Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Oct. 6-7: The Jupiter String Quartet Gives Two Performances in Buffalo Presented by the Buffalo Chamber Music Society & University at Buffalo

Oct. 6-7: The Jupiter String Quartet Gives Two Performances in Buffalo Presented by the Buffalo Chamber Music Society & University at Buffalo

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

The Jupiter String Quartet

Gives Two Performances in Buffalo on October 6 and 7
Presented by the Buffalo Chamber Music Society & University at Buffalo

“technical finesse and rare expressive maturity” – The New Yorker

Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 7:30pm
Presented by the Buffalo Chamber Music Society (BCMS)
Mary Seaton Room, Kleinhans Music Hall | 3 Symphony Circle | Buffalo, NY

Tickets and Information

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 7:30pm
Presented by the University at Buffalo in Partnership with BCMS
Slee Hall, Lippes Concert Hall | 120 Coventry Rd. | Buffalo, NY
Tickets and Information

www.jupiterquartet.com

Buffalo, NY – The Jupiter String Quartet, described by The Cleveland Plain-Dealer as “an alert and energetic ensemble, with plenty of communication and an individual sonic sheen,” will give two concerts in Buffalo in early October. On Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at 7:30pm, they perform at Kleinhans Music Hall (3 Symphony Circle) presented by the Buffalo Chamber Music Society (BCMS). On Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 7:30pm, they perform in Lippes Concert Hall (120 Coventry Road) co-presented by BCMS and the University at Buffalo.

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. They give concerts all over the country, and are artists-in-residence and faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 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.

The Jupiter’s program on October 6 features music by Austrian composers from three centuries, each very different in style and mood, from the extroverted expressions of Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op 76 No. 3 “Emperor” from 1797; to the heartfelt passion felt in Franz Schubert’s String Quartet in A minor, D 804, “Rosamunde” from 1824; and the intense emotional arc of Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite from 1925. Haydn’s “Emperor” quartet was the result of his becoming acquainted with an emerging genre of music, the national anthem, during his visits to London in the 1790s. When he returned to Vienna, he proposed to music patron Baron von Swieten that he should compose a new work that would serve a similar function in Austria as “God Save the King” did in England. He did so in 1797, and the song became an instant success, later becoming the Austrian national anthem in 1847. Haydn made it the focal point of his bold new string quartet, incorporating the melody and a set of variations into the piece. Alban Berg was inspired to write his Lyric Suite by his infatuation with Hanna Fuchs-Robettin – he hid her initials in the piece using the musical notes, and encoded other symbols and messages about their love in the six-movement work. Franz Schubert’s “Rosamunde” quartet represents a turning point in his music from lighter and more fanciful work, to a more intense, darker tone. Schubert’s failing health and a troubled love affair are thought to be the causes behind his artistic shift. The piece was the only one of his chamber works to be published during his lifetime. Its nickname is the title of a play for which Schubert wrote incidental music, that includes some of the same music as this quartet.

The Jupiter’s concert on October 7 will include four pieces, each showcasing the human connections that are often inextricably woven into music – Clarice Assad’s Canções da America; Juri Seo’s Respiri; Shulamit Ran’s Quartet No. 3, Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory; and Johannes Brahms’ Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2. Brazilian American composer, pianist, vocalist, and educator Clarice Assad is known for writing music with evocative colors and rich textures, which she imparts to Canções da America, a work celebrating the many cultures and histories found in South America through its own musical styles, from the Milonga dance of Uruguay to the choro of Brazil and the Tango of Argentina. Assad dedicated the piece to Argentine composer Claudia Montero, who died in 2021. Korean-born American composer Juri Seo wrote her piece Respiri in 2016, in memory of British composer Jonathan Harvey. Seo wrote her dissertation on Harvey’s string quartets and corresponded extensively with him during his final year of life. Israeli-American composer Shulamit Ran’s third string quartet – Glitter, Shards, Doom, Memory – is a tribute to the Jewish artist Felix Nussbaum and other victims of the Holocaust. The work’s name is tied to “Glitter and Doom,” the title of an exhibition previously on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Brahms’s expansive and lyrical Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2 was premiered in 1873 by the string quartet of his good friend, Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim. Joachim's motto was “Frei, aber einsam” (Free, but lonely). In the opening movement of the quartet, Brahms encoded a special message for his friend, using the pitches F-A-E and also F-A-F to counter with, “Frei, aber froh” (Free, but glad). This personal connection between composer and performer was also evident in Brahms' use of Hungarian melodies and musical gestures in the second movement and the Finale.

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 has recorded extensively for the Marquis Classics label, Azica Records, and Orchid Classics. 

For more information, visit www.jupiterquartet.com.

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Oct. 4: The Jupiter String Quartet Performs Free Concert at Vassar College – Music Shaped by Deep Expressions of Love and Admiration

Oct. 4: The Jupiter String Quartet Performs Free Concert at Vassar College – Music Shaped by Deep Expressions of Love and Admiration

Photo of the Jupiter Quartet by Todd Rosenberg available in high resolution here

The Jupiter String Quartet Performs Free Concert at Vassar College
Music Shaped by Deep Expressions of Love and Admiration

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

Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 3pm
Skinner Hall of Music | Vassar College | 100 Raymond Ave. | Poughkeepsie, NY
Free and Open to the Public
More Information

www.jupiterquartet.com

Poughkeepsie, NY – On Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 3pm, the Jupiter String Quartet – an ensemble described by The New Yorker as having “technical finesse and rare expressive maturity” – will perform a free concert at Vassar College in Skinner Hall of Music (100 Raymond Ave.). The concert will include Canções da America by Clarice Assad, Lyric Suite by Alban Berg, Respiri by Juri Seo, and String Quartet in A minor, D 804, “Rosamunde” by Franz Schubert.

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. They give concerts all over the country, and are artists-in-residence and faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 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.

The program the Jupiter Quartet will perform at Vassar is composed of music from across cultures and time periods, shaped by deep expressions of love and admiration. Brazilian American composer, pianist, vocalist, and educator Clarice Assad is known for writing music with evocative colors and rich textures, which she imparts to Canções da America, a work celebrating the many cultures and histories found in South America through its own musical styles, from the Milonga dance of Uruguay to the choro of Brazil and the Tango of Argentina. Assad dedicated the piece to Argentine composer Claudia Montero, who died in 2021. Austrian composer Alban Berg was inspired to write his Lyric Suite in 1925, when he first became infatuated with Hanna Fuchs-Robettin – he hid her initials in the piece using the musical notes, and encoded other symbols and messages about their love in the six-movement work. Korean-born American composer Juri Seo wrote her piece Respiri in 2016, in memory of British composer Jonathan Harvey. Seo wrote her dissertation on Harvey’s string quartets and corresponded extensively with him during his final year of life. Respiri is influenced by Harvey’s Buddhist beliefs as well as his musical approach. Austrian composer Franz Schubert wrote his “Rosamunde” string quartet in 1824, and the piece represents a turning point in his music from lighter and more fanciful work, to a more intense, darker tone. Schubert’s failing health and a troubled love affair are often thought to be the causes behind his artistic shift.

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 has recorded extensively for the Marquis Classics label, Azica Records, and Orchid Classics.

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,” performs a free concert at Vassar College. The award-winning ensemble’s program features music shaped by deep expressions of love and admiration from across cultures and time periods, featuring the works of Clarice Assad, Alban Berg, Juri Seo, and Franz Schubert. This performance is free and open to the public.

Concert details:

Who: Jupiter String Quartet
Presented by Vassar College
What: Music by Clarice Assad, Alban Berg, Juri Seo, and Franz Schubert
When: Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 3pm
Where: Vassar College, Skinner Hall of Music, 100 Raymond Ave, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Tickets and information: https://www.vassar.edu/news/events/jupiter-string-quartet

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Oct. 23: Pianist Igor Levit Releases Resistance – New Album on His Label NO SILENCE RECORDS

Oct. 23: Pianist Igor Levit Releases Resistance

Pianist Igor Levit Releases New Album Resistance
on His Label NO SILENCE RECORDS

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Eroica in Franz Liszt’s Transcription
and Arnold Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon

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

With his new album Resistance, released on his own label NO SILENCE RECORDS (in collaboration with Sony Classical) on October 23, 2026, pianist Igor Levit turns his attention to two works that explore resilience and the exercise of political power. The program features Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica, in Franz Liszt’s piano transcription, alongside Arnold Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon, recorded with the Kammerakademie Potsdam under the direction of Antonello Manacorda. The spoken narration is performed by acclaimed actress Dörte Lyssewski. Pre-order is available now.

At the heart of the album lies the story of a profound disillusionment. Beethoven originally dedicated his Third Symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte, whom he admired as an embodiment of the ideals of liberty and progress. However, when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven angrily scratched out his name from the title page. The Bonaparte Symphony became the Eroica, a work that continues to stand as a musical symbol of human determination and inner strength.

For Igor Levit, however, the symphony’s heroism resides less in political figures than in Beethoven himself: “Here is a man who is losing his hearing, who finds himself on the brink of suicide, and yet carries on. Through his art, Beethoven writes himself back into life.”

A key role in this story is played by Franz Liszt, whose piano transcriptions of Beethoven’s symphonies set new standards in the art of transcription. For Levit, Liszt’s version of the Eroica is far more than a mere piano arrangement: “In essence, he transforms the Eroica into an independent piano symphony.” The combination of orchestral power, technical challenge and visionary imagination makes the work one of the crowning achievements of the piano repertoire.

Set against Beethoven’s revolutionary spirit is Arnold Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon. Composed in exile in 1942 in the United States, the work sets Lord Byron’s condemnation of Napoleon while simultaneously turning its gaze towards the tyrant of Schoenberg’s own time: Adolf Hitler. Having himself fled Nazi persecution, Schoenberg created a powerful musical manifesto against dictatorship and oppression.

The result is a compelling programme that examines ideals of heroism, the abuse of power and the moral imperative of resistance. Across more than a century, Beethoven, Liszt and Schoenberg enter into a dialogue that feels more relevant today than ever.

Igor Levit – Resistance: Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” (Liszt Transcription) & Schoenberg: Ode to Napoleon

Kammerakademie Potsdam; Antonello Manacorda, conductor; Dörte Lyssewski, narrator

Release date: October 23, 2026 on NO SILENCE RECORDS / Sony Classical, available on CD and digital formats.

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Oct. 16: Acclaimed UK Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason Releases Songs Without Words EP on Sony Classical – First Single Out Today (Copy)

Oct. 16: Acclaimed UK Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason Releases Songs Without Words EP on Sony Classical – New Single Out Today

Acclaimed UK Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Releases Songs Without Words EP on Sony Classical

New Single Out Today 
Song Without Words in A Major by Florence Price

Listen Here

Today, from acclaimed young pianist, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, comes the first single from her forthcoming EP Songs Without Words, scheduled for release on October 16, 2026 on Sony Classical. Thoughtfully curated by the artist, the EP brings together music by Felix Mendelssohn, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Camille Saint-Saëns and Nina Simone, continuing Jeneba's passion for championing overlooked voices and tracing the evolution of the Songs Without Words tradition across generations, musical styles and genres. Jeneba Kanneh-Mason's new single, Song Without Words in A Major by Florence Price, is out today, September 25, 2026 - listen here.

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, of whom Gramophone wrote: “her future will surely be dazzling” and who impressed BBC Music Magazine with her “sparkle and self-possession”, has chosen a remarkable piece as the first single from this EP. In a tribute to the legendary pianist, singer, songwriter and activist, Nina Simone (1933-2003), Jeneba performs Saint-Saëns’ (1835-1921) popular aria ‘Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix’ (‘Softly awakes my heart’) from his opera ‘Samson and Delilah’, Op. 67. Nina Simone famously performed her own arrangement of this work as a solo piano piece during her 1963 debut solo concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, enriching the piece with embellishments and improvisatory flourishes. Jeneba honours this seminal artist with a transcription of that singular 1963 live performance.

Of this first single, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason remarks, "I've always loved Nina Simone, and when I discovered her solo piano version of Saint-Saëns' 'Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix', I was completely captivated. I love the freedom and individuality she brings to the music, while never losing sight of the original melody. Including a transcription of her performance on this EP felt like a natural way to celebrate her artistry alongside the more traditional Songs Without Words, bringing together so many of the musical worlds that inspire me."

To acknowledge the origins of the genre Songs Without Words, the theme of her forthcoming EP, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason has chosen Felix Mendelssohn’s Song Without Words in G major, Op. 62 No. 1 Andante espressivo. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and his sister, Fanny Hensel Mendelssohn (1805-1847), were among the first composers to write ‘Lieder ohne Worte’, Felix Mendelssohn writing eight volumes of six songs, which became hugely popular.

Continuing her commitment to championing music by black women composers and bringing their often-overlooked repertoire to a wider audience, Jeneba returns to African American composers, Florence Price (1887-1953) and Margaret Bonds (1913-1972), both of whom were featured on her debut album, ‘Fantasie’. For Songs Without Words, she has chosen two rarely recorded works by Price: Song Without Words in G major ‘Pleading’ (c. 1928) and the lyrical yet dramatic Song Without Words in A major (1932). These sit alongside Bonds' The Bells, the second movement from her ‘Spiritual Suite for Piano’ and based on the spiritual Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells, which Bonds developed into an elaborate piano piece.

Having made her mark in March 2025 with her debut album on Sony Classical, Fantasie, featuring works by Frederic Chopin, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, William Grant Still, Claude Debussy and Alexander Scriabin, of which International Piano magazine noted “…This is a debut recording of exceptional bravura and insight… Already she compels attention”, this much in demand young artist and member of the supremely talented Kanneh-Mason family of musicians, followed it in December 2025 with an exceptionally fine self-curated EP ‘Jane Austen’s Piano’, exploring the musical world of fellow pianist and world-famous author, Jane Austen, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of her favourite writer’s birth.

TRACKLIST:
1. Felix Mendelssohn: Lieder ohne Wrote V, op. 62: I. Andante espressivo
2. Florence Price: Song Without Words in A Major
3. Margaret Bonds: Spiritual Suite: II. The Bells
4. Florence Price: Song Without Words in G Major ("Pleading”)
5. Camille Saint-Saëns: Theme from Samson and Delilah (arr. Nina Simone)

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

OUT TODAY: New Single from Violinist Esther Abrami's Sony Classical Album Amour - VIII. Deuxième Chance from Abrami's Amour Suite

OUT TODAY: New Single from Violinist Esther Abrami's Sony Classical Album Amour - VIII. Deuxième Chance from Abrami's Amour Suite

Acclaimed Violinist Esther Abrami
Releases New Album Amour on Sony Classical

Album Marks Major Artistic Milestone For Abrami
Who Presents Her First Own Large-Scale Composition

New Single: Movement VIII. Deuxième Chance
from Esther Abrami's Amour Suite 

Out Today - Listen Here

Worldwide Album Release Date: October 9, 2026
Pre-Order Available Now

Celebrated violinist and social media sensation Esther Abrami will release her new album Amour on October 9, 2026 on Sony Classical. New single, Movement VIII. Deuxième Chance from Esther Abrami's Amour Suite is out today.

