, featuring American Mirror: Part I by Derrick Skye, Quartet No. 2 by Béla Bartók, and Quartet No. 7 in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1 “Razumovsky” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Out Today: Clarice Jensen's "In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness" - Album Coverage from NPR, The Strad, and More

Clarice Jensen's "In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness" - Album Coverage from NPR, The Strad, and More

Album cover by DLT and press photos by Ebru Yildiz available here.

Clarice Jensen Releases New Album In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness

Out Today October 17, 2025 on FatCat/130701 Records

"With this album, Jensen reminds us how past and present can combine in potent, emotionally charged ways – how Bach's old school traditions and our new age of electronics can make arresting bedfellows." – Tom Huizenga, NPR Music

NPR Music Review
NPR All Songs Considered
A Closer Listen Review
Sounds Vegan Review
The Strad Interview
Rock Sound Interview

Opening for Suzanne Ciani Presented by Age of Reflections this Fall
Information

Downloads and CDs available to press on request

"The Zen clarity of her sound recalls masters like Phill Niblock, evoking universes by honing in on narrow ranges of frequency. But the way Jensen shifts her drones, building them gradually and then hard-cutting to completely new tones, feels singular." – Pitchfork

www.claricejensen.com | www.fatcat.online/130701

Composer and cellist Clarice Jensen releases her fourth solo album, In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness, today October 17, 2025 via FatCat Records’ 130701 imprint. The new album showcases Jensen’s distinctive compositional approach, in which she improvises and layers her cello through shifting loops and a chain of electronic effects, exploring a series of rich, drone-based sound fields. Pulsing, visceral and full of color, her work is deeply immersive, marked by a wonderful sense of restraint and an almost hallucinatory clarity. Jensen recorded In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness as part of the Visiting Artist Programme at Studio Richter Mahr, the creative space co-founded by Yulia Mahr and Max Richter in Oxfordshire, England.

Jensen’s live performance schedule takes her across the country this summer and fall. She recently joined My Chemical Romance on their Long Live The Black Parade tour, performing a solo set in addition to playing with the band. This fall, she opens for Suzanne Ciani presented by Age of Reflections in Denver on November 15, San Francisco on November 21, New York on December 6, and Los Angeles on December 13, 2025. This summer she performed a solo show at Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City and with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Full concert schedule: www.claricejensen.com/events

Having made a solo move to the Berkshire Mountains in upstate New York in September 2020 after many years living in Brooklyn, Jensen found herself confronting and enjoying a newfound solitude as the non-stop movement and collaboration of city life as a musician had come to a standstill. The first LP she made post-move – Esthesis, released on 130701 in 2022 – is largely devoid of cello, synth heavy, and examines emotions in a self-conscious way from an isolated point of view that is nearly one-dimensional.

Jensen sets new parameters for In holiday clothing, placing the acoustic sound of the cello at the fore, and affecting the sound only through a few effects (octave displacement, delay, tremolo and looping). “It felt necessary to return to the rich acoustic sound of the cello that I've loved and produced for nearly my entire life, and to return to an expression of emotion that's multi-dimensional and sincere,” she notes.

As a soloist, Jensen endeavors to establish a new tradition of solo cello performance that integrates electronics with the storied and beloved performance practice intrinsic to the instrument. She places great importance on finding and working with effects pedals that integrate well with the cello (and avoids overt use of plugins or playback). Jensen considers the solo cello works of J.S. Bach as a central backdrop to this new album. Bach’s Solo Cello Suites display a rich range of voices created by one instrument. Having found ways to expand the sound and voice of the instrument through electronics, Jensen found it fitting to return to Bach's works – music she has played for many years – as a way to touch back in with the tradition of the instrument.

As a composer, Jensen insists that the programmatic elements of her albums align and ring true. This album’s title is taken from the quote from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, “… what steps forth, in holiday clothing, out of the great darkness." She writes, “the quote from Rilke had been bouncing around my mind for many years; the visualisation of musical ideas being born and echoing inside a ‘great darkness,’ then emerging ‘in holiday clothing’ felt very beautiful and tangible, and this essay, which to me is a manifesto in celebration of solitude, depicts what so many artists and composers experience when they endeavor solitary work. This album reflects a personal and conceptual exploration of what solo means.”

Previous Albums
The new album adds to Jensen’s growing discography. Her striking debut album For This From That Will Be Filled was released in April 2018 on the Berlin-based label Miasmah and followed in September 2019 by the "Drone Studies" EP, a cassette release via Geographic North. Signing to FatCat’s 130701 imprint in 2019, her sophomore album The experience of repetition as death was released April 2020. Naming it among the top 50 albums of 2020, NPR remarked "This collection of requiems for a dying mother ranks among the great ambient albums of the 21st century." Her album Esthesis was released in October 2022 and NPR ranked it among the Best Experimental Albums of the Year. Boomkat stated, “Jensen finds a fine line between in-the-moment, tactile precision and lingering hallucinatory afterimages that emerge from her improv/compositional system. The pieces betray an exquisite depth of feeling in Jensen’s diffractive rendering of shimmering layers and gently transitory movements,” with Magnetic Magazine reporting, “There is no doubt this album will impact people profoundly.”

Film Scores
Clarice Jensen’s music is a natural fit for film and she is increasingly in demand as a film and television composer. Her recent scores include Amber Sealey's No Man of God starring Elijah Wood which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival; Takeshi Fukunaga's Ainu Mosir, which premiered at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival; Fernanda Valadez's 2020 Sundance Film Festival award-winner Sin Señas Particulares (Identifying Features), for which Jensen was nominated for a 2021 Ariel Award for Best Original Music by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences; Caught in the Web: The Murders Behind Zona Divas (2024), a four-part Netflix documentary on femicide in Mexico from Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez; and A Want in Her, a documentary film from Myrid Carten which premiered at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2024.

Collaborators
A versatile collaborator, Jensen has recorded and performed with a host of stellar artists including Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter, Björk, Stars of the Lid, Dustin O’Halloran, Nico Muhly, Taylor Swift, Michael Stipe, the National and many others. In her role as the artistic director of ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble), she has helped bring to life some of the most revered works of modern classical music, including pieces by Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Gavin Bryars, and more.

Clarice Jensen: In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness
FatCat Records/130701 | October 17, 2025

1. In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness - Part 1 [12:56]
2. From a to b [5:35]
3. 2,1 [4:11]
4. 1,2 [4:08]
5. In holiday clothing, out of the great darkness - Part 2 [8:35]
6. Unity [5:29]

Recorded at Studio Richter Mahr by Rupert Coulson, 30 October - 1 November 2024
Mastered by Alan Douches
Photography by Ebru Yildiz
Album art by DLT

 
 
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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov. 14: The Jupiter String Quartet Presented by Hamilton College's Performing Arts Series

Nov. 14: The Jupiter String Quartet Presented by Hamilton College's Performing Arts Series

Photo of the Jupiter Quartet by Todd Rosenberg available in high resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/jupiter-string

The Jupiter String Quartet Presented by
Hamilton College's Performing Arts Series

Performing Music by
Franz Joseph Haydn, Salina Fisher, Florence Price, and Robert Schumann

Friday, November 14, 2025 at 7:30pm
Wellin Hall at Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts
198 College Hill Road | Clinton, NY
Tickets and Information

“an ensemble of eloquent intensity, has matured into one of the mainstays of the American chamber-music scene.” – The New Yorker

www.jupiterquartet.com

Clinton, NY – On Friday, November 14, 2025 at 7:30pm, the Jupiter String Quartet – internationally acclaimed winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, who are known for their “compelling” performances (BBC Music Magazine) – will be presented in concert by the Hamilton College's Performing Arts Series in Wellin Hall at Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts (198 College Hill Road).

Based at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and giving concerts all over the country, the Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Mélanie Clapiès and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg’s older sister), and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg’s husband, Liz’s brother-in-law). Founded in 2001, the ensemble is firmly established as an important voice in the world of chamber music, and exudes an energy that is at once friendly, knowledgeable, and adventurous.

The Jupiter Quartet brings its well-honed musical chemistry to three works shaped by bold musicality and deeply meaningful thematic inspirations, written between the late 18th century and the present day, including String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33 No. 3 “The Bird” by Franz Joseph Haydn; Heal by Salina Fisher; Selections from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint by Florence Price; and Quartet in A minor, Op. 41 No. 1 by Robert Schumann.

Of performing together with Mélanie and bringing this program to Hamilton College’s Performing Arts Series:

The “Bird” is one of the most popular of Haydn’s six Opus 33 string quartets. It is filled with joy and playfulness, often imitating the sprightly and singsong qualities of birds (hence the nickname). Haydn’s good-natured creativity is on full display here, throughout the vivacity of the opening and closing movements, the quirky scherzo, and the wonderfully lyrical slow movement.

Salina Fisher is an award-winning New Zealand composer who draws from her background as a multi-instrumentalist of mixed Japanese heritage. Her highly evocative music often involves collaborations, notably with taonga pūoro practitioners.

Of the inspiration behind her 2021 work Heal Fisher says:

“During a year of collective and personal challenges, I became interested in the process of healing and its relation to music making,’ says Fisher. ‘Can composing be part of a healing process? What does it mean to share physical space and sound? This piece is a reflection on these kinds of questions and seems to find space for breath and unity’.”

Florence Price’s Five Folksongs in Counterpoint stems from historically meaningful folk tunes and spirituals written or made popular throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Four of the five movements are based on the following songs: “Calvary,” “My Darling Clementine,” “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,” and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The fifth is a blending of various folk songs in one. Initially, Price only composed three movements, before adding two more around 1950. Each movement embraces sophisticated and precise contrapuntal phrasing, transforming the familiar form of each folksong but keeping each theme intact.

Composed in the summer of 1842, Robert Schumann’s Quartet in A minor, Op. 41 No. 1 is dedicated to Felix Mendelssohn, along with the two other string quartets of Opus 41. He wrote it while studying the contrapuntal style of Beethoven, Mozart, and Haydn. —. The work opens with a bittersweetly beautiful Ándante espressivo, which finally transforms into a more dance-like Allegro. The Scherzo that follows is full of energetically galloping rhythms. The third movement is a beautiful set of Adagio variations, full of the dramatic lyricism that Schumann invokes so well. The work closes with a flashy Presto, with all four musicians’ fingers flying to keep up with the energetic pace.

More About Jupiter String Quartet: The Jupiter Quartet has performed in some of the world’s finest halls, including New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, Austria’s Esterhazy Palace, and Seoul’s Sejong Chamber Hall. Their major music festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival and School, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Music at Menlo, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Centre, the Seoul Spring Festival, and many others. In addition to their performing career, they have been artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2012, where they maintain private studios and direct the chamber music program.   

Their chamber music honors and awards include the grand prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; the Young Concert Artists International auditions in New York City; the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America; an Avery Fisher Career Grant; and a grant from the Fromm Foundation. From 2007-2010, they were in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two. 

The Jupiter String Quartet feels a strong connection to the core string quartet repertoire; they have presented the complete Bartok and Beethoven string quartets on numerous occasions. Also deeply committed to new music, they have commissioned string quartets from Nathan Shields, Stephen Andrew Taylor, Michi Wiancko, Syd Hodkinson, Hannah Lash, Dan Visconti, and Kati Agócs; a quintet with baritone voice by Mark Adamo; and a piano quintet by Pierre Jalbert. 

The quartet's latest album is a collaboration with the Jasper String Quartet (Marquis Classics, 2021), produced by Grammy-winner Judith Sherman. This collaborative album features the world premiere recording of Dan Visconti’s Eternal Breath, Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat, Op. 20, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round. The Arts Fuse acclaimed, “This joint album from the Jupiter String Quartet and Jasper String Quartet is striking for its backstory but really memorable for its smart program and fine execution.” The quartet’s discography also includes numerous recordings on labels including Azica Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In fall 2024, the Jupiter Quartet will record their next album with Judith Sherman, featuring the world premiere recordings of Michi Wiancko’s To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores, Stephen Taylor’s Chaconne/Labyrinth, and Kati Agócs's Imprimatur, which were all composed for the Jupiters.

 The quartet chose its name because Jupiter was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time of its formation and the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four.

For more information, visit www.jupiterquartet.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: The Jupiter Quartet, described by The New Yorker as having “technical finesse and rare expressive maturity,” is presented in concert by Hamilton College's Performing Arts Series. The award-winning ensemble will perform a program blending the emotive and image-driven melodies of traditional works with purpose-driven music from the present day. The concert program will include: String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33 No. 3 “The Bird” by Franz Joseph Haydn; Heal by Salina Fisher; Selections from Five Folksongs in Counterpoint by Florence Price; and Quartet in A minor, Op. 41 No. 1 by Robert Schumann.

Concert details:

Who: Jupiter String Quartet
Presented by Hamilton College's Performing Arts Series
What: Music by Franz Joseph Haydn, Salina Fisher, Florence Price, and Robert Schumann
When: Friday, November 14, 2025 at 7:30pm
Where: Wellin Hall at Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323
Tickets and information: www.hamilton.edu/campuslife/arts-at-hamilton/performingarts

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov. 7-9: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik is Featured Soloist in Three Concerts with the Phoenix Symphony Conducted by Andrew Litton

Nov. 7-9: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik is Featured Soloist in Three Concerts with the Phoenix Symphony Conducted by Andrew Litton

Yevgeny Kutik sits on stone slab while holding violin and bow in hands.

Photo of Yevgeny Kutik by Griffin Harrington available in hi-resolution here.

Violinist Yevgeny Kutik is Featured Soloist in Three Concerts
with the Phoenix Symphony

Performing Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77
by Dimitri Shostakovich
Conducted by Andrew Litton

Friday, November 7, 2025 at 11am
Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 2pm
 Symphony Hall | 75 North 2nd Street | Phoenix, AZ
Tickets and More Information

“polished dexterity and genteel, old-world charm” –WQXR

www.yevgenykutik.com

Phoenix, AZ — Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, who The New York Times describes as having a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” is the featured soloist in three performances with the Phoenix Symphony, conducted by Andrew Litton. Kutik will perform Dimitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77 as part of a performance that will also include Ludwig van Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite No. 3. This concert program will be performed on Friday, November 7 at 11am, Saturday, November 8 at 7:30pm, and Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 2pm. All three concerts will take place in Symphony Hall (75 North 2nd Street).

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 standard works as well as rarely heard and newly composed repertoire.

“I grew up with Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 as a constant presence—its intensity and honesty became part of my musical language from an early age,” says Kutik. “Each time I return to it, I discover anew how music can embody strength, resilience, and vulnerability all at once. I’m especially thrilled to bring it to Phoenix this November with Maestro Litton.”

Composed between 1947-48, Shostakovich called his Violin Concerto No. 1 “a symphony for violin and orchestra.” Part of his inspiration for this concerto was the extraordinary violin playing of his friend, David Oistrakh. After Shostakovich finished composing the work, he and Oistrakh performed it together privately on violin and piano, however the concerto could not be performed publicly because of Soviet censorship until 1955, two years after Joseph Stalin’s death. Oistrakh premiered the concerto with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Evgeny Mravinsky. As time has gone on, the work has come to be thought of as one of the great violin concertos of the 20th century.

More about Yevgeny Kutik: Committed to the music of our time, Kutik regularly gives premiere and repeat performances of major works by today’s most celebrated composers. This season, he gives the world premiere of a new work by Jonathan Leshnoff with pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner presented by Newport Classical. In January 2025, he made his debut with the Las Vegas Philharmonic, led by Michelle Merrill, in a performance of Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto No. 2. In 2022 at the Tanglewood Music Festival, he gave the world premiere of Cântico, a work for solo violin by Andreia Pinto Correia co-commissioned for Kutik by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2021, he debuted with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Leonard Slatkin, performing the world premiere of Joseph Schwantner’s Violin Concerto, written for him. The concerto is based on Schwantner’s earlier work, The Poet’s HourSoliloquy for Violin, which Kutik recorded on episode six of Gerard Schwarz’s All-Star Orchestra, released on DVD by Naxos and broadcast nationally on PBS.

A native of Minsk, Belarus, Yevgeny Kutik immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of five. His 2014 album, Music from the Suitcase: A Collection of Russian Miniatures (Marquis Classics), features music he found in his family’s suitcase after immigrating to the United States from the Soviet Union in 1990, and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Classical chart. The album garnered critical acclaim and was featured on NPR's All Things Considered and in The New York Times. Kutik’s recent releases on Marquis include The Death of Juliet and Other Tales (2021) and Meditations on Family (2019), for which he commissioned eight composers to translate a personal family photo into a short musical miniature – a project featured on the cover of Strings magazine. Kutik’s other recordings include his debut album, Sounds of Defiance (2012), and Words Fail (2016), both released to critical acclaim.  

Other recent performance highlights include debuts at the Kennedy Center presented by Washington Performing Arts, and at the Ravinia Festival, as well as recital appearances as part of the Dame Myra Hess Concerts Chicago; at UCLA; Peoples' Symphony Concerts, Kaufman Music Center, and National Sawdust in New York City; the Embassy Series and The Phillips Collection in Washington D.C.; and at the Lobkowicz Collections Prague presented by Prince William Lobkowicz. Festival performances have included the Tanglewood Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Ravinia, the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele in Germany, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.  

Kutik made his major orchestral debut in 2003 with Keith Lockhart and The Boston Pops as the First Prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition, and has since performed with orchestras throughout the country including the Rochester and Dayton Philharmonics; the Detroit, New Haven, Asheville, and Wyoming symphony orchestras; and more. Abroad, he has appeared with Germany’s Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock and WDR Rundfunk Orchestra Köln, Montenegro’s Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Japan’s Tokyo Vivaldi Ensemble, and the Cape Town Philharmonic in South Africa.

Passionate about his heritage and its influence on his artistry, Kutik is an advocate for the Jewish Federations of North America, the organization that assisted his family in coming to the United States, and regularly speaks and performs across the United States to both raise awareness and promote the assistance of refugees from around the world.  

Yevgeny Kutik began violin studies with his mother, Alla Zernitskaya, and went on to study with Zinaida Gilels, Shirley Givens, Roman Totenberg, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory. Kutik is ​​the Artistic Director and co-founder of The Birch Festival – a festival built around connecting and integrating leading musicians with the Berkshire community, while highlighting the unique and original stories of those who make up the Berkshires. His violin was crafted in Italy in 1915 by Stefano Scarampella.  For more information, please visit www.yevgenykutik.com.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, described as having a “dark-hued tone and razor-sharp technique,” (The New York Times) is the featured soloist in three performances with the Phoenix Symphony, conducted by Andrew Litton. Kutik will perform Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 77. The concert program will also include Ludwig van Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suite No. 3.