Marking a major artistic milestone, Amour is the first album where Abrami presents an original own large-scale composition at its core: a self-written nine-part suite. Conceived as an intimate and deeply expressive exploration of love in all its forms, the work captures the full spectrum of emotions, from tenderness and passion to longing and heartbreak, and stands at the heart of a project that blends original music with newly reimagined works for violin and orchestra.

“With ‘Amour’, I wanted to explore love in all its forms – not just the joy and beauty, but also the vulnerability, the longing, the anger and the pain that often comes with it. Writing my own suite of nine movements allowed me to express a range of very personal emotions, while the other pieces on the album reflect how universal these feelings are across time and genres. Love is something that we all experience, for the best and the worst but at the end, that’s what connects us all. I hope this album resonates with anyone who listens to it”, says Esther Abrami.

Beyond the central suite, ‘Amour’ brings together a diverse selection of iconic classical works about love, each newly arranged for solo violin and orchestra. A particular highlight of the album is Nino Rota’s ‘Romeo and Juliet: Love Theme’, featuring the celebrated mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti. Viotti’s vocals add a captivating dimension to the piece as she engages in a duet with Esther’s violin. The programme further includes epic versions for violin and orchestra of Céline Dion’s All by Myself’ and Georges Bizet’s Carmen: L’amour est un oiseau rebelle from Habanera. New arrangements of Francis Poulenc’s Les chemins de l’amour, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice: Dance of the Blessed Spirits (Melodie), and the virtuosic intensity of Tomaso Antonio Vitali’s Chaconne in G minor add even more musical colours to this collection of works centred around love. The album also features a new version arranged by Esther Abrami of Charlie Chaplin’s Désillusion amoureuse from the movie “The Circus”, a poignant composition that reveals the legendary filmmaker’s deeply expressive musical voice.

Throughout her career, Esther Abrami has been known for her ability to connect classical music with a wide and diverse audience, bringing fresh perspectives to the repertoire. With ‘Amour’, she reaches a new artistic dimension, uniting her work as a composer with her unique voice as an interpreter, thus shaping a musical language that is unmistakably her own.

This new chapter in her career follows a period of exceptional success. Since the release of her album ‘Women’ in April 2025, Esther Abrami has become one of the most visible young artists in classical music. Especially in her home country, France, she has appeared on major television programmes, performing for millions of viewers and captivating audiences through a series of highly successful concerts. Her book ‘La musique est (aussi) une affaire de femmes’ has quickly become a genre bestseller and will be released in English and German in September under the title ‘Music is (also) a Women’s Affair’. In recognition of her artistic impact, she will receive an Opus Klassik Award 2026, the most important classical music prize in the German speaking world.

Amour features the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Irene Delgado-Jiménez and will be available for streaming and digital download in stereo and the immersive format Dolby Atmos. The album will also be released as CD and a limited-edition 2x Ecorecord InkPlosion Colour LP – pre-order here.

Amour - Track List

1. Désillusion amoureuse (Charlie Chaplin)
2. – 10. Amour Suite (Esther Abrami)
11. Romeo and Juliet: Love Theme (Nino Rota) – feat. Marina Viotti
12. All by Myself (Céline Dion)
13. Carmen: L’amour est un oiseau rebelle (Bizet)
14. Moods, Impressions and Souvenirs, Op. 41: Lento (Fibich)
15. Les chemins de l’amour (Poulenc)
16. Orpheo and Euridice: Dance of the Blessed Spirits (Gluck)
17. Chaconne in G minor (Vitali)

* City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Irene Delgado-Jiménez

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Oct. 16: Caramoor Continues 2026-2027 Rosen House Concert Series with Indie-Folk-Pop Trio Bandits on the Run

Oct. 16: Caramoor Continues 2026-2027 Rosen House Concert Series with Indie-Folk-Pop Trio Bandits on the Run

Photo of Bandits on the Run by Hunter Brown. Available in hi-resolution here.

Caramoor Continues 2026-2027 Rosen House Concert Series
with Indie-Folk-Pop Trio Bandits on the Run

Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:30pm
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | Rosen House
149 Girdle Ridge Drive | Katonah, NY
Tickets & Information

“[Bandits on the Run] bring a theatrical feel to their performances,” –Strings

“[Bandits on the Run blends] rotating lead vocals, vibrant instrumentation, and a shared storytelling spirit that feels at once timeless and entirely their own.” –Atwood Magazine

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 for 2026-2027 with a performance by Brooklyn based indie-folk-pop trio, Bandits on the Run, on Friday, October 16, 2026 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.

Bandits on the Run is an indie-folk-pop group consisting of cellist and vocalist Sydney Shepherd, guitarist and vocalist Adrian Enscoe, percussionist, xylophonist, toy sound player, and vocalist Regina Strayhorn. The trio hail from Brooklyn, NY and are known for their vivacious performance style, genre-defying sound, soaring harmonies, and ability to make music-magic happen everywhere from subway platforms to concert halls. Their three-part harmonies have been heard filling iconic venues while opening for The Wood Brothers’ 2025 East Coast tour, on the main stages at Colorado’s Rocky Mount Folks Fest and Michigan’s Blissfest, and in a sold out residency at Manhattan’s Bowery Electric.

About Bandits on the Run

Bandits on the Run are a musical trio from the Brooklyn-Queens border. Born from a chance encounter busking on the subway, Adrian Blake Enscoe, Sydney Shepherd, and Regina Strayhorn defy convention with an impressive trade-off of lead vocals and instruments. The Bandits marry acoustic, electric, and bass guitar sounds with cello, accordion, suitcases-turned-kick drums, and (if you’re lucky) sometimes even a megaphone. 

The Bandits’ songs have been featured by NPR’s Tiny Desk and The Moth Story Slam, as well as in Netflix’s Ask the StoryBots and the feature film The Same Storm. The Bandits tour nationally and internationally, with appearances at Cambridge Folk Festival, Floydfest, Summerfest Milwaukee, Americanafest, F1 Singapore Grand Prix, Mile of Music, and more. Their theatrical indie-folk lends itself quite well to storytelling and their work adapting text for a musical production of As You Like It later became their EP The Shakespeare Tapes.   

In addition to all their touring and recording work, Bandits on the Run are also in the business of writing musicals, sometimes as a trio and sometimes with collaborators. The stage musical adaptation of the novel What’s Eating Gilbert Grape with actor-musician-longtime friend Christopher Sears and newfound friend Academy Award Nominee Peter Hedges, supported by MCC Theater,will be opening off-Broadway in June 2027.  Bandits on the Run are also developing an original musical, Yukon Ho, about a group of Black prospectors in the Alaskan gold rush. Yukon Ho was researched on the ground in Skagway, Alaska with support from the NEA, and has been workshopped with support from Prospect Musicals. They are alumni of several musical theater writing development programs, including Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat, and the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Grove at Goodspeed Musicals.

Adrian, Sydney, and Regina bring their individual corners of the creative universe into the room when they collaborate. Adrian Blake Enscoe made their Broadway debut in The Avett Brothers’ Swept Away in 2024 and can be seen playing Austin Dickinson in the Apple TV+ Series Dickinson. Sydney Shepherd was most recently seen in the 2025 world premiere of The Ruins at the Guthrie Theater. Regina Strayhorn also works in casting, bringing to life shows for HBO, Amazon, Apple TV, CBS & Hulu.

Watch Bandits on the Run Perform at WFUV Studios

 
 

Beyond the Music: Yoga, Teas, Talks, & More

Caramoor has expanded its slate of community and family programming to include tours, teas, yoga and more, giving visitors a wide variety of ways to experience this unique setting in addition to its world-class concerts. Caramoor offers Rosen House Signature Tours on Fridays and Saturdays, inviting visitors to explore the historic Rosen House through a docent-led experience which shares the stories behind the House’s carefully assembled treasures. Caramoor will also continue its popular Afternoon Teas, offering a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with crème fraîche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Tea is served in the Music Room, a unique opportunity to relax with friends and family in a breathtaking historic setting. In addition, Caramoor invites the community to unwind and restore in a serene setting with Sunset Yoga in the Sunken Garden in September and Yoga in the Music Room in January. This special yoga series is designed to nurture both body and mind. Each session offers a gentle, mindful practice led by an experienced instructor, with an emphasis on breath, alignment, and presence. Caramoor also offers family activities in all seasons including making Halloween treats and winter wreaths during Halloween Dessert Decorating Kids Cooking Class and Winter Wreath-Making for Families. Caramoor also offers Rosen House Studio Nights: Art and Aperitifs for adults on select Wednesday evenings, with themes including ceramic tile painting, stained glass mosaics, and jewelry design. 

New this season, Caramoor is teaming up with The Juilliard School to offer a series of six Extension classes, no pre-requisite knowledge required, offering audiences the opportunity to dive deeper into the themes presented on stage throughout the Rosen House Concert Series. Participants will learn from some of the most acclaimed professors and lecturers and engage in thoughtful discussion with fellow music lovers. Classes can be taken individually or as an entire series. Topics include Beethoven to Bartók: The Expanding World of Chamber Music; The String Quartet Across Three Centuries; Music, Faith, and Power in the Baroque World; and more.

Please visit the Caramoor website for the full schedule of Beyond the Music programs, which are announced on a rolling basis: caramoor.org/events/beyond-the-music

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 Venetian Theater, Friends Field, Spanish Courtyard, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room), 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 that draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), the summer seasonal concessions Bravo Bar, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community 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.

How to get to Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities

More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit

At-a-Glance Calendar: 2026-27 Rosen House Concert Series Performances

Friday, October 2, 2026 at 7:30pm: Nobuntu

Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:30pm: Bandits on the Run

Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00pm: Countertenor Iestyn Davies and Harpist Oliver Wass

Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3:00pm: Pianist Jonathan Biss

Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 3:00pm: Evnin Rising Stars

Friday, November 6, 2026 at 7:30pm: Pianist Aaron Diehl

Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 3:00pm: Renaissance Quartet

Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 2:00pm and 4:00pm: Christmas with Cantus

Sunday, March 7, 2027 at 3:00pm: Schwab Vocal Rising Stars

Sunday, April 4, 2027 at 3:00pm: Viano Quartet

Friday, April 9, 2027 at 7:30pm: The Summer Camargo Quintet

Sunday, April 11, 2027 at 3:00pm: ACRONYM and Countertenor Reginald Mobley

Saturday April 17, 2027 at 7:30pm and Sunday, April 18, 2027 at 3:00pm: The Other Mozart with Creator & Actress Sylvia Milo

Sunday, April 25, 2027 at 3:00pm: Pianist Inon Barnatan

Sunday, May 2, 2027 at 3:00pm: Renaissance Quartet

Friday, May 7, 2027 at 7:30pm: Sister Sadie

Friday, May 14, 2027 at 7:30pm: Cabaret in the Music Room with Vocalist Mandy Gonzalez

For Caramoor's complete schedule, including the Rosen House Concert Series and Beyond the Music events: caramoor.org/events/calendar

 

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

Oct. 24-25: A Far Cry Continues 20th Anniversary Season with Folie à Deux – A Neighborhood Chamber Music Concert Curated by Rafael Popper-Keizer

Oct. 24-25: A Far Cry Continues 20th Anniversary Season with Folie à Deux – A Neighborhood Chamber Music Concert Curated by Rafael Popper-Keizer

Photo by Josh Reynolds available in high resolution here. 

GRAMMY®-Nominated A Far Cry Continues 20th Anniversary Season with Folie à Deux on October 24 and 25

A Neighborhood Chamber Music Concert
Curated by A Far Cry Cellist Rafael Popper-Keizer

Saturday, October 24, 2026 3:00pm
St. John’s Episcopal Church | 1 Roanoke Avenue | Jamaica Plain, MA
Tickets and More Information 

Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3:00pm
First Church Cambridge | 11 Garden Street | Cambridge, MA
Tickets and More Information

Boston, MA – GRAMMY®-nominated chamber orchestra and “world-wide phenomenon” (WBUR) A Far Cry (AFC) continues its 20th anniversary season with Folie à Deux, its first set of Neighborhood Chamber Concerts of the year, on Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 3pm at St. John’s Episcopal Church (1 Roanoke Avenue, Jamaica Plain) and Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3pm at First Church Cambridge (11 Garden Street, Cambridge).

Curated by A Far Cry cellist Rafael Popper-Keizer, Folie à Deux explores musical partnership through six striking duos for violin, viola, cello, and marimba. Moving through every two-part permutation of the ensemble’s four instruments, this program reveals how intimacy, tension, and joy emerge when two voices come together.

The performance will showcase a colorful assortment of vibrant works by contemporary composers, ranging from the shimmering stillness of Akshaya Avril Tucker’s Breathing Sunlight to the mournful echoes of Osvaldo Golijov’s Mariel; from the playful textures of Caroline Shaw’s Limestone and Felt to the profound gravity of Penderecki’s Ciaccona, to the spirit of perseverance fueling Fabian Otten’s  L’Assillo, to the American and Japanese folk influences shaping Paul Wiancko’s American Haiku. Together the full program forms a kaleidoscopic meditation on memory, identity, and the power of shared experience.

“Making music with another person is an act of mutual trust and shared vulnerability; it requires an open mind and a willingness to live in the space where the sound of one instrument ends and the other begins,” says Rafael Popper-Keizer. “In Folie à Deux, I wanted to celebrate this intimacy with six remarkable duos, each of which creates a richly complex world of sound and emotion with the smallest possible ensemble.”

A Far Cry’s 20th anniversary season includes nine thoughtfully curated programs presented throughout the Boston area including a grand finale anniversary celebration, from September 2026 through June 2027 at venues including New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plan, Old South Church in Boston, First Church in Cambridge, and the Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama. See schedule below.

A Far Cry was founded in 2007 on the belief that every voice deserves to be heard; so instead of one artistic director, the collective of musicians curate and submit program ideas inspired by individual curiosities, the greater musical community, and what is happening in the world at large. The result is a dynamic representation of music and collaborators across genres and backgrounds. The Criers believe it is this core value and sense of curiosity and mission that led The Boston Globe to write that, “even though A Far Cry has decisively established itself as a mainstay of the Boston musical community, something about it feels perpetually fresh with every performance.” In addition to its home season in Boston, the ensemble tours nationally, collaborates regularly with other world-class musicians throughout the country, and has twice been nominated for GRAMMY Awards in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance category. The group’s recording of Rounds by Jessie Montgomery with pianist Awadagin Pratt on his album Stillpoint garnered Montgomery the GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 2024.

A Far Cry’s national tours have taken the ensemble to leading venues including The Kennedy Center, National Gallery of Art, Kaufman Music Center, the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park, at Caramoor, the Ravinia Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival-Shalin Liu, Groton Hill Music Center, Newport Classical Music Festival, and many more. The Criers are proud to call Boston home, and maintain strong roots in the city. Collaborating with local students through educational partnerships with the New England Conservatory and Project STEP, A Far Cry aims to pass on the spirit of collaboratively-empowered music to the next generation.

More about A Far Cry: www.afarcry.org/group-bio

A Far Cry Season 20: At-a-Glance Concert Schedule

September 19: Goldberg Variations with Simone Dinnerstein, piano
October 24-25: Folie à deux
November 7: Mighty Fortress with Boston Children's Chorus, Ariadne Greif, soprano; Clare McNamara, alto; Brian Giebler, tenor; and Paul Max Tipton, bass
December 19-20: Brandenburgs (12/19), (12/20)
January 9-10, 2027: Coming to Boston: From Haiti with Charlot Lucien, Haitian poet (1/9), (1/10)
February 12, 2027: Heartstrings: The Most Beautiful Music in the World with Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah, Boston Poet Laureate
March 13-14, 2027: The Greatest (3/13), (3/14)
April 10, 2027: Side by Side: Absolute Cinema with Students from New England Conservatory and Project STEP
June 5, 2027: Season 20 Celebration - Mix Tape for Boston: Costumes Change, Pulse Remains

A Far Cry’s full performance calendar: afarcry.org/all-concerts

For Calendar Editors:

Description: GRAMMY®-nominated chamber orchestra and “world-wide phenomenon” (WBUR) A Far Cry continues its 20th anniversary season with Folie à Deux, its first set of Neighborhood Chamber Concerts of the year, on Saturday, October 24 at St. John’s Episcopal Church and Sunday, October 25 at First Church Cambridge. Curated by A Far Cry cellist Rafael Popper-Keizer, Folie à Deux explores musical partnership through six striking duos for violin, viola, cello, and marimba.

Concert details:

Who: GRAMMY®-nominated chamber orchestra A Far Cry
What: Folie à Deux – A Neighborhood Community Concert
When: Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 3:00pm
Where: St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1 Roanoke Avenue, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Tickets and More Information: https://www.afarcry.org/all-concerts/folie-deux-jp  

Who: GRAMMY®-nominated chamber orchestra A Far Cry
What: Folie à Deux – A Neighborhood Community Concert
When: Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 3:00pm
Where: First Church Cambridge, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Tickets and More Information: https://www.afarcry.org/all-concerts/folie-deux-cambridge

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Oct 23: GRAMMY-Winning Experiential Orchestra Opens Season with The Music of Anna Clyne Featuring Cellist Inbal Segev in the New York City Premiere of DANCE

Oct 23: GRAMMY-Winning Experiential Orchestra Opens Season with The Music of Anna Clyne Featuring Cellist Inbal Segev in the New York City Premiere of DANCE

GRAMMY®️-Winning Experiential Orchestra (EXO) Opens 2026-2027 Season on October 23 with An Embrace of Sound: The Music of Anna Clyne

Featuring Cellist Inbal Segev in the New York City Premiere of Clyne’s DANCE

James Blachly, Music Director

Friday, October 23, 2026 at 8pm
Pre-Concert Conversation with Anna Clyne at 7:15pm
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music | 450 W. 37th St., New York, NY
Tickets & Information

www.experientialorchestra.org

New York, NY – The GRAMMY®️-winning Experiential Orchestra (EXO) led by founding Music Director James Blachly will open its 2026-2027 season, titled Beauty in the Face of Adversity and running from October 2026 through June 2027, with An Embrace of Sound: The Music of Anna Clyne, on Friday, October 23, 2026 at 8pm at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music (450 W. 37th St.). A pre-concert conversation with Anna Clyne, moderated by New Music USA President & CEO Vanessa Rose, starts at 7:15pm. EXO will present four immersive programs this season, each reflecting the mission of the orchestra – to curate programs that embrace the unique acoustics and characters of each venue, creating a one-of-a-kind listening environment and a new experience of sound. 

This season opening concert on October 23, An Embrace of Sound, is a celebration of the music of composer Anna Clyne and features the New York City premiere of her piece DANCE for cello and orchestra, performed with cello soloist Inbal Segev (who commissioned and recorded the work). The program also includes Clyne’s This Midnight Hour, an evocative tour de force for orchestra, which was written in part as a response to the poetry of Charles Baudelaire and Juan Ramón Jiménez. Clyne’s Within Her Arms, written in the wake of the death of her mother, opens the program, with the EXO strings surrounding the audience at the DiMenna Center in a sound embrace.

Experiential Orchestra Music Director James Blachly says, “This season brings together extraordinary composers, internationally acclaimed soloists, and beautiful venues to create concerts that we hope will speak directly to our audience from a place of strength and comfort. For our season opening concert, we embrace the way that Anna Clyne's music is uniquely attuned to the way we can turn to music and poetry in life's hardest moments. The program includes Within Her Arms, written after the death of Anna’s mother, an elegy for string orchestra – this is music that is imbued with grief. The work opens with a short descending theme that becomes the basis for a musical meditation on love and life and loss. I couldn’t be more honored to present the New York City premiere of Anna’s DANCE for cello and orchestra, with the incredible soloist Inbal Segev. Each of the concerto’s five movements corresponds to a line of the Rumi poem that inspired the piece. I am greatly looking forward to bringing this expansive and lyrical piece to New York with the cellist for whom it was written.”

After co-commissioning Anna Clyne’s concerto DANCE, Inbal Segev premiered the work under Cristian Măcelaru’s leadership at the 2019 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in California and recorded it alongside Elgar’s iconic concerto with Marin Alsop and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Released by Avie, the album was an instant success, topping the Amazon Classical Concertos chart and inspiring glowing praise from The Guardian, BBC Radio 3 and other outlets; DANCE’s opening movement was named among NPR Music’s “Favorite Songs of 2020,” receiving more than twelve million listens on Spotify. Combining “thrillingly projected, vibrato-rich playing” (Washington Post) with “complete dedication and high intelligence” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Inbal Segev makes solo appearances at leading international venues and with preeminent orchestras and conductors worldwide. Celebrated for her fresh insights into music’s great masterworks, the New York-based Israeli American cellist is equally committed to reinvigorating the cello repertoire and has commissioned and premiered major new works from an international who’s who of today’s foremost contemporary composers.

Up next in EXO’s season, on February 20, 2027 at Roulette Intermedium (509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY), the orchestra presents Music in a Time of War, a concert featuring three acclaimed soloists: Paul Neubauer, Stewart Goodyear, and Michelle Barzel Ross. On May 22, 2027 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (2 W 64th St., New York, NY), EXO performs the choral music of Arvo Pärt, expanding the orchestra’s ongoing relationship with the Estonian composer. The final event of the season is a reprise of EXO’s celebrated collaboration with composer Brad Balliett in his A Field Guide to Imaginary Birds, to be held outdoors at Inwood Hill Park in Spring 2027 (details TBA).

About Experiential Orchestra:

The GRAMMY®️-winning Experiential Orchestra (EXO) brings audiences close to the music by engaging listeners through imaginative, immersive, and interactive concert experiences. Founded by Music Director James Blachly in 2009, EXO’s performances and recordings have been described as “strikingly persuasive” by the San Francisco Chronicle and “immaculate” by Musical America, and have been praised for having “luscious tone and poise” by Classics Today.

EXO was founded to forge transformative concerts in community, where each curated performance is imbued with a generous spirit of celebration, facilitating the exploration of what Blachly calls, “a new experience of sound” by audiences. The orchestra’s performances take place in and outside the concert hall with audiences invited to participate in unorthodox ways. EXO has performed the music of Arvo Pärt in the Temple of Dendur at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, invited audiences to dance during Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker at National Sawdust, enveloped the audience in concerts at Lincoln Center with audience and orchestra members sitting together, and presented  Symphonie fantastique and Petrushka with circus choreography at The Muse in Brooklyn.  

Recent highlights have included a concert at The Library of Congress in Washington, DC; an immersive performance of Strauss’s Four Last Songs with cellist Andrew Yee and soprano Sarah Brailey; and an ongoing close relationship with the Arvo Pärt Centre, Michael Pärt, and the Estonian Embassy in yearly presentations of the music of Arvo Pärt. In January 2024, EXO performed Pärt’s masterwork Passio at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, offering audiences the opportunity to experience the concert while reclining on yoga mats. In March 2024, the orchestra co-presented a four-day Julia Perry Centenary Celebration and Festival in New York, coinciding with Perry’s 100th birthday that month.

EXO is known for imaginative and groundbreaking programming that frequently advocates for under-celebrated masterpieces and composers. The orchestra’s world premiere recording of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison (1930) was released on Chandos Records in 2020 to international critical acclaim in The New York Times, Gramophone, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and many other publications. The album won the GRAMMY for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album in 2021 – the first GRAMMY ever awarded for Smyth’s music. EXO’s world premiere recording of Julia Perry’s Violin Concerto, with soloist Curtis Stewart, was released on the Bright Shiny Things label in March 2024 and earned two GRAMMY nominations. 

EXO is led by Founder and Music Director James Blachly, General Manager Sandy Choi, Concertmasters Alex Fortes and Henry Wang, Personnel Manager Arthur Sato, and Artistic Advisor Patrick Castillo.

About Founding Music Director James Blachly:

James Blachly is a GRAMMY®-winning conductor dedicated to enriching the concert experience by connecting with audiences in memorable and meaningful ways. James Blachly serves as Music Director of Experiential Orchestra and Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. He is a versatile guest conductor in diverse repertoire for orchestras including New York Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and WDR Funkhausorchester. A strong supporter of composers of our time, Blachly has commissioned and premiered more than 40 works by composers including Jessie Montgomery, Courtney Bryan, Viet Cuong, Michi Wiancko, Kate Copeland Ettinger, Tommy Daugherty, Patrick Castillo, Brad and Doug Balliett, and many others. In recent seasons, he has collaborated with soloists Daniel Hope, Paul Jacobs, Julia Bullock, Dashon Burton, Michelle Cann, Andrew Yee, Curtis Stewart, Simone Porter, and more. In addition to his work with Experiential Orchestra, with the Johnstown Symphony, Blachly has conducted the orchestra at the Flight 93 Memorial for the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, in a former steel mill in a concert that was featured on Katie Couric’s America Inside Out, at the First Summit Arena at the War Memorial, and in eight seasons the orchestra has increased season ticket sales and annual giving each by more than 50%. In 2021, he received a commendation by the City of Johnstown and the Johnstown chapter of the NAACP. In recent seasons, Blachly has introduced an annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Juneteenth, and youth concert. For more information, visit www.jamesblachly.com.

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Oct & Nov: Classical Music Highlights at Caramoor - Countertenor Iestyn Davies and Harpist Oliver Wass, Pianist Jonathan Biss, and Anthony Roth Costanzo on his New Book

Oct & Nov: Classical Music Highlights at Caramoor - Countertenor Iestyn Davies and Harpist Oliver Wass, Pianist Jonathan Biss, and Anthony Roth Costanzo on his New Book

Photos available in high resolution here.

October and November Classical Highlights at Caramoor

Rosen House Concert Series: Countertenor Iestyn Davies and Harpist Oliver Wass
Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00pm

Rosen House Concert Series: Pianist Jonathan Biss
Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3:00pm

Conversations at Caramoor: Anthony Roth Costanzo on his New Book Countertenor
Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 3:00pm

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | Rosen House
149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Tickets & Information

Getting to Caramoor from NYC: Caramoor is an approximately one-hour ride on Metro-North from Grand Central to Katonah, NY.

KATONAH, NY – Caramoor, a vibrant cultural destination nestled on 81 acres of historic gardens and woodlands in Katonah, NY, continues its intimate 2026-2027 Rosen House Concert Series with two October performances plus a very special installment of Conversations at Caramoor in November. Celebrated British countertenor Iestyn Davies and harpist Oliver Wass perform on Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00pm and renowned pianist Jonathan Biss performs on Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3:00pm, as part of the Rosen House Concert Series. On Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 3:00pm, countertenor and author Anthony Roth Costanzo will speak about his new book, Countertenor (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 27, 2026) as part of the Conversations at Caramoor series. All three events take place in the Music Room at the Rosen House.

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. The estate’s gardens and grounds are also open year round to visitors, free of charge, for picnicking and walking daily from 10:00am to 4:00pm. 

Countertenor Iestyn Davies is known for his vocal beauty and technical dexterity. An esteemed Handelian, he is a GRAMMY-winner and recipient of multiple Gramophone awards, with appearances at The Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and Carnegie Hall. He earned an Olivier Award nomination for his performance in the play Farinelli and the King in London and New York. In 2022, Davies appeared with lutenist Thomas Dunford in the Music Room, and on October 18 he returns to Caramoor with Oliver Wass, the first harpist ever to win the prestigious Guildhall Gold Medal, for a recital that includes Dowland’s Flow My Tears; In Darkness Let Me Dwell; Now, O Now I Needs Must Part; Say Love if Ever Thou Didst Find; Time Stands Still; Can She Excuse My Wrongs; and My Thoughts Are Wing'd With Hopes; Purcell’s “Strike the viol, touch the lute” from Come, ye sons of art, away, Handel’s “Sento Amor” from Partenope and “Oh Lord Whose Mercies Numberless” from Saul; Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice Cantata (arranged by Davies), selections from J.S. Bach’s French Suite No.3 BWV 814; Mozart’s Rondo Alla Turka; Monteverdi’s Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius SV287; and Trabaci’s Toccata Seconda and Ligature per l'arpa.