Concert details:

Who: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik
Presented by Phoenix Symphony
Conducted by Andrew Litton
What: Music by Ludwig van Beethoven, Dimitri Shostakovich, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
When: Friday, November 7, 2025 at 11am
Saturday, November 8, 2025 7:30pm
Sunday, November 9, 2025 2pm
Where: 75 North 2nd Street Phoenix, AZ 85004
Tickets and information: www.phoenixsymphony.org/shows/litton-conducts-tchaikovsky

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Nov 21: ECM New Series Releases Pur ti miro - Wu Wei, Martin Stegner, Janne Saksala

Nov 21: ECM New Series Releases Pur ti miro - Wu Wei, Martin Stegner, Janne Saksala

ECM New Series Releases Pur ti miro

Wu Wei, Martin Stegner, Janne Saksala

Wu Wei, sheng; Martin Stegner, viola; Janne Saksala, double bass 

ECM New Series 2843
Release Date: November 21, 2025
Pre-Order/Pre-Save: 
https://ecm.lnk.to/PurTiMiro

Downloads and CDs available upon request.

“An entirely new world of sound opened up for me. I had never heard early music like that before: so rich in colour, so immediately moving,” says violist Martin Stegner of his first experience playing Monteverdi with Wu Wei, master of the sheng. The range of colours that Wei can coax from his instrument is remarkable, as is the sonic blending of sheng, viola and double bass in this Chinese-German-Finnish trio. Bassist Janne Saksala, who like Stegner, is also a member of the Berlin Philharmonic, shares the violist’s sense of improvisational curiosity.  Here the trio plays Claude Monteverdi’s Si dolce è’l tormento and Pur ti miro from L’incoronazione di Poppea, J. S. Bach’s organ trio sonatas Nos 1 and 4, and Antonio Vivaldi’s D minor Trio Sonata, in a programme completed by “Buremarsj frå Beiarn”, a bridal march from Norwegian folk tradition. “Over time our programme kept growing, even though it’s a challenge to arrange works for this unusual combination of sounds. We don’t aim to interpret early music in a strictly historically correct way. All of us come from different musical and cultural backgrounds and it is precisely this diversity that consciously flows into our interpretations.” The players “explore the freedom the music offers. With respect, but also with a desire for discovery”.

The sheng, whose history goes back three thousand years, is a free reed polyphonic instrument, with vertical bamboo pipes cased in a metal bowl. Its sound has been likened to the singing phoenix of Chinese legend, “silvery and fleeting as the wind.” Wu Wei plays a custom developed sheng with a key mechanism that gives him full access also to the Western tonal system. 

Born in Gaoyou in China’s Jiangsu province, Wu Wei studied the sheng at the Shanghai Conservatory and came to Germany on a DAAD scholarship in 1995, and has been based in Berlin since then, establishing a reputation as a soloist not limited by idiomatic constraints, playing in contexts from Chinese traditional repertoire to European baroque and classical music, contemporary composition, jazz, electronic music and free improvisation. A number of composers have written music for him, among them Unsuk Chin, Jukka Tiensuu and Guus Jansen, and he has worked with new music groups including Ensemble Modern and the Ensemble Intercontemporain, jazz groups including the NDR Big Band, and orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Seoul Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony. Wu Wei was last heard on ECM in 2021 as a member of the multicultural collective led by singer Cymin Samawatie and drummer Ketan Bhatti, the Trickster Orchestra. 

Martin Stegner studied violin at the Mannheim University of Music, before switching to viola, with a stipendium from the Karajan Academy. His first professional engagement was as principal viola with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. In 1996 he joined the Berlin Philharmonic. As soloist and chamber musician his repertoire extends from Bach to Piazzolla and beyond. In parallel with classical activities he has long been a committed improviser, and in 2008 co-founded the Berlin Philharmonic Jazz Group. In 2014 he made his first appearance on ECM, playing on the album Phoenix by the Berlin based band Cyminology, with whom he has also toured.  Like Wu Wei he also appears on the debut album of the Trickster Orchestra. Other affiliations have included work with Markus Stockhausen.

Janne Saksala is first principal bass of the Berlin Philharmonic, a position he has held since 2008.  He began studying the instrument in his hometown of Helsinki at the age of 14, and continued at Berlin’s Hochschule der Künste from 1986. In 1991 he was a prizewinner at the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. A busy career as chamber musician and soloist has brought him together with artists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Isabelle Faust, Leonidas Kavakos, Leif Ove Andsnes, Pekka Kuusisto and Guy Braunstein. Passionate also about teaching the bass to the next generation of players, Saksala has been a mentor for many musicians.  In 2023 he took up a position as double bass professor at Berlin’s Universität der Künste and is a guest lecturer at numerous universities around the world.

Pur ti Miro was recorded at Teldex Studios, Berlin, in October 2022. CD booklet includes liner notes by Martin Stegner in German and English.

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Caramoor Continues Rosen House Concert Series - Six Classical, Jazz, Folk Concerts in November

Caramoor Continues Rosen House Concert Series - Six Classical, Jazz, Folk Concerts in November

Clockwise from top left: Evnin Rising Stars, Christie Dashiell, Poiesis Quartet, The Arcadian Wild, The English Concert. Press photos available here.

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Continues its
Rosen House Concert Series in November with Six Performances

Held in the Music Room of the Historic Rosen House

November 1 & 2: Evnin Rising Stars
November 7: Christie Dashiell
November 9: The English
Concert
November 16: Poiesis Quartet
(2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence)
November 21: The Arcadian Wild

“a year-round powerhouse of cultural activity” — BBC Music Magazine

“The next time you’re in or near Westchester, New York, be sure to make time to visit Caramoor” — Martha Stewart

Information & Tickets: caramoor.org

KATONAH, NY – Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY, continues its intimate Rosen House Concert Series with six performances featuring classical, jazz, and folk music in November. Caramoor, once the estate of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, is one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performance, cultural engagement, and exploration. Caramoor’s Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May, held in the exquisite Music Room of the historic home – a Mediterranean-style villa from 1939 filled with treasures from around the world. Audiences enjoy performances by some of today’s most in-demand artists in the same living room salon setting where the Rosens once entertained their many friends. 

Caramoor’s November Rosen House Concert Series begins with a pair of afternoon performances on Saturday, November 1 and Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 3pm, featuring participants in Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars mentoring program, which has nurtured emerging talent since 1992. Each year, the program’s Artistic Director Marcy Rosen identifies some of the most promising musicians at the cusp of professional careers, bringing them to Caramoor for a weeklong chamber music residency with distinguished artist mentors. This year’s mentors are violinist Ani Kavafian and violist Rebecca Albers. The 2025 Evnin Rising Stars are violinists Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, Clara Neubauer, and Cherry Choi Tung Yeung; violists Samuel Rosenthal and Luther Warren; cellists Annie Jacobs-Perkins and Leland Ko; and pianist Evren Ozel. The Evnin Rising Stars will perform chamber music by Boccherini, Ginastera, and Brahms on November 1, and music by Mozart, Shostakovich, and Dvořák on November 2. Tickets are free for audience members ages 18 and under.

On Friday, November 7, 2025 at 7:30pm, Caramoor presents Christie Dashiell, one of jazz’s most captivating voices, and her quartet. With her soulful sound and remarkable technical skill, Dashiell weaves stories that touch the heart and lift the spirit. Her GRAMMY®-nominated album Journey in Black (which earned a coveted five-star review from DownBeat) showcases her ability to explore profound themes of freedom, legacy, and joy through her music. Critics and audiences alike are falling under the spell of this rising jazz star. Dashiell recently appeared on season three of NBC’s The Sing-Off as a member of Afro Blue, and she has performed in concert with Esperanza Spalding, Fred Hammond, Smokey Robinson, Geri Allen, Allan Harris, and more. Her latest album, with Terri Lyne Carrington, is We Insist 2025!, a bold reimagining of the seminal 1961 album We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite. This performance is presented in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center. The concert is underwritten in part by a generous donation from Amy & John Peckham and the Peckham Family Foundation.

The English Concert brings their magic touch to Caramoor once again, for a performance on Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 3pm. After captivating audiences with all-Vivaldi programs in 2021 and 2023, this renowned British ensemble returns under Harry Bicket’s masterful direction from the harpsichord. Playing on authentic 17th-century instruments, they achieve something truly special – passionate, fiery performances that never sacrifice precision or delicate beauty. The English Concert is considered one of the world’s premier period-instrument ensembles. Their performance at Caramoor will feature music by masters including J.S. Bach, Handel, Purcell, and more. This concert is sold out, but a waitlist is available. The performance is underwritten in part by a generous donation from the Howard and Sarah D. Solomon Foundation. 

On Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 3pm, the Poiesis Quartet gives its first concert as Caramoor’s Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence. Formed in 2022 at Oberlin, the Poiesis Quartet has swiftly risen to prominence, and are the Grand Prize winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet and the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competitions. Renowned for their cohesive artistry and adventurous programming, the group lives up to its name – poiesis, from the Greek “to make” – with performances that forge new paths in chamber music. Dedicated to championing the voices of emerging and historically underrepresented composers, the Poesis Quartet brings this vibrant mission to life in their Caramoor residency. Poiesis’s November 16 program, titled Surfacing, is an exploration of the raw, human responses to existential and life-altering events. Incorporating musical influences as varied as electronic dance music, East Asian folk tunes, R&B, jazz, gospel, and traditional spirituals, four composers take us on a journey through phases of healing and growth, ultimately surfacing from confusion and pain with resilience and a renewed sense of hope. The concert includes music by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Brian Raphael Nabors, Kevin Lau, and Sky Macklay. The Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence program at Caramoor, founded in 1999, annually supports an exceptional emerging string quartet. The year-long residency includes three performances at Caramoor and two 10-day periods in which the Quartet works with students in local schools, as well as the commissioning of a new work by a composer of the Quartet's choosing. Tickets are free for audience members ages 18 and under.

The Arcadian Wild takes the stage in the Music Room on Friday, November 21, 2025 at 7:30pm. This Nashville-based ensemble is known for its intricate, heartfelt acoustic sound. Blending progressive folk, bluegrass, and choral harmonies, they create a musical style that is uniquely their own. Led by songwriters Isaac Horn (guitar) and Lincoln Mick (mandolin), joined by Bailey Warren on fiddle and Erik Coveney on bass, the group is celebrated for their rich arrangements and vivid storytelling. The Arcadian Wild’s latest album, Welcome, draws on everything from country and classical to pop and choral music with lush, cinematic arrangements that balance the intellectual and the emotional in equal measure. Though the group tours and records without a drummer, their songs are deeply rooted in rhythmic propulsion, driven by intricately interlocking instrumental and vocal parts that cohere into a deceptively effortless whole. This concert is presented in collaboration with City Winery.

About Caramoor

Each year, Caramoor presents an exciting array of concerts across genres – from classical, opera, and chamber music to jazz, American roots, global sounds, and the American songbook. Caramoor’s acclaimed Summer Season brings audiences together for unforgettable outdoor performances from June into August in five distinct settings (the Music Room, Venetian Theater, Spanish Courtyard, Friends Field, and the Sunken Garden), while the intimate Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May in the historic Rosen House, a Mediterranean-style villa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and filled with treasures from around the world. With a mission to engage audiences of all ages, Caramoor also offers a selection of concerts and programs for families and our youngest listeners.

Caramoor is a place where music, history, and nature come together to create moments of beauty and connection for all who visit. In addition to hearing concerts, visitors to Caramoor can tour the spectacular Rosen House, explore its intriguing collections, enjoy a picnic, and experience the lush gardens and grounds – including Caramoor’s unique collection of site-specific Sound Art, permanently installed sound sculptures which draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), a seasonal concessions tent, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events. 

At-a-Glance Calendar: Upcoming Rosen House Concert Series Performances

Friday, October 17 at 7:30pm: Stella Cole - Cabaret in the Music Room | Benefit Concert
Sunday, October 26 at 3pm: Raphaël Feuillâtre, guitar
Saturday, November 1 at 3pm: Evnin Rising Stars
Sunday, November 2 at 3pm: Evnin Rising Stars
Friday, November 7 at 7:30pm: Christie Dashiell
Sunday, November 9 at 3pm: The English Concert
Sunday, November 16 at 3pm: Poiesis Quartet
Friday, November 21 at 7:30pm: The Arcadian Wild
Saturday, December 6 at 8pm: Rosanne Cash - Benefit Concert
Sunday, December 7 at 3pm: An Amarcord Christmas
Sunday, March 8 at 3pm: Schwab Vocal Rising Stars
Friday, March 20 at 7:30pm: Goitse
Sunday, March 22 at 3pm: Víkingur Ólafsson, piano
Sunday, April 12 at 3pm: Junction Trio
Sunday, April 19 at 3pm: Steven Isserlis, cello & Connie Shih, piano
Friday, May 1 at 7:30pm: Anat Cohen Quartetinho
Sunday, May 3 at 3pm: Poiesis Quartet
Friday, May 8 at 7:30pm: Solomon Hicks

For Caramoor’s complete schedule: caramoor.org/events

Ticketing Information

Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914.232.1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10am-4pm; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance.

More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit

 

Caramoor’s Rosen House Concert Series runs from October through May, held in the exquisite Music Room of the Rosens’ historic home – a Mediterranean-style villa from 1939 filled with treasures from around the world. Photo by Gabe Palacio available in high resolution here.

 
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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Jan. 23: Pianist and Composer Hayato Sumino Releases Chopin Orbit Second Album on Sony Classical – New Single Berceuse Out Today

Jan. 23: Pianist and Composer Hayato Sumino Releases Chopin Orbit Second Album on Sony Classical – New Single Berceuse Out Today

Album Artwork (Download)

Chopin Orbit
The Eagerly Anticipated Second Album
by Celebrated Japanese Pianist and Composer
Hayato Sumino (AKA ‘Cateen’)

New Single Berceuse Out Today
Listen Here

Worldwide Album Release Date: January 23, 2026
Pre-Order Available Now

 Carnegie Hall Recital Debut on November 18, 2025

Sony Classical has announced the forthcoming release of Chopin Orbit, the second album by the acclaimed, multi-faceted New York-based Japanese pianist and composer, Hayato Sumino (aka ‘Cateen’), set for release on January 23, 2026 and available for pre-order now. Accompanying today’s news is the release of the new single Berceuse listen here

For this new recording, Hayato Sumino has turned his gaze on the composer who possibly means the most to him, namely Chopin (1810-1849).  It was indeed Sumino’s sensational performances during the 2021 International Chopin Competition where he was a semi-finalist that first brought this fine young musician to wider international attention.

Hayato Sumino explains his concept for Chopin Orbit: “For me, Chopin has always been like an idol, and his music has remained close to my heart since childhood. As I grew as a musician, I began to realize how naturally his influence found its way into my own creations. At some point I thought—why not create an album with Chopin at its center? That moment became the starting point of this project. My pieces were born out of inspiration from Chopin’s works. Sometimes I quote a motif or weave in a melody, but I never set out simply to write “in the style of Chopin.” What I wanted was to bring together his spirit with my own modern sensibility and creativity.

The title Chopin Orbit reflects this idea. I placed Chopin’s music at the center, and from there different responses and offshoots take shape—as if drawn by his gravity, forming new orbits of their own. In respect for Chopin, each of my pieces is paired with the original that inspired it, so the album presents his works and my responses in alternation. And not only with my own works: I also paired Chopin with composers I admire—including Thomas Adès (b. 1971), Leopold Godowsky (1870–1938), and Leoš Janáček (1854–1928)—showing how the resonance of Chopin’s music continues to expand across time.

I imagine the listener roaming freely between these two closely connected worlds, old and new, whilst keeping in mind the twist that pieces composed in the 19th century were themselves considered new and different in their time to the music that had gone before, highlighting that we inhabit an ever-evolving musical space." 

The album includes, among others, Chopin’s Polonaise-Fantasie op. 61, Nocturne in c-sharp minor, Berceuse and Raindrop Prelude, coupled with Hayato’s own pieces White Keys and Post Rain, Godowsky’s transcription of Chopin's Waltz No. 1 and Janacek’s Good Night! from On an Overgrown Path.

Echoing this imaginative framework, Chopin Orbit showcases Sumino’s distinctive musical style, merging his refined classical sensibilities with his discerning ear as an arranger and his instinctive feel for the new.  During his exquisite performances of his carefully curated programme for the album, Sumino adeptly utilises a variety of keyboards, including a concert grand, a vintage piano, a modern upright and celeste.

Chopin Orbit follows this exceptional young musician’s acclaimed Sony Classical debut album Human Universe, released in November 2024, which saw Sumino range effortlessly across a diverse selection of repertoire from Bach to Zimmer via some of his own compositions.

HAYATO SUMINO:
2025-2026 PERFORMANCE DATES

Oct. 24, 2025  Fresno Concert Hall; Fresno, CA

Oct. 26, 2025  Bing Concert Hall; Stanford, CA

Oct. 27, 2025  Bing Concert Hall; Stanford, CA

Nov. 16, 2025 Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center; Chicago, IL

Nov. 18, 2025 Carnegie Hall (DEBUT); New York, NY

Mar 25, 2026   Bowker Auditorium – University of Massachusetts; Amherst, MA

Mar 27, 2026   McKnight Center, Performance Hall; Stillwater, OK

Mar 27, 2026   McKnight Center, Performance Hall; Stillwater, OK

Mar 31, 2026   Carnegie Hall; New York, NY

Apr 4, 2026       Irvine Berkeley Theatre; Irvine, CA

May 9, 2026     The Baker-Baum Concert Hall; La Jolla, CA

May 10, 2026  Visual and Performing Arts Center; Cupertino, CA

 

PR Photo – Credit: Johanna Berghorn (Download)

 

ABOUT HAYATO SUMINO

Hayato Sumino is an artistic phenomenon. Also known as ‘Cateen’, he has garnered over 2.2 million followers globally across his social media platforms.