Pianist Jonathan Biss is recognized globally for his impeccable taste and formidable technique. He has appeared as a soloist with the foremost ensembles of the world, including the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, the Boston Symphony, and the Royal Concertgebouw. Biss is particularly renowned for his deep engagement with the music of Beethoven. An alum of the Evnin Rising Stars program, he has a rich history with Caramoor, performing many times over the years and last appearing with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 during the 2019 Summer Season. He has recorded the complete piano sonatas of the composer, created a widely viewed Coursera lecture series, spearheaded the Beethoven/5 commissioning project, and is the author of the acclaimed book Unquiet: My Life with Beethoven. Beyond his extensive touring and advocacy for newly commissioned works, Biss serves as the Co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and the recipient of numerous prestigious honors, including the Leonard Bernstein Award, an Avery Fisher Career Grant, and a Gilmore Young Artist Award. At Caramoor on October 25, he will present his program Words Fail! featuring selections from Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, Janáček’s “Words Fail!” from On the Overgrown Path, Kurtág’s “Quiet talk with the Devil” and “Silence” from Játékok, Amy Beth Kirsten’s (speak to me), and Schumann’s Variations on an Original Theme and Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17.

Anthony Roth Costanzo, one of today’s leading opera singers, will celebrate his debut book, Countertenor (Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, October 27, 2026), with a talk at Caramoor on November 8. Part memoir, part cultural history, the book traces the countertenor voice from its origins in the castrati of the baroque era to its singular place in opera today, exploring how this extraordinary range continues to challenge our ideas of gender, identity, and sound itself. With the same wit and vitality that define his performances, Costanzo reflects on his own path as a singer, producer, and curator shaping the future of the art form. This is a rare opportunity to hear one of opera's most compelling voices speak candidly about the instrument that made his career. Copies of Countertenor will be available for purchase, with a book signing to follow the talk.

Beyond the Music: Yoga, Teas, Talks, & More

Caramoor has expanded its slate of community and family programming to include tours, teas, yoga, and more, giving visitors a wide variety of ways to experience this unique setting in addition to its world-class concerts. Caramoor offers Rosen House Signature Tours on Fridays and Saturdays, inviting visitors to explore the historic Rosen House through a docent-led experience which shares the stories behind the House’s carefully assembled treasures. Caramoor will also continue its popular Afternoon Teas, offering a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with crème fraîche and preserves, delicious desserts, and a selection of fragrant teas. Tea is served in the Music Room, a unique opportunity to relax with friends and family in a breathtaking historic setting. In addition, Caramoor invites the community to unwind and restore in a serene setting with Sunset Yoga in the Sunken Garden in September and Yoga in the Music Room in January. This special yoga series is designed to nurture both body and mind. Each session offers a gentle, mindful practice led by an experienced instructor, with an emphasis on breath, alignment, and presence. Caramoor also offers family activities in all seasons, including making Halloween treats and winter wreaths during Halloween Dessert Decorating Kids Cooking Class and Winter Wreath-Making for Families. Caramoor also offers Rosen House Studio Nights: Art and Aperitifs for adults on select Wednesday evenings, with themes including ceramic tile painting, stained glass mosaics, and jewelry design.

New this season, Caramoor is teaming up with Juilliard Extension to offer six classes that give audiences the opportunity to dive deeper into the themes presented on stage throughout the Rosen House Concert Series and Summer Season. Participants will learn from acclaimed professors and lecturers and engage in thoughtful discussion with fellow music lovers. Topics include Beethoven to Bartók: The Expanding World of Chamber Music; The String Quartet Across Three Centuries; Music, Faith, and Power in the Baroque World; and more. Classes can be taken individually or as an entire series.

Please visit the Caramoor website for the full schedule of Beyond the Music programs, which are announced on a rolling basis: caramoor.org/events/beyond-the-music

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 Venetian Theater, Friends Field, Spanish Courtyard, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room), 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 that draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), the summer seasonal concessions Bravo Bar, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community events.

At-a-Glance Calendar: 2026-27 Rosen House Concert Series Performances

Friday, October 2, 2026 at 7:30pm: Nobuntu

Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:30pm: Bandits on the Run

Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00pm: Countertenor Iestyn Davies and Harpist Oliver Wass

Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3:00pm: Pianist Jonathan Biss

Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 3:00pm: Evnin Rising Stars

Friday, November 6, 2026 at 7:30pm: Pianist Aaron Diehl

Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 3:00pm: Renaissance Quartet

Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 2:00pm and 4:00pm: Christmas with Cantus

Sunday, March 7, 2027 at 3:00pm: Schwab Vocal Rising Stars

Sunday, April 4, 2027 at 3:00pm: Viano Quartet

Friday, April 9, 2027 at 7:30pm: The Summer Camargo Quintet

Sunday, April 11, 2027 at 3:00pm: ACRONYM and Countertenor Reginald Mobley

Saturday April 17, 2027 at 7:30pm and Sunday, April 18, 2027 at 3:00pm: The Other Mozart with Creator & Actress Sylvia Milo

Sunday, April 25, 2027 at 3:00pm: Pianist Inon Barnatan

Sunday, May 2, 2027 at 3:00pm: Renaissance Quartet

Friday, May 7, 2027 at 7:30pm: Sister Sadie

Friday, May 14, 2027 at 7:30pm: Cabaret in the Music Room with Vocalist Mandy Gonzalez

For Caramoor's complete schedule, including the Rosen House Concert Series and Beyond the Music events: caramoor.org/events/calendar

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.

How to get to Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities

More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov. 6: Composer and Multi-Instrumentalist Amir ElSaffar Announces Ashwaaq – New Album on Maqām Records

Nov. 6: Composer and Multi-Instrumentalist Amir ElSaffar Announces Ashwaaq – New Album on Maqām Records

Composer and Multi-Instrumentalist Amir ElSaffar 
Announces New Album Ashwaaq
Out November 6, 2026 on Maqām Records

Featuring the Poetry of 13th-Century Sufi Mystic Ibn Arabi
Sung by Aleppan vocalist Khaled AlHafez

Set to a Tapestry of Harmonized Maqam Modes
performed by String Quartet and Santur

Release Date: November 6, 2026
Pre-Order Available Now

CDs or press downloads available upon request.

Amir ElSaffar | Maqām Records

On November 6, 2026, New York City-based Iraqi-American composer, trumpeter, santur player, vocalist, and modular synthesist Amir ElSaffar will release his new album Ashwaaq on Maqām Records, part of Maqām Studio, of which ElSaffar is the founder and Artistic Director. Ashwaaq is Amir ElSaffar’s ninth studio album and his second on Maqām Records. This recording is comprised of an original seven-movement composition for string quartet, voice, and santur (Iraqi hammered-dulcimer) by ElSaffar, that pairs his music with verses of poetry by thirteenth-century poet Ibn Arabi.

Alongside ElSaffar, Ashwaaq features renowned Syrian vocalist Khaled AlHafez, a carrier of traditional singing from Aleppo, and a string quartet with whom ElSaffar has deep musical relationships: his sister, Dena El Saffar on viola, with whom he co-leads an Iraqi Maqam ensemble; violinist Megan Gould, a major player in the Arabic music scene in New York who has played with Dena for over 30 years; Eylem Basaldi, an innovative violinist and improviser rooted in Turkish music; and cellist Naseem AlAtrash, a virtuoso and composer in his own right and member of the Turtle Island String Quartet.

Amir ElSaffar works at the intersections of jazz, Western classical, electro-acoustic music, and Iraqi and Arabic Maqam. Described as “the celebrated trumpeter and composer who explores vital connections between jazz and Arabic music” (New York Times), and “The Innovator” (SPIN), ElSaffar has created a unique microtonal language that merges the Arabic maqam modal system with jazz and Western classical harmony.

Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, or simply Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), is one of the most revered Sufi philosophers and mystics, whose work embodies the ideals of love and transcendence. The epic Turjuman Al-Ashwaq (Translator of Desires) is a collection of 61 poems that explores the divine and ecstatic nature of unity amid the diversity and variety of the manifest world. On Ashwaaq, selections from Ibn Arabi’s verses are paired with voice and string quartet, using the natural and inherent sound of string instruments to interpret and reflect upon the deeper meanings of Ibn Arabi’s texts.

“My heart can take on any form: a meadow for gazelles, a cloister for monks,
For the idols, sacred ground, Ka'ba for the circling pilgrim,
the tables of the Torah, the scrolls of the Qur'án.
I profess the religion of love; wherever its caravan turns along the way, that is the
belief, the faith I keep.”

The final lines of this poem are among the most widely read and quoted in Arabic poetry, about love of the divine in its constantly changing manifestations. Here, Ibn Arabi finds the unity in all religions, faiths, and philosophies from a place free of dogma. That which is infinite cannot be grasped or contained and is perceived through an open heart “capable of every form.”

The musical side of Ashwaaq is built on much more than the series of melodies and rhythms. ElSaffar is driven by a transcultural perspective which draws on the universality of composing, listening, and reacting to music, reflecting the sentiments of Ibn Arabi’s verses. In his approach to this composition, ElSaffar explores the vast possibilities of sound, melody, harmony, and rhythm through the combination of traditional Arabic singing with the string quartet, to create a work that’s less about conventional analysis or structure and more about expressing the ecstasy, spirituality, and emotion of the poetry.

In order to best achieve his artistic vision, ElSaffar embraced a musical language known as maqam, a system of modes that has been practiced for centuries in North Africa, Western Asia, and Central Asia. These modes –– similar to Western scales but with microtones and greater melodic specificity –– determine the feeling and spiritual quality of a piece of music.

“Rather than relying on Western harmony or counterpoint, two approaches that conflict with the maqam’s inherent logic,” says ElSaffar, “the harmonies of Ashwaaq emerge from sustained microtonal resonances inherent to the maqam, and heterophony — the simultaneous renderings of a single melodic phrase with variation.”

ElSaffar finds even more inspiration in Arab musicality for Ashwaaq, using overtones of the Arab takht – chamber ensemble – as well as rhythmic pulsations that conjure folk instruments and dance. He then brings these elements together with string techniques and aspects of contemporary music. The choice to include a string quartet of Western instruments, as opposed to traditional Arab musical instruments, was guided by ElSaffar’s desire to express the plurality and multitude of meanings in Ibn Arabi’s text, a departure from the single-melody approach characteristic of traditional Maqam music. The work proposes a new form of polyphony based on the microtonal maqam, a delicate undertaking few have attempted, making it a unique contribution in both maqam music as well as Western chamber music.

Composed in 2014 on a commission from the Royaumont Foundation in France, where ElSaffar was composer-in-residence for three years, the work premiered at the Festival d’Avignon and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and had follow-up performances throughout Europe.

 

Left to right: Eylem Basaldi, Naseem AlAtrash, Khaled AlHafez, Amir ElSaffar, Dena El Saffar, Megan Gould

 

More about Amir ElSaffar: Amir ElSaffar leads the acclaimed six-piece Two Rivers ensemble and 17-piece Rivers of Sound Orchestra, and recently founded his New Quartet featuring microtonal piano. He is also the santur player and musical director for vocalist Hamid Al-Saadi, one of the last living practitioners of the Iraqi Maqam.

ElSaffar is the founder and Artistic Director of Maqam Studio and Maqam Records, an initiative supported by the Mellon Foundation, which seeks to preserve and foster innovation within the Maqam musical tradition of the Middle East. He is also composing an Arabic-language Maqam opera, which will have its concert premiere in 2027.

ElSaffar’s compositional output includes works for jazz ensembles, string quartets, mixed chamber ensembles, and symphony orchestras. In addition, he has led numerous hybrid projects with Raga, Flamenco, Stambeli (Tunisian Gnawa) and Subsaharan African trance music. In his most recent works he has incorporated electronic elements, such as analog modular synthesizer.

He has premiered new works at the Newport Jazz Festival, Berlin Jazz Festival, Dream City Festival (Tunisia), Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Festival d’Avignon (France), Flamenco Biennale (Netherlands), the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, and Pierre Boulez Saal, among others.

ElSaffar’s awards and honors include a Mellon Foundation Arts and Culture grant (2023-2028), Doris Duke Performing Artist Award (2013), United States Artists Fellowship (2018), a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University (2020-2021), an Opera America IDEA Grant (2025-2026) and Creative Capital Award (2026), in support of hisopera. in Arabic.

Ashwaaq
Music by Amir ElSaffar
Release Date: November 6, 2026
Maqām Records

Featuring Amir ElSaffar (santur and composition); Khaled AlHafez (voice); Megan Gould, Eylem Basaldi (violin); Dena El Saffar (viola); Naseem AlAtrash (cello)

Tracklist:

1. Introduction - Nizam [1:36]
2. I - Layta Shi'ri [2:29]
3. II - Qif Bil-Manazili [6:09]
4. III - Tal'a Al-Badru [4:28]
5. VI - Qalat [3:20]
6. V - Lam’at Lana Bil-Abraqayn [4:17]
7. VI - Al Hubbu Dini (Love is My Religion) [7:32]
8. VII - Ala Ya Banat Al-Wadi [2:37]

Total Time: [32:31]

Poetry by Ibn Arabi (1165-1240 AD)
Music by Amir ElSaffar
Produced by Maqām Records
Recorded by Marc Urselli at EastSide Sound, New York, NY on November 10, 2025
Mixed & Mastered by Marc Urselli at Audio Confidential, New York, NY

Cover Art by Amina Ahmed
Design by Buyana Jargalsaikhan
Commissioned by the Royaumont Foundation in 2014
Premiered at Festival d’Avignon and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in July, 2014

Dedicated to the memory of Frederic Deval (1951-2016)

Excerpts from Ibn Arabi’s collection of mystical love poems, Turjumān al-Ashwāq (The Translator of Desires), written in Mecca in 1215. Excerpts from a translation into English by Michael Sells (Princeton University Press, 2021) are included in the linear notes.

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Now Available on ECM New Series: András Schiff's Recording of Brahms' Klavierstücke

Now Available on ECM New Series: András Schiff's Recording of Brahms' Klavierstücke

András Schiff
Johannes Brahms
Klavierstücke

András Schiff, Blüthner piano

Albumblatt, Klavierstücke op.76, Fantasien op.116, Intermezzi op.117, Klavierstücke op.118, Klavierstücke op.119

ECM New Series 2730/31
Out Now

Downloads and CDs available upon request.

Early works and late works, the young Brahms and the mature Brahms: how could the music not sound different? Yet for his new recording of Brahms's piano pieces, András Schiff does not begin with any of the composer's better-known youthful works—from the Scherzo, op. 4, to the Ballades, op. 10, of 1854. Instead, he opens with a musical miniature that remained unknown for many years: little more than a sounding vignette from that period.

Brahms wrote the Albumblatt during a concert tour, inscribing it as a musical dedication in the Album Amicorum of Arnold Wehner, director of the University of Göttingen. Other artists, including Schumann, Mendelssohn and Liszt, had also left their mark there. Brahms later revised the fleeting little piece and incorporated it into his Horn Trio, op. 40. In the context of this recording, this wistful work by the twenty-year-old Johannes Brahms serves as an atmospheric and finely judged introduction to everything that follows. For András Schiff, it is something like “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man”.

The "mature" Brahms emerges in the Eight Piano Pieces, op. 76, composed largely in 1878—a collection of Capriccios and Intermezzi. These works reflect Beethoven, Schumann and Chopin far less directly than Brahms's earlier music, and they certainly make no demands for an orchestral style of piano playing. Instead, they are intimate, profound miniatures. The critic Eduard Hanslick aptly described them, with their restrained manner, as "soliloquies," while the French Brahms biographer Claude Rostand called them "a cycle of pianistic reveries tinged with a Nordic world-weariness. 

Between 1866 and 1878, Brahms had largely neglected solo piano music. He returned to the genre only with op. 76 and the Two Rhapsodies, op. 79, before devoting himself once again, in 1892 and 1893, almost exclusively to piano pieces. The Fantasies, op. 116, and the Intermezzi, op. 117, could just as easily have borne that general title. Brahms's friend Theodor Billroth was no admirer of these small-scale works. He considered them "not varied enough, mostly too ponderous," and advised the composer to "remain with the grand style." Posterity, however, reached a very different verdict. These intimate works have come to be regarded as among the finest achievements of late Romantic piano music.

The term Klavierstück ("piano piece") was, incidentally, a catch-all designation in the nineteenth century, encompassing a wide range of lyrical forms: impromptus, ballades, romances, rhapsodies, capriccios, intermezzi and Songs Without Words, with fluid boundaries between the various genres. Brahms himself favoured the designations Capriccio and Intermezzo, using them almost as complementary opposites in terms of tempo, dynamics and musical character. On the one hand are the animated, more passionate Capriccios, full of rhythmic ingenuity and finely shaded dynamics. On the other are the introspective Intermezzi, restrained in expression and avoiding sharp contrasts.

In the recording booklet, András Schiff contributes highly personal notes on the individual works, touching on both their expressive content and aspects of their formal construction. He also observes that "the colours of these autumnal Brahms pieces" remind him, through a kind of elective affinity, of the sequence of colours in Paul Klee's painting Ancient Sound—especially when played on a historical instrument such as "the beautifully maintained 1859 Blüthner, lovingly cared for by Christoph Kern."

With the release of these piano pieces, András Schiff continues his sequence of Brahms recordings for ECM’s New Series. It began with the Clarinet Sonatas, recorded with Jörg Widmann, and has since expanded to include the Piano Concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Violin Sonatas with Yuuko Shiokawa.

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Nov 20: Islandia Music Records Releases Third Volume in Weather Systems Series from Steven Schick - It’s About Time

Nov 20: Islandia Music Records Releases Third Volume in Weather Systems Series from Steven Schick - It’s About Time

Islandia Music Records Releases Third Volume in
Weather Systems Series from Steven Schick

It’s About Time – Out on November 20, 2026

“Philosopher King of Percussion” – The New York Times 

Upcoming Performances by Steven Schick: December 4 & 5, 2026 – World Premiere by Tyshawn Sorey
Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY
Tickets & Information 

Press downloads and promotional CDs available upon request.

www.stevenschick.com | www.islandiamusic.com

New York, NY – Islandia Music Records announces Weather Systems III – It’s About Time, the final volume in a three-volume series from “one of the great percussion virtuosos of our time” (San Francisco Chronicle) Steven Schick. Weather Systems is a set of recordings of the percussion music that has been most meaningful to Schick, which spans more than 100 years. Weather Systems III – It’s About Time will be released on November 20, 2026. A single from the album, David Lang’s Unchained Melody, will be released on November 6, 2026. 

Percussionist, conductor, and author Steven Schick has championed contemporary percussion music by commissioning or premiering more than one hundred-fifty new works. The title of his series, Weather Systems, and the first album, A Hard Rain (2022), reflect Schick’s background growing up in a farming family in Iowa, always having one eye on the weather and in particular, on the rain. The second installment, Soundlines: On Language and the Land (2023), is an echo of Schick’s walk up the California coast: a musical changing of perspectives and connection with the world. In his liner notes, Schick writes, “Each [of these recordings] presents layered emotions in which a humorous façade dissolves to reveal deeper truths.”

This third volume in the series, It’s About Time, explores time as both a large-scale concept and a micro-temporal component of music. The 2-CD set features highly contrasting works for percussion by David Lang (Unchained Melody, String of Pearls, The Anvil Chorus), Michael Gordon (XY), Harrison Birtwistle (The Axe Manual), Iannis Xenakis (Rebonds), Brian Ferneyhough (Bone Alphabet), Kaija Saariaho (Six Japanese Gardens), and Rand Steiger (For Robert Erickson). Schick describes the collection as, “an ode to the reciprocal wisdom between past and present, between pieces I have lived with for decades and the newest of the new.”

Weather Systems is released on Islandia Music Records, the record label of cellist and producer Maya Beiser. Beiser says, “Steve Schick and I met over 30 years ago, in New York City. Both of us were involved with the Bang on a Can festival; we became founding members of the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Steve is a true virtuoso, possessing a rare artistic force which melds rigorous discipline with mesmerizing, hypnotic performance energy. Over the years we have collaborated on many different projects and remained close friends and artistic confidants. I am so thankful for the opportunity to help bring this monumental project to fruition with Islandia Music Records.”

Schick writes in his liner notes for this release:

“Any retrospective survey such as the Weather Systems series—seven CDs of personally meaningful solo and small-form chamber music that I recorded about the time I turned seventy—risks lapsing into nostalgia, that ill-advised desire to return to, purportedly, better times. But music helps us resist the backward urge. It shows us that the past need not be an anchor; it can be a root system.

The spine of It’s About Time consists of music from my decade as percussionist with the Bang on Can All-Stars, from 1992 to 2002. The founders of the Bang collective—composers, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, and David Lang—and my original bandmates, Evan Ziporyn, Mark Stewart, Lisa Moore, Robert Black, and Maya Beiser are not only fearless artistic collaborators, they are life-long friends. This music is heard here in dialogue with canonic works by other composers important to me.”

About the Music:

David Lang’s Unchained Melody (2002) was, in Schick's words, “a gift from David when I left the All-Stars” that made the sadness of that departure more bearable. Each pitch of a simple melody played on the glockenspiel is paired with a unique percussive noise, and on this recording Schick teams up with computer musician William Brent, whose “ludbots” (MIDI-triggered kick-drum beaters) join gongs, bells, and broken cymbals to form what Schick describes in his liner notes as, “a strange and beautiful grunge gamelan.”

Schick describes Lang's String of Pearls (2006) as “a single line on a single instrument played out like the long arc of a fly fisherman’s line cast onto still water. Harmonies move slowly. The player’s hands move fast. And the listener is mesmerized by the beguiling eddies of marimba sound.”

Lang's The Anvil Chorus (1991), now a staple of the solo percussion repertoire, grew out of the image of a circle of blacksmiths all working together around the same piece of metal, carefully counting their blows to avoid striking one another. Scored for metallic instruments (ringing, dry, and a third group Lang once called “nasty”) as well as bass drum and wood blocks, Schick toured the piece with the Bang on a Can All-Stars performing on portable and borrowed instruments. For this recording Schick created what he calls, “a distinctly non-tour-able version,” featuring large brass bells, the heaviest of which takes three people to lift.

Michael Gordon's XY (1998) transforms five drums into what Schick hears as “an eloquent chorus,” built from interlocking crescendo/decrescendo phrases that escalate into ever more complex polyrhythms. Schick writes in his liner notes that, “The music projects the energy and expansiveness of an Elvin Jones solo, but at its core it is a barren aria with the inescapable melancholy of a Beowulf monologue.” 

Schick recorded Harrison Birtwistle's The Axe Manual (2000) with pianist Aleck Karis. The complex piece sets independent strands of piano and percussion against one another, often in different meters and tempos. Schick describes the goal as “organicity.” He writes, “With each instrument speaking its natural language, the stage is set for a ludic interplay of rhythm and texture; time and harmony.” 

Kaija Saariaho's Six Japanese Gardens (1994) was written after an extended visit to Kyoto, and references specific gardens in some cases through field recordings of Japanese music and natural sound. Schick finds that the music remains evocative throughout. He writes, “The sounds of Buddhist chanting accompanied by the tolling of gongs in the fourth movement, ‘The Rock Garden of Ryoan-ji,’ is haunting. And the solitary plinks of bell, stone, and triangle notes imitate the ubiquitous sounds of dripping water in the Moss Garden (Saiho-ji), perhaps the greenest place I have ever seen. In a final ingenious sleight of hand, one worthy of a composer of the stature of Saariaho, at the end of the sixth movement, ‘Stone Bridges,’ she pivots seamlessly to the music of the opening. We are returned to a sonic Urwelt of insects and drums; bells and breath. And we realize that we have not lost contact with the earth at all.”                                   

Rand Steiger's For Robert Erickson (2024), an homage to the co-founder of the University of California, San Diego, explores rhythm at a micro-level through what Schick describes as, “the frisson of acoustic beating between two vibraphones,” each one with one manual tuned to equal temperament and the other to just intonation. Schick writes, “As with any Steiger piece, the texture is electric with a lively interplay of rhythm and harmony. And I find that the slow bowed section at the middle of the piece, exploring the delicious differences between tuning systems, is among the most beautiful passages in all the solo percussion repertoire.”

Iannis Xenakis's Rebonds (1989) has become core repertory for percussionists, often performed, in Schick's view, with “a sense of triumph” as the player “vanquishes” its considerable challenges. Schick hears something different. He writes, “But in each Xenakis piece that I know there are moments of true impossibility, designed to thwart the heroic urge. When those impossible passages occur, the player has a simple choice—either stop playing or find a flawed and human solution to an unsolvable problem. Thus, Xenakis transforms a musical problem into an ethical one. Rebonds invites us to jettison the heroic and embrace the human.”

Brian Ferneyhough's Bone Alphabet (1992) is so extremely difficult and dense that Schick learned it at what he describes as, “the glacial pace of roughly one month of intense practice per minute of music.” That slowness became its own kind of teacher, as Schick learned the piece over a long period of time, which included his father’s death in 1991. He writes, “I began learning Bone Alphabet by trying to show my mastery as a percussionist and ended with a willingness to reveal my shortcomings. . . Try it slower, then faster. Succeed here; let yourself fail there. Play it again. Practice. It might be difficult to imagine being comforted by music as prickly as Bone Alphabet. But without it I would have been lost.”

More About Steven Schick: Percussionist, conductor, and author Steven Schick was born in Iowa and raised in a farming family. Hailed by Alex Ross in The New Yorker as, “one of our supreme living virtuosos, not just of percussion but of any instrument,” he has championed contemporary percussion music by commissioning or premiering more than one hundred-fifty new works. The most important of these have become core repertory for solo percussion. Schick was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2014. 

Steven Schick was artistic director of the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus from 2007 to 2022, and previously, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. As a conductor, he has appeared with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, Ensemble Modern, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and the Asko/Schönberg Ensemble.

Schick’s publications include a book, The Percussionist’s Art: Same Bed, Different Dreams, and many articles. He has released numerous recordings including the 2010 Percussion Works of Iannis Xenakis, and its companion, The Complete Early Percussion Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen, in 2014 (both on Mode). He received the “Diapason d’Or” as conductor (Xenakis Ensemble Music with ICE) and the Deutscheschallplattenkritikpreis, as percussionist (Stockhausen), each for the best new music release of 2015.

Steven Schick is Distinguished Professor of Music and holds the Reed Family Presidential Chair at the University of California, San Diego. He was music director of the 2015 Ojai Festival, and co-artistic director, with Claire Chase, of the Summer Music Program at the Banff Centre from 2017-2019.

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

Steven Schick: Weather Systems III – It’s About Time
Islandia Music Records
Release Date: November 20, 2026 

Disc I
David Lang: Unchained Melody (2002) (7:13) *
David Lang: String of Pearls (2006) (9:20)
David Lang: The Anvil Chorus (1991) (8:00)
Michael Gordon: XY (1998) (16:02)
Harrison Birtwistle: The Axe Manual (2000) (23:38) ** 

Disc II
Iannis Xenakis: Rebonds (1989) (12:41)
Brian Ferneyhough: Bone Alphabet (1992) (12:19)
Kaija Saariaho: Six Japanese Gardens (1994) (16:06)
Rand Steiger: For Robert Erickson (2024) (21:06) 

*with William Brent, ludbots
**with Aleck Karis, piano

Recording engineers:

Samantha Dunscombe
David Lang: The Anvil Chorus; Kaija Saariaho: Six Japanese Gardens; Rand Steiger: For Robert Erickson 

Andrew Munsey
Iannis Xenakis: Rebonds; Brian Ferneyhough: Bone Alphabet; Harrison Birtwistle: The Axe Manual; Michael Gordon: XY 

Josef Kucera
David Lang: Unchained Melody; David Lang: String of Pearls

All pieces recorded at the University of California, San Diego, Studio A. 

Executive producer: Maya Beiser
Label manager: Kristen Loring
Art direction: Denise Burt / elevator-design.dk

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

OUT TODAY: Pianist Lucas Debargue Releases Gershwin Variations – New Album on Sony Classical

OUT TODAY: Pianist Lucas Debargue Releases Gershwin Variations – New Album on Sony Classical

Pianist Lucas Debargue Releases New Album on Sony Classical Gershwin Variations

Out Today - Listen Here

Worldwide Album Release Date: Out Today

In Concert at Ladies Morning Musical Club in Montreal on October 25, 2026
In Concert at Lincoln Center in New York City on October 29, 2026

Lucas Debargue presents Gershwin Variations, an ambitious tribute to George Gershwin in two parts: One recorded with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Elim Chan, the other devoted to the pianist's original creations inspired by Gershwin's songs.

Internationally acclaimed pianist Lucas Debargue's Gershwin Variations stand as an ambitious and unprecedented project, born from the desire to explore a radically different universe after recording Scarlatti sonatas and the complete solo piano works of Fauré. This double album, which is out today on Sony Classical – listen here, is an ode to George Gershwin, an unclassifiable composer standing at the crossroads of classical music and jazz, whose singularity inspired Lucas to create a work equally impossible to categorize.

The album is divided into two parts, both equally grandiose and virtuosic… yet each with its own distinct identity.

The first part, recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris on Stephen Paulello’s unique SP/287 piano, features some of Gershwin’s most iconic works, including the Concerto in F with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Elim Chan, the Three Preludes for Piano, and a highly personal version of Rhapsody in Blue, enriched with the pianist’s own cadenzas.