In April 2024, he made a spectacular Royal Albert Hall debut with his performance of Gershwin's ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and recently performed at the BBC Proms in an historic overnight event, as a personal guest of the evening’s curator, star organist Anna Lapwood. He has enjoyed a string of successful concerts this year, performing at prestigious venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie and the Hollywood Bowl, and is set to make his debut at Carnegie Hall in New York in November.

Following a sold-out performance for 15k spectators at Budokan in July 2024, Sumino will headline the +20,000-capacity K-Arena Yokohama in the fall of 2025—an unprecedented achievement for a classical solo artist. In July 2025, he was awarded the prestigious Bernstein Award, recognizing his exceptional contributions to contemporary classical music. At the upcoming 2025 Opus Klassik Awards, he will also be honored with two accolades for his Sony debut album “Human Universe”: ‘Young Talent of the Year’ and ‘Best Live Performance (Soloist)’.

Sumino’s rising international profile has earned him widespread recognition: he was featured in Japan’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2023, named one of Vogue Japan’s #TheOnesToWatch in 2024, spotlighted by Rolling Stone Korea, and most recently selected by Elle Magazine US as one of “9 Artists Shaping Culture in 2025.”

A prodigious composer, Hayato Sumino possesses a unique and captivating style that readily combines his diverse musical interests, ranging from classical and jazz to film music, post-classical, and electronica.  He is also much in-demand for film and TV scores in Japan.  He also holds a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Information Science and Technology and was honored with the President’s Award for his exceptional achievements in both music and engineering.

Hayato Sumino is one of the leading members of the next generation of boundary-pushing musicians who move seamlessly between genres and across musical borders, and who allow themselves the freedom of musical expression however they see fit, for the benefit of the audience.

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.

 

FOLLOW HAYATO SUMINO

Official Website
Instagram
TikTok
YouTube 

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Newport Classical Continues Chamber Series with Two November Concerts - Pianist Charlotte Hu and Saxophonist Valentin Kovalev

Newport Classical Continues Chamber Series with Two November Concerts - Pianist Charlotte Hu and Saxophonist Valentin Kovalev

L-R: Charlotte Hu and Valentin Kovalev. Photos available in high resolution here.

Newport Classical Continues 2025-2026 Chamber Series

Pianist Charlotte Hu Performs Chopin
Friday, November 7, 2025 at 7:30pm

Saxophonist Valentin Kovalev performs Pictures at an Exhibition
Friday, November 21, 2025 7:30pm

Information & Tickets: www.newportclassical.org

Newport, RI – Newport Classical continues its fifth full-season Chamber Series, which features twelve concerts held on select Fridays between September 2025 and June 2026 at the organization’s home venue, the Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.), with two concerts in November. Pianist Charlotte Hu performs on Friday, November 7, 2025 at 7:30pm and saxophonist Valentin Kovalev performs on Friday, November 21, 2025 at 7:30pm.

On November 7, virtuoso Taiwanese American pianist Charlotte Hu, celebrated as a "first-class talent" (The Philadelphia Inquirer) with "superstar quality" (Jerusalem Post), embarks on a compelling journey through Chopin's expressive world. From the sparkling Polonaise-Fantasie to the sweeping drama of the Piano Sonata No. 3, the heart of the evening features the luminous Nocturnes, all showcasing a different facet of Chopin’s emotional world through Hu’s expressive grace and refined lyricism. Charlotte Hu is a well-known interpreter of Chopin – her debut album, Chopin, was released in 2011 and was named Best Classical Album of the Year by Taiwan's prestigious Golden Melody Award. Hu has said that she hopes that her performances “encourage people to listen deeply and discover anew the work of even the most well-known composers.”

 Watch Charlotte Hu Perform Chopin:

 
 

On November 21, saxophonist Valentin Kovalev, a Gold Medal winner at the Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition, brings his electrifying technique and soulful depth to his Newport Classical debut. A winner of the Concert Artists Guild competition, Kovalev presents a unique blend of virtuosic brilliance and heartfelt expression in a program that journeys from Romantic warmth to contemporary vibrancy featuring Schumann’s tender Fantasiestücke, Chaminade’s elegant Flute Concertino, Fazil Say’s vivid Suite, Debussy’s shimmering Rhapsody, the spirited energy of Barry Cockcroft’s KuKu, and Mussorgsky's art gallery-inspired masterpiece, Pictures at an Exhibition. Hailing from Siberia, Kovalev is an ebullient and highly eclectic performer whose unique style was developed after studying in Russia, France, and the US. He recently gave a sold-out debut recital at Carnegie Hall as a winner of the Naumburg Foundation 2022 Saxophone Competition.

Watch Valentin Kovalev Perform Debussy:

 
 

Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. Audiences are invited to enjoy performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with complimentary wine generously provided by Gold's Wine and Spirits served when the doors open at 7:00pm and again during intermission. Both performers and audience members alike have described these concerts as some of their favorites. “Beautiful concert, high artistry and exciting programming . . . a deeply moving and soulful experience, with a rousing and brilliant virtuosity that kept you on the edge of your seat,” raved one attendee.

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 will also visit a local school or organization to present their talents and meaningfully engage with students and community members of all ages through Newport Classical's Music Enrichment and Engagement Initiative. While in Newport, Charlotte Hu will visit Pell Elementary School and Valentin Kovalev will visit East Bay Community Action Program’s (EBCAP) Head Start preschool.

Up next, Newport Classical presents a free Community Concert, designed especially for families – classical guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan presents his New Lullaby Project (comfy PJs and stuffed animals welcome) on October 12 at Emmanuel Church. The Chamber Series continues on October 17, with Trio Zimbalist in their Newport Classical debut, performing with what EfSyn calls “precision and feverish intensity,” in Beethoven's beloved "Archduke" Trio alongside works by Smetana and George Xiaoyuan Fu. 

The Chamber Series continues in 2026 with cellist Jonathan Swensen making his highly anticipated return on January 23 following his memorable 2024 debut as a Festival Artist. Honored with the 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grant and joint First Prize at the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition, Swensen is described as "a musician of charisma and thrilling physicality" (BBC Music Magazine). The Verona Quartet, celebrated by The New York Times as an "outstanding ensemble... cohesive yet full of temperament," makes their Newport Classical debut on February 20 with a program tracing a vivid stylistic arc from Scarlatti to Beethoven. On March 13, baritone Benjamin Appl, whose voice “belongs to the last of the old great masters of song” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and whose artistry has been described as “unbearably moving” (The Times), presents Schubert's hauntingly beautiful Die Winterreise with his frequent collaborator, pianist James Baillieu. Ars Poetica, an ensemble of acclaimed instrumentalists and vocalists with a passion for historical music, explores "Dance and Transfiguration" on March 27 with their colorful array of Baroque instruments. Violinist Yevgeny Kutik, praised for his "dark-hued and razor-sharp technique" (The New York Times), makes his Newport Classical debut on April 10 alongside returning pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner in works by Debussy, Prokofiev, and Grieg. Rising-star pianist James Zijian Wei, first-prize winner at the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, makes his highly anticipated Newport debut on May 8 with a program featuring Ravel, Liszt, and more. The Chamber Series concludes on June 5 with flutist Amir Hoshang Farsi and pianist Chelsea Wang, both Carnegie Hall Ensemble Connect alumni, presenting a program of sparkling impressionism featuring works by Fauré, Lili Boulanger, and contemporary composers Reena Esmail, Ian Clarke, and Yuko Uebayashi.

The 2026 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 2-19, 2026. 

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 live performing arts 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, Clarice Assad, and Cris Derksen.

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Dec. 5: Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason Announces Jane Austen's Piano on Sony Classical – New Single Menuet by Händel Out Now

Dec. 5: Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason Announces Jane Austen's Piano on Sony Classical

Expressive Young Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Explores Jane Austen’s Musical World on New EP
Jane Austen’s Piano

New Single: Menuet by George Frideric Händel Out Today
Listen Here | Watch Music Video

Celebrates the 250th Anniversary of the Beloved Author’s Birth in 2025

Worldwide Release Date: December 5, 2025
Pre-Order Available Now

To which books does a busy professional musician turn for relaxation in between the hectic whirl of rehearsals, performances and travel? 

In the case of young rising star pianist, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, whose debut album Fantasie was praised by Gramophone for its “poetry and confidence” and by BBC Music Magazine for its “sparkle and self-possession”, it’s the novels of Jane Austen (1775-1817) that provide her with an unending source of enjoyment and contentment as well as revelry in the understated humour and social commentary contained therein.

So much so that Jeneba started to reflect on references to music in Jane Austen’s works and more broadly on the music of the time.  It started a new train of thought for her: known to be a pianist herself, with which music may Jane Austen have been familiar?  Which pieces might she have performed privately? 

Happily, Jeneba had two important lines of enquiry to follow: the original Austen family music book collection dating from Jane Austen’s lifetime is extant and was able to provide some direction.  Furthermore, Jane Austen is also very likely to have visited the annual local Hampshire Music Meeting, for which records exist. In fact, Jane Austen’s own piano teacher Dr George Chard, assistant organist at Winchester Cathedral (where Jane Austen is buried), was someone who helped organise the festival and curate the programme, all of which no doubt had a lasting musical influence on his private pupils. 

The result of Jeneba’s fascination with the music of Jane Austen’s time is this brand-new recording for solo piano: Jane Austen’s Piano, scheduled for release on December 5, 2025 via Sony Classical, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth on December 16, 1775. New single, Menuet by George Frideric Händel, is out now - listen here. Accompanying the announcement is a new music video as well - watch here.