The second part, recorded at the Paulello Studio, is entirely devoted to twelve virtuosic études composed by Lucas from Gershwin’s most popular songs, spanning all chromatic keys. This cycle represents the most ambitious creation of his career as a pianist to date, affirming a deep commitment to freedom and invention, while placing itself in the tradition of the great composers who wrote their own études.

The Gershwin Variations is neither a classical album nor a jazz album, but a hybrid work reflecting the anticonformist spirit and the American dream embodied by Gershwin. Lucas offers a bold and poetic reinterpretation in which counterpoint, shifting harmonies, and unconventional rhythms reveal the richness of Gershwin’s melodies. He invites listeners to rediscover a repertoire where popularity is never synonymous with triviality, and where music becomes a space for freedom, daring, and vitality.

Lucas Debargue says: “I wanted to create an album that captures the spirit of constant transformation that breathes life into music in general—and into Gershwin’s music in particular. It features moments of spontaneous improvisation, original compositions, and interpretive choices that leave no trace in the original scores. That is why I decided to title it Gershwin Variations.”

TRACKLIST

CD 1

Rhapsody in Blue, 3 Preludes, Concerto in F
Lucas Debargue – piano
Orchestre de Paris, Orchestra
Elim Chan – conductor

George Gershwin (1898-1937)

1. Prelude I - Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
2. Piano Concerto in F - I. Allegro
3. Piano Concerto in F - II. Adagio – Andante con moto
4. Piano Concerto in F - III. Allegro agitato
5. Prelude II - Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
6. Rhapsody in blue - Molto moderato (Cadenzas: Lucas Debargue)
7. Rhapsody in blue - Meno mosso e poco scherzando (Cadenzas: Lucas Debargue)
8. Rhapsody in blue - Andantino moderato (Cadenzas: Lucas Debargue)
9. Rhapsody in blue -- Agitato e misterioso (Cadenzas: Lucas Debargue)
10. Prelude III - Allegro ben ritmato e deciso

[Total Time: 55:02]

CD 2

12 Virtuoso Etudes on Gershwin Songs
Lucas Debargue, piano

Lucas Debargue
1. Embraceable You - Rumba, in E
2. Fascinating Rhythm - Valse, in A
3. Someone To Watch Over Me, in D - Pavane
4. Someone To Watch Over Me, in D - Gaillarde
5. It Ain’t Necessarily So, in G - Fantaisie
6. It Ain’t Necessarily So, in G - Chaconne
7. It Ain’t Necessarily So, in G - Fugue
8. Liza - Gavotte § Double, in C
9. But Not For Me, in F – Prelude
10. But Not For Me, in F – Perpetuum Mobile ****
11. I Want To Stay Here (I love you Porgy) Adagio Dekadent, in B-flat
12. The Man I Love - Mirage, in E-flat
13. They Can’t Take That Away From Me - Romance, in A-flat
14. I Got Rhythm (I Really Got Rhythm !) - Boom Bap, in D-flat - Part I
15. I Got Rhythm (I Really Got Rhythm !) - Boom Bap, in D-flat - Part II
16. I Got Rhythm (I Really Got Rhythm !) - Boom Bap, in D-flat - Part III
17. Lady Be Good - Berceuse, in F-sharp

Summertime - 20 Concert Variations & Finale, on a Theme of George Gershwin, in B
18. Summertime - Introduction
19. Summertime - Thème
20. Summertime - Variation 1: Tempestoso
21. Summertime - Variation 2: Tango
22. Summertime - Variation 3: Scherzino
23. Summertime - Variation 4: Polonaise
24. Summertime - Variation 5: Féroce
25. Summertime - Variation 6: Scintillante
26. Summertime - Variation 7: Nocturne
27. Summertime - Variation 8: Marcia Funèbre
28. Summertime - Variation 9: Sicilienne
29. Summertime - Variation 10: Intermezzo
30. Summertime - Variation 11: Reggae
31. Summertime - Variation 12: Con Fuoco
32. Summertime - Variation 13: Caccia
33. Summertime - Variation 14: Choral
34. Summertime - Variation 15: Toccatina
35. Summertime - Variation 16: Bossa Nova
36. Summertime - Variation 17: Largo Recitativo
37. Summertime - Variation 18: Teneramente
38. Summertime - Variation 19: Fugue
39. Summertime - Variation 20: Tarentelle
40. Summertime – Finale: Alla Marcia

[Total Time: 55:29]

ABOUT LUCAS DEBARGUE

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Quiet Hours - Nocturnes by Ellis Ludwig-Leone Recorded in the Homes of Some of Today’s Most Celebrated Pianists - Available Now

Quiet Hours - Nocturnes by Ellis Ludwig-Leone Recorded in the Homes of Some of Today’s Most Celebrated Pianists - Available Now

Cover art available in high resolution here.

Quiet Hours
Nocturnes for Solo Piano by Ellis Ludwig-Leone

Read The New York Times Feature

Tickets on Sale Soon: Quiet Hours presented by Death of Classical
November 7, 2026

Recorded in the Homes of Some of Today’s Most Celebrated Pianists –
Timo Andres, Han Chen, Aaron Diehl, Simone Dinnerstein, David Kaplan, Lisa Kaplan, Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Dan Schlosberg, and Adam Tendler

 www.ellisludwigleone.com | www.bettercompanyrecords.com

Press downloads and CDs available upon request, contact Christina Jensen, christina@jensenartists.com.

NEW YORK, NY — In an impressive collaborative feat, acclaimed composer and pianist Ellis Ludwig-Leone, lauded by The New Yorker for his “knack for simultaneously expressing beauty and crisis,” has released Ludwig-Leone: Quiet Hours on Better Company Records. Moving beyond the traditional boundaries of the solo piano format, the album brings together nine of today’s generation-defining classical pianists for a singular concept: nine original nocturnes, each custom-written by Ludwig-Leone for the pianist and recorded on their home instrument. In addition to releasing the album, Ludwig-Leone is also publishing all of his nocturnes as a songbook alongside a series of score-following videos on his YouTube channel, so that other pianists can bring these pieces into their own living rooms. This special project was the subject of a recent feature in The New York Times, written by Brian Seibert. Quiet Hours will be celebrated in concert this fall, presented by Death of Classical on November 7, 2026 (tickets on sale soon).

Quiet Hours features nine solo nocturnes by Ellis Ludwig-Leone for himself and eight other pianists – Timo Andres, Han Chen, Aaron Diehl, Simone Dinnerstein, David Kaplan, Lisa Kaplan, Dan Schlosberg, and Adam Tendler. Rather than gathering these soloists in a sterile studio environment, Ludwig-Leone launched a cross-country road trip, bringing a mobile recording setup into their living rooms and private studios from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles.

The result is a moving conceptual alignment. Because these pieces are nocturnes—historically rooted in the quiet, reflective spaces of the night—they double as intimate sonic portraits of the spaces, habits, and instruments that make up each musician’s creative home. By capturing the unique mechanical character, subtle imperfections, and deep-seated familiarities of each pianist's own piano, Quiet Hours transforms the listening experience into a literal and psychological invitation into their private worlds.

“Sitting side-saddle to each player's creative process in their own space was fascinating,” says Ludwig-Leone. “I found my music constantly challenged and enriched. It brought me back to being a student, close-reading a text together to reveal a deeper understanding of the whole.”

For Ludwig-Leone, Quiet Hours converges several threads of his artistry—a pianist since childhood, he also leads the rock collective San Fermin, in addition to composing for such classical luminaries as Attacca Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, the Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, and New York City Ballet. As Seibert writes in The New York Times, “While the nocturnes on Quiet Hours are formally complex contemporary classical compositions, they are at heart songs, even lullabies.” Ludwig-Leone alludes to the personal nature of these pieces in the article, saying, “I’ve thought of composition as building a house or making structures, and songwriting more as inviting someone in for coffee.” The nocturnes on this unusual album masterfully combine aspects of both of his approaches.

Ludwig-Leone has also long found inspiration in literary sources, and while he avoids setting poetry to music, the nocturnes on Quiet Music are influenced by texts concerning the night by poets and writers including William Collins, Emily Dickinson, Emma Healey, Carey McHugh, Jacques Prévert, Karen Russell, Wallace Stevens, Elizabeth Sylvia, and Cynthia Zarin.

He says of the album, “Recently, moving into a new apartment, I inherited an old upright. In the quiet of this unfamiliar space, I found that sitting at the piano became a way of making the place mine, of feeling at home. From this unexpected reunion emerged a collection of nocturnes: intimate, quasi-narrative pieces that filled the room with memory, imagination, a sense of belonging. Each nocturne was shaped by a piece of writing that is important to me, many of them written by my close friends. In ‘setting’ these words, the project became not only a return to the piano but also an invitation to a wider community. Together, these nocturnes are portraits of home: intoxicating, gnarly, lovely, frustrated, wistful—in other words, the kaleidoscope of feelings that arise when you come back to something you thought you had lost.”

About Ellis Ludwig-Leone:

Ellis Ludwig-Leone has forged a singular career as both a celebrated contemporary classical composer and the creative force behind the band San Fermin. Ludwig-Leone writes music that balances warm, naturalistic textures with moments of thorny complexity, paying special attention to the psychological intersection of wonder and dread. Since coming to international attention with San Fermin’s 2013 debut, he has maintained a prolific dual practice, touring extensively while composing numerous works for the stage and concert hall. In addition to five studio albums with the band, his discography includes two acclaimed albums of chamber music, featuring collaborations with world-class ensembles such as the Attacca Quartet. His compositions have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the New York City Ballet, with recordings appearing on Sony Classical, New Amsterdam, and Better Company Records. His expansive stage and chamber output includes the dance-driven opera The Night Falls, praised by The New Yorker for its “ingenious, gorgeous score” and named one of The New York Times’ Best Dance Performances of 2023. A recipient of residencies from MacDowell, Yaddo, and the Banff Centre for the Arts, Ludwig-Leone was honored as the recipient of the 2025 Ellis-Beauregard Composer Award.

Album Details:
Ludwig-Leone: Quiet Hours
Better Company Records
Release Date: August 14, 2026

Composed by Ellis Ludwig-Leone

1. Quiet Hours recorded by Han Chen (4:30)
2. Downstairs Neighbors recorded by Aaron Diehl (2:32)
3. Barcarole for a Sunken City recorded by David Kaplan (4:00)
4. Trois Allumettes (for M.H.) recorded by Ellis Ludwig-Leone (3:26)
5. The House at Night recorded by Simone Dinnerstein (3:05)
6. Bright Room, Dark Corners recorded by Lisa Kaplan (4:33)
7. Nocturne recorded by Timo Andres (3:16)
8. Family Portrait recorded by Adam Tendler (3:57)
9. A Long, Long Sleep recorded by Dan Schlosberg (4:52)

Produced by Ellis Ludwig-Leone
Mixed and mastered by Tyler McDiarmid
All tracks engineered by Tyler McDiarmid, except:

“Nocturne” engineered by Timo Andres
“The House at Night” engineered by Silas Brown, co-produced with Silas Brown and Simone Dinnerstein
“Bright Room, Dark Corners” engineered by Greg Miner
“Barcarole for a Sunken City” engineered by Sergey Parfenov
“Family Portrait” engineered by Aaron Ross 

All tracks recorded at private residences except:
“The House at Night” recorded at Abeshouse Studios, South Salem, NY
“Bright Room, Dark Corners” recorded at Philharmonic Studios, Vernon Hills, IL
“Barcarole for a Sunken City” recorded at Herb Alpert School of Music, Los Angeles, CA
“Family Portrait” recorded at Yamaha Artist Services, New York, NY 

Cover art by Stephen Halker, incorporating photographs by Ellis Ludwig-Leone and Tyler McDiarmid, with additional color grading by Ellis Ludwig-Leone. 

A portion of this record was written at Yaddo artist residency, December 2024.

 

Photo by Alex SK Brown. Press photos available here.

 

About Better Company Records

Co-founded by Ludwig-Leone and Allen Tate, Better Company Records is a Brooklyn-based, artist-driven label headquartered in Fort Greene. Since its launch in 2020, the label has overseen more than 200 releases from an eclectic roster of over 50 artists, dedicated to championing genre-fluid projects that push the boundaries of modern music.

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

OUT TODAY: Cellist Sol Gabetta Releases New Album on Sony Classical – Saint-Saëns & Lalo: Cello Concertos with Les Siècles

OUT TODAY: Cellist Sol Gabetta Releases New Album on Sony Classical – Saint-Saëns & Lalo: Cello Concertos with Les Siècles

Sol Gabetta Releases New Album on Sony Classical Saint-Saëns & Lalo: Cello Concertos with Les Siècles

Out Today - Listen Here
II. Intermezzo. Andantino con moto – Allegro presto
from Cello Concerto in D Minor by Édouard Lalo

Worldwide Release Date: Out Now

Cellist Sol Gabetta’s new album Saint-Saëns & Lalo: Cello Concertos is out today on Sony Classical - listen here. Recorded with the French orchestra Les Siècles, performing on period instruments, the cellist presents Camille Saint-Saëns’ two Cello Concertos alongside Édouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto in D minor—three cornerstone works of the Romantic cello repertoire.

Bringing together historically informed orchestral sound with her own distinctive voice, Sol Gabetta explores the contrasting musical worlds of these concertos. Saint-Saëns’ First Concerto and Lalo’s concerto, composed within a span of just a few years, both place a strong emphasis on the orchestra, creating a dynamic dialogue between soloist and ensemble. By contrast, Saint-Saëns’ Second Concerto—written three decades later—emerges as a highly virtuosic and structurally expansive work that demands exceptional technical and expressive range from the soloist.

Known for her expressive intensity and clarity of interpretation, Sol Gabetta shapes each of these works with a strong sense of narrative and colour, highlighting their lyrical qualities while bringing out their distinctive characters. The collaboration with Les Siècles adds a further dimension to the recording, offering a sound palette that reflects the stylistic context of the late 19th century while remaining vivid and immediate.

Saint-Saëns & Lalo: Cello Concertos by Sol Gabetta with Les Siècles will be available from September 18, 2026 on CD, as well as for download and streaming in Stereo and in Dolby Atmos.

Sol Gabetta is one of the leading cellists of her generation, internationally acclaimed for her expressive playing and wide-ranging repertoire. She performs regularly with major orchestras and conductors worldwide and is known for her close engagement with both core repertoire and lesser-known works. She appears with leading orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra, and is a frequent guest at major international venues and festivals including the Lucerne Festival and New York’s Lincoln Center. Following her recent return to the United States, she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic and appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, while her international touring activity has also taken her to Asia, including appearances at the BBC Proms Japan. Sol Gabetta performs on a rare Matteo Goffriller cello from 1730.