The recording consists of six pieces overall, mirroring the fact that Jane Austen wrote six full, famous and much-loved novels: ‘Sense and Sensibility’ (published in 1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Persuasion (1817) and Northanger Abbey (1817). 

Jane Austen’s Piano includes music hand-picked by Jeneba either because of its specific link to Jane Austen or for its significance to the time. It features music by George Frideric Händel (1732-1809), Joseph Haydn (1685-1759), George Kiallmark (1781-1835) and Johann Baptiste Cramer (1771-1858) plus a bonus Jane Austen-related work composed by Dario Marianelli (b. 1963).

Jeneba has chosen Händel’s Suite in B flat major/Menuet and his Suite in D minor/Allemande for inclusion on the recording. Jane Austen would have been very familiar with Händel’s music, as his works were regularly featured at the local music festival and several arrangements of his vocal works formed part of her family’s own personal music collection.

In showcasing Haydn, Jeneba performs the Piano Sonata in C major, first published in 1780 but only published in London in 1792.  It is extra-special to Jeneba as a copy of this work in Jane Austen’s own hand appears in the Austen family music collection. It is therefore highly likely that the author herself performed this work.

As for music specifically referenced in Jane Austen’s work, Jeneba has included the Robin Adair Variations by British violinist and composer George Kiallmark, as mentioned in Jane Austen’s fourth novel ‘Emma’.  This version of the Irish folk tune appears in the Austen family music collection, signed by Jane’s sister, Cassandra and is likely the version Jane would have had in mind when referencing the piece in her novel.  Kiallmark was also someone well-known to the audiences of the local music festival, performing there in 1803 and 1805 and appointed by Jane’s teacher George Chard to be one of the principal instrumentalists at the event. 

Johann Baptist Cramer was a famous English pianist and composer of German origin, some of whose music is also contained in the Austen family music collection. He is the only composer to be named by Jane Austen in all her novels (also in ‘Emma’, referenced there as “something quite new”). His Etude No. 3 in A minor, although not in the family collection, is a welcome addition, introducing early flares of romanticism into Jane Austen’s mostly very classical piano literature. 

Finally, sitting alongside the music of the period is Dario Marianelli’s Dawn from his Oscar-nominated 2005 soundtrack to the film Pride and Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright. Jeneba has included it as a modern cinematic homage to Jane Austen’s world, bridging historical inspiration with contemporary interpretation, and also marking the 20th anniversary of the film.

About her new recording, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason notes: “I am an avid reader and from a very young age, I have thoroughly enjoyed Jane Austen’s novels and being immersed in the world that she inhabits.  When I read her books, I always find myself imagining a soundtrack to each novel. Curating this collection has therefore been such a joy, as the music has all been in my head for a very long time.”

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov 15 & 16: California Symphony Presents BEETHOVEN’S EROICA Conducted by Donato Cabrera Featuring Pianist Robert Thies

Nov 15 & 16: California Symphony Presents BEETHOVEN’S EROICA Conducted by Donato Cabrera Featuring Pianist Robert Thies

Photo by Kristen Loken. Hi res photos available here.

California Symphony's 2025-2026 Season Continues with
BEETHOVEN’S EROICA

Celebrating the Triumph of the Human Spirit with
Jessie Montgomery’s Overture, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 featuring Soloist Robert Thies, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica”

Led by Donato Cabrera, Artistic & Music Director
In Concert November 15 at 7:30pm & November 16 at 4:00pm
At Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts

Tickets & Information:
www.californiasymphony.org

WALNUT CREEK, CA – California Symphony and Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera continue the 2025-2026 season with BEETHOVEN’s EROICA – two concerts celebrating the triumph of the human spirit featuring Jessie Montgomery’s Overture, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 performed by the orchestra with GRAMMY-nominated pianist Robert Thies, and Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” on Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 4:00pm at Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts (1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek).

Full of rich harmonies, GRAMMY-winning composer Jessie Montgomery’s Overture from 2022 blends elements of jazz, American classical music, and Baroque rhythms. Nicknamed the Elvira Madigan concerto because of its use in the 1967 Swedish film, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 features one of classical music’s most famous and serene melodies, performed by Robert Thies, praised by the Los Angeles Times as, "A pianist of unerring warm-toned refinement, revealing judicious glimmers of power." Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 – the Eroica Symphony – changed the game for symphonic music: A bold and powerful celebration of struggle, triumph, and humanity, the composition marks the point where Beethoven truly began to push boundaries, introducing the emotional depth and drama that later culminated in the grandeur of the Ninth. 

Donato Cabrera says, “Jessie Montgomery’s music has become a welcome and frequent visitor to the California Symphony stage. Her music has a unique rhythmic vitality, while at the same time exhibiting a deep sonority. Like all great composers, Ms. Montgomery seamlessly incorporates the sounds and styles that are not only surrounding her in the moment, but she also uses  sounds and styles from the past, and from all genres. Her Overture is a great example of this beautiful cornucopia. One of the oddest titles to be posthumously given to a piece of music - let’s face it, few now have seen the movie, Elvira Madigan - Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 is brimming with his free and easy musical atmosphere, I am very excited to welcome back Robert Thies to play this exquisite concerto with us as he brings a sense of style and tone to the piano that is simply unmatched. While the Eroica isn’t Beethoven’s first symphony, it is the symphony that announced Beethoven’s arrival as the next great composer. I am always thrilled beyond measure to conduct this particular work because it is so dramatic in nature. It is like an opera without words.” 

Jessie Montgomery is a GRAMMY® Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator whose work interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness. Her profound works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life” (The Washington Post), and she was named 2025 Classical Woman of the Year by the nationally broadcast radio program Performance Today. Montgomery describes her Overture as, “a one-movement orchestral tutti steeped in harmonic textures inspired by a fusion between jazz and American classical harmonies, Baroque rhythmic gestures, and polyphonic tension.”

Mozart composed his Piano Concerto No. 21 in 1785 during one of the most productive periods of his life, when he was writing piano concertos at an astonishing rate for his own performances as a soloist in Vienna. The work balances Mozart's characteristic elegance with moments of playful virtuosity, creating a conversation between piano and orchestra. For these performances, California Symphony welcomes back piano soloist Robert Thies, an artist renowned for his consummate musicianship and poetic temperament. Thies first captured worldwide attention in 1995 when he won the Gold Medal at the Second International Prokofiev Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. With this victory, he became the only American pianist to win first prize in a Russian piano competition since Van Cliburn’s famed triumph in Moscow in 1958.

Premiered in 1805, Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, the Eroica, was revolutionary not only in its emotional scope but also in its sheer scale. At nearly 50 minutes, it was almost twice as long as any symphony that had come before it. Beethoven originally dedicated the work to Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he admired as a champion of democratic ideals, but famously tore up the dedication page when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor. The funeral march in the second movement is powerfully beautiful, and the final movement demonstrates Beethoven's unparalleled ability to transform simple themes into profound musical statements.

Illustrating California Symphony’s signature approach to creating vibrant concerts, rich in storytelling and spanning the breadth of orchestral repertoire, the 2025-2026 season explores evocative programmatic music including Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Valentin Silvestrov’s Stille Musik; the fruitful intersection of jazz and classical in music by Jessie Montgomery, Friedrich Gulda, and George Gershwin; the monumental symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Jean Sibelius, and Alexander Borodin; the timelessness of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart including excerpts from Don Giovanni; and world-class soloists in riveting concertos including pianist Robert Thies in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, Nathan Chan in Friedrich Gulda’s Cello Concerto, violinists Jennifer Cho and Sam Weiser in Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, and pianist Sofya Gulyak in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

This season, California Symphony continues to serve its community beyond the stage through its nationally recognized educational initiative Sound Minds and its innovative lifelong learning program Fresh Look: The Symphony Exposed. It will also expand its programs for vulnerable populations at Trinity Center Walnut Creek and continue community partnerships to reach more underserved youth throughout Contra Costa County.

Founded in 1986, California Symphony has been led by Donato Cabrera since 2013. 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.

Single tickets start at $50 and at $25 for students 25 and under. Season subscriptions and single tickets are available now. More information is available at CaliforniaSymphony.org or call the Lesher Center Ticket Office at (925) 943-7469 (open Wed – Sun, 12pm to 6pm).

FOR CALENDAR EDITORS:

WHAT: California Symphony and Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera celebrate the triumph of the human spirit. These concerts open with the rich harmonies of GRAMMY-winning composer Jessie Montgomery’s Overture and continue with Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 featuring pianist Robert Thies, closing with Ludwig van Beethoven’s towering Symphony No. 3 – the Eroica, a bold, powerful celebration of struggle, triumph, and humanity.

California Symphony takes the stuffiness out of the concert experience: Take selfies at the photo booth, order a signature cocktail, and sip at your seat. Tickets include a free 30-minute pre-concert talk by Artistic and Music Director Donato Cabrera, starting one hour before the show.

WHEN:
Saturday, November 15, 2025 at 7:30pm
Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 4:00pm

WHERE:
Hofmann Theatre at the Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek 

CONCERT:
BEETHOVEN’S EROICA
Donato Cabrera, conductor
California Symphony

PROGRAM:
Jessie Montgomery: Overture (2022)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 (1785)
Robert Thies, piano
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) (1804)

TICKETS: Single tickets start at $50 and at $25 for students 25 and under. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit CaliforniaSymphony.org or call the Lesher Center Ticket Office at (925) 943-7469 (open Wed – Sun, 12pm to 6pm).

PHOTOS: Available here

ABOUT THE 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.

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.

California Symphony’s 2025-26 season is sponsored by the Lesher Foundation.

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Composer, Vocalist, and Producer Lisa Bielawa – 2025-2026 Season Highlights

Composer, Vocalist, and Producer Lisa Bielawa – 2025-2026 Season Highlights

Lisa Bielawa dressed in white patterned shirt, grey blazer, and red-orange pants sitting on blue couch and smiling.

Photo of Lisa Bielawa by Shawn Poynter available in high resolution here.

Composer, Vocalist, Producer Lisa Bielawa
2025-2026 Season Highlights

Knoxville Broadcast Presented by Big Ears
A Spatial Symphony for Hundreds of Musicians at World’s Fair Park in Knoxville, TN
October 17-18, 2025

Premiere Performances of Violin Concerto No. 2, PULSE, by Tessa Lark
Louisville Orchestra Conducted by Teddy Abrams: October 24 & 25, 2025
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Music Director Cristian Mӑcelaru:
November 29 & 30, 2025

Composer Portrait Concert Presented by Miller Theatre at Columbia University
Performed by Contemporaneous & Lisa Bielawa Conducted by David Bloom
February 26, 2025

Appointed Howard Hanson Visiting Professor at the
Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester for 2025-2026

Currently at Work on Guggenheim Fellowship Project
La Ballonniste or Balloon: A Hot Air Opera

“the formal sophistication and lyrical richness of Bielawa’s music go deep” – The New Yorker

Complete Schedule: www.lisabielawa.net/calendar

Composer, producer, vocalist Lisa Bielawa, (b. 1968) is a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and a Rome Prize winner in Musical Composition. She takes inspiration for her work from literary sources and close artistic collaborations. Gramophone reports, “Bielawa is gaining gale force as a composer, churning out impeccably groomed works that at once evoke the layered precision of Vermeer and the conscious recklessness of Jackson Pollock.” Her music has been described as “ruminative, pointillistic and harmonically slightly tart,” by The New York Times, and “fluid and arresting ... at once dramatic and probing,” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lisa Bielawa is established as one of today’s leading composers and performers, consistently incorporating community-making as part of her artistic vision. She has created music for public spaces in Lower Manhattan, a bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville, KY, the banks of the Tiber River in Rome, on the sites of former airfields in Berlin and San Francisco, and to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; she has composed and produced a twelve-episode, made-for-TV opera that features over 350 musicians and was filmed in locations across the country.

Lisa Bielawa’s 2025-2026 season features bold programming, new collaborations, and world premieres of several new works. Knoxville Broadcast, a new installment in Bielawa’s Broadcast series, will premiere on October 17 and 18, 2025 in Knoxville, TN in three site-specific performances at Knoxville’s World’s Fair Park presented by Big Ears. Violinist Tessa Lark will give the first two premiere performances of Bielawa’s Violin Concerto No. 2, PULSE with two of the co-commissioning orchestras – the world premiere performances with the Louisville Orchestra, conducted by Teddy Abrams on October 24 and 25, 2025; and the Cincinnati premiere with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Cristian Mӑcelaru, on November 29 and 30, 2025. On February 26, 2026, Miller Theatre at Columbia University will present a Composer Portrait concert dedicated exclusively to Bielawa’s music, including the world premiere of a new work, all performed by Contemporaneous led by David Bloom, with Bielawa singing. Bielawa also serves as Howard Hanson Visiting Professor at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY for 2025-2026, where she will work with students who will be performing her music throughout the academic year.

On October 17 and 18, 2025, Knoxville Broadcast will be presented by Big Ears as part of its ongoing expansion beyond the festival stage with year-round engagement throughout Knoxville, TN. A large-scale, site-specific “spatial symphony,” created by Lisa Bielawa, Knoxville Broadcast will unite hundreds of musicians from across Knoxville in three free public performances at World’s Fair Park on Friday, October 17 at 6pm and Saturday, October 18 at 11am and 2pm. Knoxville Broadcast continues Bielawa’s celebrated series of Broadcast performances in Berlin, San Francisco, and Louisville, each rooted in the history and community of its location. The San Francisco Chronicle called her Crissy Broadcast “one of the most moving performances of the year … where all the boundaries we take for granted in musical life … are casually obliterated.”

For Knoxville, Bielawa has composed a new score inspired by the city’s landscape, voices, and musical traditions. More than 600 local musicians of all ages and backgrounds will take part, including the Appalachian Equality Chorus, Knoxville Community Band, Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra, Halls Middle School Bands, L&N Stem Academy Concert Band and Orchestra, Drums Up Guns Down, members of Nief-Norf, Hardin Valley Academy Guitar Ensemble, Roane State Community College Choir, and the University of Tennessee Gospel Choir. Three all-ages “pickup” groups—Sterchi String Band (old-time), Found Forte (youth percussion), and the Sunsphere Singers (intergenerational choir)—are also open to the public. Bielawa will weave in spoken and sung texts contributed by Knoxville residents, embedding their words and stories directly into the music.

"The abundance of musical cultures here makes Knoxville Broadcast unique among my large-scale urban celebrations,” says Bielawa. “From Appalachian traditional music and folk guitar to found object percussion and West African drumming, plus a vital tradition of school and community bands, orchestras, and choruses – it’s been an exciting adventure collaborating with this vibrant city!"

Following Knoxville Broadcast, Lisa Bielawa’s Violin Concerto No. 2, PULSE, will have its world premiere performances by the Louisville Orchestra on October 24 and 25, 2025. The concerto will be premiered by the captivating violinist Tessa Lark, for whom Bielawa wrote the piece, and conducted by Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams. Lark will give the Cincinnati premiere of PULSE with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra later this fall on November 29 and 30, 2025, in concerts led by CSO Music Director Cristian Măcelaru. PULSE is co-commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation, Library of Congress; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; and Louisville Orchestra; with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Santa Fe Pro Musica. Support has been provided by James Rosenfield, Justus Schlichting, Kari and Jon Ullman, New Music USA's Amplifying Voices Program, and the Loghaven Artist Residency.

Bielawa writes, “This concerto was conceived as a way of keeping my finger on the pulse of American life during a period of seismic change and self-examination. Composed over a six-month period starting just before the 2024 presidential election, it is also informed by my immersion during this time in our sentimental history as told through our traditional musics. Tessa Lark’s artistry draws from multiple musical traditions, from Old-time to jazz to the classical avant-garde. I have had the enviable opportunity to hear Tessa play in the Smoky Mountains with Appalachian traditional musicians, at the Blue Note in midtown Manhattan, and on concert stages in concertos and chamber music both new and old.”

On February 26, 2026, Lisa Bielawa will be featured in a Composer Portrait concert at Miller Theatre at Columbia University, with performances of her music by Contemporaneous conducted by Music and Co-Artistic Director David Bloom. The program includes Bielawa’s pieces Graffiti dell’amante (2010) and Incessabili Voce (2013) performed by Bielawa with Contemporaneous, plus the world premiere of a new work commissioned for the occasion by Miller Theatre. The new piece, written for seven instruments, will showcase the unique virtuosity of Contemporaneous and its conductor David Bloom, exploring the meeting ground between comedy and expansiveness. Bielawa’s Graffiti dell’amante is an open-ended musical-dramatic exploration of the multi-faceted predicament of the Lover inspired by Roland Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse: Fragments. Of Incessabili Voce, Bielawa writes: “In designing material for the voice, I thought about singing in church, the ecstatic singing of angels, the roar of soldiers, the mannerisms of Greek storytelling in the great oral tradition, the traditions of Gregorian and Anglican chant. The vocal part coaxes cries of various sorts out of the instruments. . . It is more of a dreamscape than a story, more cry than word.”

Lisa Bielawa’s music is frequently performed throughout the U.S. and abroad. She is currently at work on her Guggenheim Fellowship project, a hybrid film and live action opera called La Ballonniste or Balloon: A Hot Air Opera – a heartfelt comedy centering on 18th century French opera singer Élisabeth Tible, the first woman to fly in a hot air balloon. Bielawa’s music has recently been premiered at the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, SHIFT Festival, Town Hall Seattle, Naumburg Orchestral Concerts Summer Series in New York’s Central Park, National Sawdust, Le Poisson Rouge, Rouen Opera, Helsinki Music Center, Arsenal de Metz, Japan Society, and MAXXI Museum in Rome, among others. Orchestras that have championed her music include the Louisville Orchestra, The Knights, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, American Composers Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Orlando Philharmonic; she has also written for the combined forces of The Knights, San Francisco Girls Chorus, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Premieres of her work have been commissioned and presented by leading ensembles and organizations including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Big Ears, Miami String Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, Seattle Chamber Music Society, American Guild of Organists, American Pianists Association, California Music Center, Akademiska Sångföreningen (Helsinki), Paul Dresher Ensemble, SOLI Chamber Ensemble, the Washington and PRISM Saxophone Quartets, Ensemble Variances (commissioned by Radio France), and more. Bielawa’s music has been recorded on the Tzadik, Orange Mountain, Supertrain, Cedille, TROY, Innova, BMOP/sound, and Sono Luminus labels.