Repertoire:

Camille Saint-Saëns:
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegretto con moto
III. Molto allegro

Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 119
I. Allegro moderato e maestoso – Andante sostenuto
II. Allegro non troppo – Cadenza – Molto allegro

Édouard Lalo:
Cello Concerto in D Minor
I. Prélude. Lento – Allegro maestoso
II. Intermezzo. Andantino con moto – Allegro presto
III. Introduction. Andante – Allegro vivace

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Oct. 2: Ariel Quartet Completes Monumental Beethoven String Quartet Cycle with Three Albums on Orchid Classics – New Single Out Today

Oct. 2: Ariel Quartet Completes Monumental Beethoven String Quartet Cycle with Three Albums on Orchid Classics – New Single Out Today

Ariel Quartet Completes Monumental Beethoven String Quartet Cycle
Three Volumes Over Two Years

Third Volume to be Released Worldwide on October 2, 2026
on Orchid Classics

Special Box Set in 2027 will Honor Beethoven’s
Legacy 200 Years After His Passing

Out Today: String Quartet in C-sharp Minor - Allegro Op. 131

“The immediacy and commitment I noted in their playing in the first volume is even more evident here, with superb sound, dazzling fast passages and outstanding nuance, dynamics and phrasing.” – David Olds, The WholeNote on Vol. 2

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, volume two on November 7, 2025, with volume three arriving on October 2, 2026 and a special box set release in March 2027.

The Ariel Quartet’s first volume of this Beethoven Cycle was 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.” Of the second volume, Jean-Yves Duperron of The Classical Music Sentinel writes, “There's just something about the Ariel Quartet that draws life out of every note on the page.”

The third volume of the cycle, recorded across three CDs, includes Beethoven’s Late Quartets – String Quartet in E-flat major, Op.127; String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op.131; String Quartet in A minor, Op.132; String Quartet in F major, Op.135; and String Quartet in B-flat major, Op.130, including the ‘Große Fuge’ Op.133. The first single from the album, Allegro from String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op.131, will be released on September 18, 2026.

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.

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.

Of their history with Beethoven’s late quartets, the Ariel Quartet writes in this volume’s liner notes:

“Our journey with [Beethoven’s] late quartets began with Op.132 in 2004, and despite encountering sentiments that young musicians shouldn’t readily dive into these worlds this work quickly became one of our favorites to perform. Truthfully, this music does not ripen in us without performing it incessantly, and the notion that our deep love and respect for art should be expressed by staying away from it really makes more sense for a museum. How a given section, theme or movement relates, a tempo feels and a character comes to life will only truly be put to the test in a concert, where the moment is everything. We feel especially with this [third] Volume, that recording it is a touch like capturing a rare creature in Himalaya-like territory and displaying it in the zoo – ethically as debatable as choosing to declare that one specific version of any given phrase or character should persist. The sole reason to jump over one’s own artistic shadow and proceed nevertheless is to make a record in the spirit of how we feel these masterworks should come to life.”

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. 3
Ariel Quartet
Orchid Classics | Release Date: October 2, 2026

Disc 1: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

String Quartet in E-flat major, Op.127

1 Maestoso – Allegro [6:55]
2 Adagio ma non troppo e molto cantabile [15:54]
3 Scherzo, Vivace [9:13]
4 Allegro [7:34]

String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op.131

5 Adagio ma non troppo e molto espressivo [6:25]
6 Allegro molto vivace [3:07]
7 Allegro moderato [0:51]
8 Andante ma non troppo e molto cantabile [13:59]
9 Presto [5:08]
10 Adagio quasi un poco andante [1:57]
11 Allegro [7:03]

Total time: [78:06]

Disc 2

String Quartet in A minor, Op.132

1 Assai sostenuto – Allegro [9:49]
2 Allegro ma non tanto [9:55]
3 Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lidischen Tonart. Molto adagio – Neue Kraft fühlend. Andante [17:33]
4 Alla marcia, assai vivace [2:23]
5 Allegro appassionato [6:46]

String Quartet in F major, Op.135

6 Allegretto [6:57]
7 Vivace [3:27]
8 Assai lento, cantate e tranquillo [7:34]
9 Der schwer gefaßte Entschluß: Grave, ma non troppo tratto – Allegro [7:00]

Total time [71:24]

Disc 3

String Quartet in B-flat major, Op.130

1 Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro [13:57]
2 Presto [2:01]
3 Poco scherzoso. Andante con moto ma non troppo [7.37]
4 Alla Danza tedesca. Allegro assai [3:40]
5 Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo [7:06]
6 Overtura. Allegro – Meno mosso e moderato – Allegro. Fuga* [16:13]

Total time [50:35]

Ariel Quartet:

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

* This movement was later published separately as Op.133 under the title Grande Fugue, tantôt libre, tantôt recherchée.

Producer: Jesse Lewis
Recording Engineer: Shauna Barravecchio, Jesse Lewis
Editing Engineer: Caroline Shaffer Robin, Shauna Barravecchio, Alexandre Robin, Thiago Wolf
Mix Engineer: Jesse Lewis
Denoise Engineer: Mark Alletag
Mastering Engineer: Christopher Moretti
Immersive Producer: Jesse Lewis
Immersive Mixing and Mastering Engineer: Christopher Moretti

© 2025 Orchid Music Limited

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Oct. 2: ensemble132 Releases Masques and Marionettes Steinway & Sons Debut – Video Feature in The Strad for Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22: I. Andante molto

Oct. 2: ensemble132 Releases Masques and Marionettes Steinway & Sons Debut – Video Feature in The Strad for Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22: I. Andante molto

ensemble132 Announces Masques and Marionettes
Steinway & Sons Debut Album Out October 2, 2026

Featuring New Chamber Arrangements of
Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Robert Schumann’s Carnaval

Video Feature for The Strad
Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Op. 22: I. Andante molto 
Watch Here

Worldwide Release Date: October 2, 2026
Pre-Order Available Now

ensemble132 | Steinway & Sons

Internationally acclaimed chamber music collective ensemble132 (Sahun Sam Hong, Co-Artistic Director, arranger, piano; Zachary Mowitz, Co-Artistic Director, cello; Abi Fayette, violin; Maria Ioudenitch, violin; and Luther Warren, viola) announces its new album and Steinway & Sons recording debut, Masques and Marionettes. The album is scheduled for release on October 2, 2026.

Today, The Strad shares a video feature for new single, Three Romances, Op. 22: I. Andante molto by Clara Schumann – watch here.

A convergence of world-class artists from around the globe, ensemble132 unites with a shared mission to reimagine the chamber music landscape. The only group of its kind to continually create and premiere new standards in the chamber music repertoire with its artist-crafted arrangements, ensemble132 excites the imagination of audiences with its uniquely genre-defying programs and programming.

This artistic vision is on full display with Masques and Marionettes, as Sahun Sam Hong, Co-Artistic Director of ensemble132, pianist, and arranger for the album, embraces intricate and adventurous energy in new imaginings of Igor Stravinsky’s Petrushka for piano quintet, Robert Schumann’s Carnaval, Op. 9 for piano quartet; as well as Stravinsky’s Two Poems of Konstantin Balmont and Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22, each performed by different ensemble members.

“The music featured on Masques and Marionettes is a truly collaborative creation through and through,” writes Hong in the album’s liner notes. “By design, ensemble132 is a fluid collective; every rehearsal and performance is a fresh inquiry into a composer’s intent, our own evolving sonic landscape, and the nature of musical inevitability.”

In the time leading up to the creation of this album, Hong writes that a single principle steered and shaped how he approached his work writing arrangements for the ensemble: “Great music transcends the confines of instrumentation.” He and the rest of ensemble132 would come to know the depth of what “confines” could mean during the early days of the pandemic in spring 2020, which descended not long after ensemble132’s founding in fall 2019. However, the disruption and instability brought on by the pandemic itself ended up providing a sense of clarity for the ensemble and a sense of purpose to fuel their musical collaboration, strengthening their bond as an evolving group.

“During those unpredictable early days of the pandemic,” Hong says, “our close-knit musical family, then based in Boston, used our music-making as a means of connecting with one another, channeling our collective emotions and anxieties of a world in flux.”

Much the way the world turned to creativity and imagination to find reprieve from the fixed realities of social separation, on Masques and Marionettes, ensemble132 dives into the fantastical, the visionary, the intangible, and the boundless, through the poetry of Balmont, and the music of Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Igor Stravinsky.

“Konstantin Balmont’s poetry is steeped in the sensory, the fleeting, and the ethereal,” writes Hong, who explains that Balmont’s poems were included as part of the album “for their distinctive storytelling qualities, reflecting Stravinsky’s vision of storytelling.”

Stravinsky’s Petrushka meanwhile, explores the vast plains of imagination through the story of a puppet empowered by magic and sorcery. Mirroring the iconic harmonic clash of the “Petrushka chord,” the music is filled with wonderful contrasts – its complex rhythms, beautifully simple folk tunes, enchanting textures, jarring distortions make the piece uniquely evocative.

Robert Schumann chose to explore creative possibilities while looking inward. He juxtaposed his musical ideas with figures of his real life relationships with his closest friends and colleagues. Schumann then concludes his Carnaval with another fanciful scenario, driven by an imaginary music society called des Davidsbündler (the League of David), who triumph over the Philistines – a symbol for the music critics of Schumann’s time. Clara Schumann’s Romances take a much more intensely introspective dive into the open and abstract nature of human emotions, brought forth through the unique lens of each pair of ensemble132 artists.

Throughout each of these works, ensemble132 comes together to find new ways to embody the characters, places, feelings, motives, and stories reflected in the music – a goal with the potential to ever evolve, alongside the group’s own dynamics and shifting perspectives with the passage of time. “My hope,” writes Hong, “is that these virtuosic arrangements not only expand the chamber repertoire but push both the players and the listener to rethink the relationship between the artist and their instrument.”

Ensemble132’s debut album fits seamlessly with its mission. Chamber ballets, transcriptions of symphonies and jazz standards, and orchestrations of solo works comprise just a few of ensemble132’s programming highlights. Each member of ensemble132’s dynamic roster brings their unique blend of uncompromising individuality and collaborative spirit to traditional masterworks as well as unearthed gems. The artists of ensemble132 have collaborated closely at music festivals such as Marlboro, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Verbier, and Taos, and appear regularly with ensembles such as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Catalyst Quartet, Borromeo Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. They are prizewinners at major competitions such as the Paganini, Joseph Joachim, Tibor Varga, Sibelius, Primrose, Beethoven Vienna, Vendome Prize, and American Pianists Awards. In 2025, ensemble132 became a Steinway Ensemble and was awarded an Artistic Projects Award from Chamber Music America.

ensemble132
Masques and Marionnettes
Release Date: October 2, 2026 | Steinway & Sons

Tracklist:

Igor Stravinsky: Two Poems of Konstantin Balmont (arr. Sahun Hong)

[1] Forget-me-nots (Nyezabudochka-tsvyetochek) [1:27]
[2] The Dove (Golub) [2:01]

Igor Stravinsky: Petrushka for piano quintet (arr. Sahun Hong)

[3] Petrushka, Scene I: The Shrovetide Fair [5:20]
[4] Petrushka, Scene I (The Magic Trick) [2:05]
[5] Petrushka, Scene I (Russian Dance) [2:49]
[6] Petrushka, Scene II: Petrushka's Room [4:21]
[7] Petrushka, Scene III: The Moor's Room [2:44]
[8] Petrushka, Scene III (Dance of the Ballerina) [0:45]
[9] Petrushka, Scene III (Waltz) [3:02]
[10] Petrushka, Scene IV: The Fair Towards Evening [1:12]
[11] Petrushka, Scene IV (Wet-Nurses' Dance) [2:24]
[12] Petrushka, Scene IV (Peasant with Bear) [1:42]
[13] Petrushka, Scene IV (Gypsies) [0:55]
[14] Petrushka, Scene IV (Dance of the Coachmen) [2:08]
[15] Petrushka, Scene IV (Masqueraders) [2:04]

Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22

[16] Andante molto [3:08]
[17] Allegretto [3:10]
[18] Leidenschaftlich schnell [3:55]

Robert Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9 for piano quartet (arr. Sahun Hong)

[19] Préambule [2:16]
[20] Pierrot [1:54]
[21] Arlequin [1:05]
[22] Valse noble [2:09]
[23] Eusebius [1:59]
[24] Florestan [1:02]
[25] Coquette [1:53]
[26] Réplique [0:50]
[27] Sphinxes [0:39]
[28] Papillons [0:46]
[29] A.S.C.H. - S.C.H.A. (Lettres dansantes) [0:51]
[30] Chiarina [1:27]
[31] Chopin [1:05]
[32] Estrella [0:34]
[33] Reconnaissance [1:43]
[34] Pantalon et Colombine [0:58]
[35] Valse allemande [0:56]
[36] Paganini – Tempo I ma più vivo [1:23]
[37] Aveu [1:16]
[38] Promenade [2:19]
[39] Pause [0:18]
[40] Marche des Davidsbündler contre les Philistins [3:47]

Total Time: 1:16:46

Sahun Sam Hong, Co-Artistic Director, arranger, piano
Zachary Mowitz, Co-Artistic Director, cello
Abi Fayette, violin
Maria Ioudenitch, violin
Luther Warren, viola

Executive Producers: Eric Feidner, Jon Feidner, Vivian Chiu
Producer: Jesse Lewis
Recording Engineer: Christopher Moretti
Mixing: Christopher Moretti
Mastering: Jesse Lewis
Piano Technician: Paul Rattigan
Art Direction: Jackie Fugere
Cover Design: Timea Kolozsvary
Booklet Design, Cover to Cover Design, Anilda Carrasquillo
Project Coordinator: Renée Oakford
Recorded August 14-17, 2025 at Futura Productions, Roslindale, Massachusetts

ensemble132 is a recipient of a 2025 grant from Chamber Music America’s Artistic Projects
program, funded through the generosity of The Howard Gilman Foundation, for the Recording.