Bielawa is the recipient of the Music Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, an OPERA America Grant for Female Composers, a 2025 commission from The Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress, and is a 2025 New Music USA Amplifying Voices composer. She was named a William Randolph Hearst Visiting Artist Fellow at the American Antiquarian Society for 2018 and was Artist-in-Residence at Kaufman Music Center in New York for the 2020-2021 season. During the 2022-23 season, she was a member of the inaugural Louisville Orchestra’s Creators Corps.


For more information about Lisa Bielawa: LisaBielawa.net

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Ariel Quartet Releases Volume Two of Monumental Beethoven String Quartet Cycle - First Single Out Now

Ariel Quartet Releases Volume Two of Monumental Beethoven String Quartet Cycle - First Single Out Now

Ariel Quartet album cover. Arield Quartet stand in front of white concrete wall and windows while holding instruments.

Ariel Quartet Continues Monumental Beethoven String Quartet Cycle
Three Albums over Two Years

Culminating in 2027
Honoring Beethoven’s Legacy 200 Years After His Passing
 

Volume Two to be Released Worldwide on November 7, 2025
On Orchid Classics
 

First Single Out Now: LISTEN

“At moments on this lively first volume of its perusal of the complete Beethoven string quartets, the players of the Ariel Quartet come across like a living organism with a single central nervous system that transmits emotional impulses to every part of the body.”
– Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times, on Vol. 1

Review CDs and downloads available upon request. 

Ariel Quartet: www.arielquartet.com/the-cycle

Upcoming Performances: www.arielquartet.com/schedule

The Ariel Quartet (Alexandra Kazovsky, violin; Gershon Gerchikov, violin; Jan Grüning, viola; and Amit Even-Tov, cello) – distinguished by its virtuosity, probing musical insight, and impassioned performances – will release the complete Beethoven String Quartets over two years on the Orchid Classics label, culminating in 2027, the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death. The Quartet released the first volume of the series on April 4, 2025, and will release volume two on November 7, 2025, with volume three arriving in June 2026 and a special box set release in March 2027.

Volume two of the cycle, recorded across three CDs, includes Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartets – String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59 No. 1; String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59 No. 3; and String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2 – as well as his String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74; and String Quartet No.11 in F minor, Op. 95, “Quartetto serioso.” The first single from the album, movement one of Op. 95, is available now.

The Ariel Quartet’s first volume of this Beethoven Cycle has been met with considerable critical acclaim, with positive reviews in The New York Times, Gramophone, The Whole Note, Classical Voice of North America, and more. Richard Wigmore wrote in Gramophone magazine that the album included, “supremely skillful, deeply considered performances . . . no one could deny the physical and intellectual energy of the Ariel’s playing, or their sheer technical brilliance.”

Formed when the members were just teenagers studying at the Jerusalem Academy Middle School of Music and Dance in Israel, the Ariel Quartet has a long history with the quartets of Beethoven. His String Quartet in C minor, Op.18 No.4 was the very first piece that the group tackled together as thirteen year olds, and the members credit the work for hooking them on the genre, for life.

The Quartet recounts an early experience with Beethoven’s Op. 59, the Razumovsky Quartets, which left a long-lasting impression. They write, “A memorable milestone in our personal journey with Beethoven was a concert at Frankfurt’s Kaisersaal during the 1999-2000 season, where we performed all three Razumovsky Quartets in a single evening. At sixteen, we approached the challenge with youthful excitement, and through countless hours in rehearsal we began to understand the depth and demands of this music – gradually developing not only the stamina, but the artistic maturity required to bring over two hours of this intricate music to life. Youthful enthusiasm (let’s be honest: fearlessness) alone allowed us to commit to the repertoire for this important concert without hesitation – and luckily, all went well. In hindsight, preparing this music for increasingly demanding opportunities played a crucial role in forging a confident and lasting relationship with this extraordinary canon.”

In 2013 to mark its 15th anniversary, the Ariel Quartet performed its first complete Beethoven cycle – a landmark for the group, which has been performing Beethoven’s music since its inception. Since then, the Ariel has performed the complete cycle on six occasions throughout the United States and Europe. They view the complete quartets as part of their personal life-long journey reflected in Beethoven’s music – works that are interwoven with the evolution of the string quartet genre as well as the group’s own genesis story.

The Quartet writes:

“As interpreters, we love diving deeply into the music’s details and we leave no theoretical and contextual stone unturned. At the same time, we make sure to maintain our intuitive approach to the music: every work we learn is first sight-read without preparation, unlocking our purest emotional reactions to the music. These feelings are then carefully preserved, allowing us to channel them when all the technical work of putting things where they belong is done. The next stage is when the magic truly happens, and we feel lucky to have been experiencing this over and over since 1998: when the music meets the energy of the audience it starts to develop a life of its own, making each performance a once-in-a-lifetime event. This connection transforms both the music and ourselves, and it’s this immediacy and expressivity we aimed to capture in our recording.”

More about the Ariel Quartet: The Ariel Quartet was named a recipient of the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, granted by Chamber Music America in recognition of artistic achievement and career support. Recent highlights include the Quartet’s sold-out Carnegie Hall debut, a series of performances at Lincoln Center together with pianist Inon Barnatan and the Mark Morris Dance Group, as well as the release of a Brahms and Bartók album for Avie Records. In 2020, the Ariel gave the U.S. premiere of the Quintet for Piano and Strings by Daniil Trifonov, with the composer as pianist for the Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati. The Quartet serves as the Faculty Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where they direct the chamber music program and present a concert series in addition to maintaining a busy touring schedule in the United States and abroad. 

The Ariel Quartet regularly collaborates with today’s eminent and rising young musicians and ensembles, including pianist Orion Weiss, cellist Paul Katz, and the American, Pacifica, and Jerusalem String Quartets. The Quartet has toured with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and performed frequently with pianists Jeremy Denk and Menahem Pressler. In addition, the Ariel served as Quartet-in-Residence for the Steans Music Institute at the Ravinia Festival, the Yellow Barn Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program, as well as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Festival.

Formerly the resident ensemble of the Professional String Quartet Training Program at the New England Conservatory, from which the players obtained their undergraduate and graduate degrees, the Ariel was mentored extensively by acclaimed string quartet giants Walter Levin and Paul Katz. It has won numerous international prizes in addition to the Cleveland Quartet Award: First Prize at the prestigious Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz/Austria, Grand Prize at the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Székely Prize for the performance of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 4, and Third Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. About its performances at the Banff competition, the American Record Guide described the group as “a consummate ensemble gifted with utter musicality and remarkable interpretive power” and noted, in particular, their playing of Beethoven’s monumental Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, as “the pinnacle of the competition.”

The Ariel Quartet has received significant support from the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, Dov and Rachel Gottesman, and the Legacy Heritage Fund. Most recently, they were awarded a grant from the A.N. and Pearl G. Barnett Family Foundation.

Follow the Ariel Quartet:
www.instagram.com/arielquartet
www.facebook.com/ArielQuartet

ALBUM TRACK LISTING:
Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets Vol. 2
Ariel Quartet
Orchid Classics | Release Date: November 7, 2025

DISC 1: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) 

String Quartet No. 7 in F major, Op. 59 No. 1
1 Allegro [10:04]
2 Allegretto vivace e sempre scherzando [8:55]
3 Adagio molto e mesto [13:10]
4 Thème Russe: Allegro [8:27] 

String Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59 No. 3
5 Introduzione: Andante con moto – Allegro vivace [10:48]
6 Andante con moto quasi allegretto [9:52]
7 Menuetto: Grazioso [5:12]
8 Allegro molto [6:09]

Total time: 72.41

DISC 2: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) 

String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2
1 Allegro [13:55]
2 Molto adagio [12:36]
3 Allegretto [7:30]
4 Presto [5:29]

Total time: 39:33

DISC 3: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) 

String Quartet No.10 in E-flat major, Op. 74
1 Poco adagio – Allegro [9:23]
2 Adagio ma non troppo [9:22]
3 Presto [5:02]
4 Allegretto con variazioni [6:45] 

String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, "Quartetto serioso"
5 Allegro con brio [4:15]
6 Allegretto ma non troppo [7:19]
7 Allegro assai vivace ma serioso [4:23]
8 Larghetto espressivo – Allegretto agitato – Allegro [4:36]

Total time: 51:11

Ariel Quartet:
Alexandra Kazovsky, violin
Gershon Gerchikov, violin
Jan Grüning, viola
Amit Even–Tov, cello 

Recorded at Robert J. Werner Recital Hall, University of Cincinnati College-
Conservatory of Music on 30 April & 1-3 May 2024 (Disc 1), 17-19 March 2025
(Disc 2) & 27-30 May 2025 (Disc 3)
Producer: Jesse Lewis
Recording Engineer: Shauna Barravecchio
Assistant Engineer: Adam Sorley
Editing Engineers: Caroline Shaffer Robin, Alexandre Robin, Karl Doty & Thiago Wolf
Mix Engineer: Jesse Lewis
Denoise Engineers: Kyle Pyke & Mark Alletag
Mastering Engineer: Christopher Moretti
Authoring Engineer: Shauna Barravecchio
Cover & booklet photography: Marco Borggreve

© 2025 Orchid Music Limited

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