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Christopher Jesina Christopher Jesina

Hans Zimmer Announces North American Return with Hans Zimmer Live - The Next Level – Tour Beginning in February 2027

Hans Zimmer Announces North American Return with Hans Zimmer Live - The Next Level – Tour Beginning in February 2027

Photo credit: Frank Embacher

Hans Zimmer Announces North American Return
with Hans Zimmer Live - The Next Level in February 2027

The Oscar® and GRAMMY® Award-Winning Composer Returns to the U.S. and Canada with an All-New Electrifying Production
Where Music, Tech, and Imagination Collide

Presale Tickets Available September 23-24; General On Sale September 25
Sign Up For Presale at HansZimmerLive.com

LOS ANGELES - SEPTEMBER 17, 2026 - Multiple Academy Award® and GRAMMY® Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer, together with Semmel Concerts and RCI Global, today announced the North American leg of Hans Zimmer Live - The Next Level, his groundbreaking new live production featuring Zimmer himself on stage alongside his 19-piece band. Following its record-breaking success in Europe, where it ranked among the Top 10 tours worldwide in the first half of 2026, Hans Zimmer Live - The Next Level will arrive in the U.S. and Canada beginning February 17, 2027, in Hartford, Connecticut, as part of its ongoing world tour.

The Hans Zimmer Live - The Next Level artist presale begins Thursday, September 24 at 10am. local time. To receive the artist presale password, sign up at HansZimmerLive.com. The general on sale begins Friday, September 25 at 10am local time.

American Express is providing eligible Card Members access to Amex Presale Tickets®, available for purchase HERE beginning Wednesday, September 23 at 10am local time, through Thursday, September 24 at 10pm. local time, before the general public on sale, while supplies last. Terms apply. This is one of the many entertainment benefits American Express Card Members can access across select arts, theater, sports and music events through Amex Experiences™.

A bold evolution of Zimmer's celebrated live concerts, The Next Level combines powerful electronic soundscapes, spectacular lighting design and an entirely new stage production to create a powerful audiovisual spectacle on an unprecedented scale. Fueled by Zimmer's constant desire to push creative boundaries and explore new sonic territory, the show takes audiences on a journey beyond the traditional concert experience. Joining Zimmer on stage is a 19-piece ensemble featuring some of the world's most accomplished musicians and performers.

Watch the official trailer here.

"I want fans to feel like they're at a rave party or riding a roller coaster. For me, every show is a new voyage of discovery," says Zimmer. "The greatest challenge is the status quo - you have to do everything in your power to leave it behind and find and create something new."

For decades, Zimmer's unmistakable melodies and groundbreaking compositions have captivated audiences across generations and around the world. His scores have helped define some of the most iconic films in modern cinema, including The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, Dune: Part One, Dune: Part Two, No Time to Die, Dunkirk, Man of Steel, The Last Samurai, Wonder Woman, Kung Fu Panda, 12 Years a Slave and Top Gun: Maverick.

Having already played to audiences in some of the world's largest arenas across 17 countries, Hans Zimmer Live - The Next Level has quickly established itself as one of the most ambitious live productions of Zimmer's career. Following its European runs in 2025 and 2026, the world tour will make its highly anticipated North American debut in February 2027, with dates across the U.S. and Canada continuing through April 2027, concluding in Portland, Oregon.

The 2027 tour schedule includes:

February 17 Hartford, CT             PeoplesBank Arena
February 19 Belmont Park, NY    UBS Arena
February 21 Newark, NJ              Prudential Center
February 23 Philadelphia, PA    Xfinity Mobile Arena
February 24 Boston, MA            TD Garden
February 26 Ottawa, ON             Canadian Tire Centre
February 28 Quebec City, QC   Videotron Centre
March 2 Hamilton, ON                 TD Coliseum
March 3 Detroit, MI                    Little Caesars Arena
March 5 Chicago, IL                    United Center
March 7 Cincinnati, OH               Heritage Bank Center
March 9 Charlotte, NC                Spectrum Center
March 11 Orlando, FL                 Kia Center
March 13 Miami, FL                    Kaseya Center
March 14 Tampa, FL                   Benchmark International Arena
March 16 Atlanta, GA                  State Farm Arena
March 17 Nashville, TN              Bridgestone Arena
March 19 Kansas City, MO         T-Mobile Center
March 21 Oklahoma City, OK    Paycom Center
March 22 Fort Worth, TX            Dickies Arena
March 25 Denver, CO                 Ball Arena
March 27 Salt Lake City, UT       Delta Center
March 30 Phoenix, AZ                Mortgage Matchup Center
April 1 Los Angeles, CA              Crypto.com Arena
April 2 Anaheim, CA                    Honda Center
April 4 San Francisco, CA           Chase Center
April 5 Sacramento, CA              Golden 1 Center
April 8 Vancouver, BC                 Rogers Arena
April 9 Seattle, WA                      Climate Pledge Arena
April 11 Portland, OR                Moda Center

For more information and tickets, please visit HansZimmerLive.com.

Hans Zimmer Live On Social Media:
Instagram – Facebook

Hans Zimmer On Social Media:
Instagram – Facebook – Spotify – TikTok – YouTube

About Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer has scored more than 500 projects across all mediums, which combined grossed over $30 billion at the worldwide box office. He has been honored with two Academy Awards®, three Golden Globes®, five Grammys®, an American Music Award, seven Emmy® nominations and a Tony® nomination. Zimmer’s career highlights include Dune: Part One and Two, Interstellar, co-scoring Blade Runner 2049, Gladiator, The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception and 12 Years a Slave. Upcoming, Zimmer will score the third part in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune franchise, releasing December 18.

Beyond his award-winning compositions, Zimmer is a remarkably successful touring artist. He recently concluded his first North American and European “Hans Zimmer Live – The Next Level” tours and will bring the show to Asia and Australia this fall. 

About Semmel Concerts

Semmel Concerts Entertainment GmbH is one of the leading live-event promoters in Europe and, for years, has ranked among POLLSTAR's Top 10 promoters worldwide. Together with CTS Eventim AG, Europe's biggest ticket service provider, the company has taken a leading national and international position under the EVENTIM LIVE entertainment network umbrella.

The Semmel Concerts network has roughly 150 employees at eight offices throughout Germany. The company also holds shares in Promoters Group Munich and Arena Berlin Betriebs GmbH and has been the sole shareholder of Show Factory Entertainment GmbH in Vienna since 2020.

In addition to the Semmel Concerts division, the company structure also includes Semmel Exhibitions and Semmel Artists & Events. Dieter Semmelmann is the company's CEO. With a range of national and international themes and a variety of in-house generated productions, the company organizes more than 1,500 shows with over 5 million visitors each year. Semmel Concerts Entertainment GmbH has earned several Live Entertainment Awards (LEA), including "Promoter of the Year."

About RCI

RCI Global, founded by Steven Kofsky and Hans Zimmer and based in Santa Monica, focuses on live entertainment and special projects. RCI Global is the producer of previous Hans Zimmer Live shows.

About AEG Presents
Combining the power of the live event with a focus on true artist development, AEG Presents is a world leader in the music and entertainment industries. Operating across five continents, the company has an unparalleled commitment to artistry, creativity, and community. Its tentpole festivals and multi-day music events — which include the iconic Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and the legendary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival alongside British Summer Time at Hyde Park, Stagecoach, Electric Forest, Rock En Seine and All Points East — continue to set the bar for the live music experience. AEG Presents promotes global tours for artists such as ATEEZ, Justin Bieber, Zach Bryan, Sabrina Carpenter, Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Celine Dion, ENHYPEN, Elton John, Carin León, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, and Tyler, The Creator, in addition to — through its network of clubs, theatres, arenas, stadiums and renowned partner brands such as The Bowery Presents, Cárdenas Marketing Network, Concerts West, Frontier Touring, Goldenvoice, Marshall Arts, MCT Agentur, Messina Touring Group, Outback Presents, PromoWest Productions, and Zero Mile Presents — creating and developing an unmatched infrastructure for artist development and audience reach. More information can be found at www.aegpresents.com.

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Oct 9 and 23: Newport Classical Presents Trio Azura and Rasa String Quartet at Newport Classical Recital Hall

Oct 9 and 23: Newport Classical Presents Trio Azura and Rasa String Quartet at Newport Classical Recital Hall

Photos available in high resolution here.

Newport Classical Launches 2026-2027 Chamber Series

October 9: Trio Azura performs “Piano Trio Through Time”
October 23: Rasa String Quartet performs “Portraits of an American Patchwork”

Information & Tickets: www.newportclassical.org

Newport, RI – Newport Classical continues its sixth full-season Chamber Series, which features twelve concerts held on select Fridays between September 2026 and June 2027, at the organization's home venue Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.), with two not-to-be-missed concerts in October. Rising-star ensemble Trio Azura performs on Friday, October 9, 2026 at 7:30pm and the celebrated Boston-based Rasa String Quartet performs on Friday, October 23, 2026 at 7:30pm.

Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. The Chamber Series reaffirms Newport Classical’s commitment to year-round classical music programming. 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 during intermission. After the concerts, all audience members are also invited to a reception with the artists at The Brenton Hotel, featuring complimentary wine and charcuterie, with additional food and beverages available for purchase. Both performers and audience members alike have described these performances as some of their favorites. “The venue was the perfect place for a magical evening,” raved one attendee, while others have described their experiences as “amazing and very entertaining,” “riveting,” and “an absolute delight.”

Trio Azura (October 9) is quickly emerging as one of today’s most promising young ensembles, characterized by “intelligence and imagination” and “profound emotion” (Gramophone). Having won the Grand Prize, Gold Medal, Lift Every Voice Prize, and Horszowski Trio Prize at the 51st Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2024, the trio is rapidly establishing itself on major concert stages across the United States and beyond. In a program anchored by Ravel and Mendelssohn’s cornerstone Piano Trios, Trio Azura invites audiences to explore the world of the piano trio across eras, from the Romantic and Impressionist traditions to the contemporary voice of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon. Trio Azura consists of Canadian violinist Duncan McDougall, South Korean cellist Yejin Hong, and Chinese pianist Yanfeng (Tony) Bai. Although they come from different backgrounds, their unique perspectives are a constant source of inspiration. They are currently the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where they formed in 2022.

In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Rasa String Quartet (October 23) presents a musical patchwork quilt, weaving together the cultural traditions that have shaped the nation’s identity. Spanning jazz, bluegrass, Latin pop, Indigenous traditions, global folk music, and classical favorites, the program captures the vibrant creative spirit of American music. From the soulful lyricism of William Grant Still and the Latin groove of Bad Bunny to the infectious swing of Billy Strayhorn and the driving energy of Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, the Rasa String Quartet’s An American Patchwork brings America’s multitude of rich soundscapes all together on one stage. Rasa String Quartet (Emma Powell, violin; Maura Shawn Scanlin, violin; Kiyoshi Hayashi, viola; and Mina Kim, cello) explores the musical space where classical and folk traditions intersect and influence one another, and has collaborated with renowned folk artists like Celtic harpist Maeve Gilchrist, Irish fiddler Liz Carroll, and singer-songwriter Judy Collins, performing across the U.S. and abroad. In Sanskrit, the term rasa refers to the indescribable power of art to move, inspire, and connect us – a quality Rasa String Quartet strives to embody in every performance.

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 go into the Newport-area schools to perform for and speak with students, through Newport Classical's Music Enrichment and Engagement Initiative.

Up next, Newport Classical presents two free concerts as part of its Community Concerts Series presented by BankNewport taking place on Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 1:00pm and 3:30pm, performed by Ensemble Mélange at Newport Classical Recital Hall. Ensemble Mélange puts the audience in the driver's seat for a pair of interactive concerts unlike any other. With a menu of more than 30 selections spanning classical favorites, jazz, Latin, Broadway, and beyond, audience members are randomly chosen to select what the ensemble performs next. The result is an engaging, high-energy concert where no two performances are ever the same, offering an exciting musical adventure for concertgoers of all ages.

The Newport Classical Chamber Series continues with pianist Michael Leonardo Davidman, winner of the 2025 American Piano Awards and praised by Upstage for his “thunderous authority and loads of interpretive nuance,” making his Newport debut on November 6 with a program of J.S. Bach, Franz Schubert, César Franck, and Franz Liszt. On November 20, Raphaël Feuillâtre, hailed as one of the leading classical guitarists of his generation, performs “Latin Passions,” a vibrant survey of Spanish and Latin American repertoire by Francisco Tárrega, Isaac Albéniz, Astor Piazzolla, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and more. Cellist Sterling Elliott and pianist Elliot Wuu take the stage on January 29, 2027, performing the sonatas of Maurice Ravel, Richard Strauss, and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Elliott, a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, has been described by The Millbrook Independent as a cellist who has "risen beyond hopeful promise," while Wuu, a 2018 Gilmore Young Artist, is recognized for his “power, speed and finesse” (Tribune Star). On February 19, flutist Anna Urrey and harpist Kristi Shade perform a program of Nino Rota, Lili Boulanger, Jules Mouquet, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy, and Astor Piazzolla, exploring the coloristic possibilities of flute and harp across centuries and styles. Urrey has appeared at leading venues including Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, and National Sawdust. A sought-after collaborator, Shade has appeared with artists ranging from Andrea Bocelli and John Legend to Florence + The Machine. The Dorian Wind Quintet, praised by the Los Angeles Times for delivering “chamber music as it was meant to be,” performs on March 12 in “Preludes and Variations,” pairing J.S. Bach chorale arrangements with Antonín Dvořák's Wind Quintet, Op. 105 and a set of Anniversary Variations by Richard Rodney Bennett, George Perle, Billy Childs, Bruce Adolphe, and Lee Hoiby on a theme from a wind quintet by Antonin Reicha written specifically for the Dorian Wind Quintet to celebrate the ensemble’s 40th anniversary. Versatile artist Chelsea Guo, the first musician to win the Young Concert Artists auditions in both voice and piano, and hailed by Gramophone as “clearly a special talent,” takes the stage on April 9 in a program of Frédéric Chopin, Pauline Viardot, Johannes Brahms, and Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe, singing while accompanying herself on piano.

On April 23, Newport Classical presents violinist Rubén Rengel and Friends, with pianist Gabriel Chakarji and percussionist Juan Diego Villalobos, who come together for an evening celebrating the music of Latin America, from their native Venezuela to the vibrant traditions displayed throughout the region. Rengel was the winner of the Robert F. Smith Prize at the 2018 Sphinx Competition, and has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, and more. Accordionist Radu Ratoi, winner of the 2024 Young Concert Artists “Susan Wadsworth” International Auditions and recipient of Denmark’s prestigious Léonie Sonning Talent Prize, has established himself as a pioneer in expanding the accordion’s repertoire. He is joined by violinist Alexandra Tirsu, a 2021 ARD Competition prizewinner, on May 7 for a program of J.S. Bach, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Antonio Vivaldi, Astor Piazzolla, and more. The 2026-2027 Chamber Series concludes on June 4 with violinist Njioma Grevious, a Juilliard graduate and founding member of the Abeo Quartet, who appears regularly at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Concertgebouw. In Newport, she presents a program featuring the music of J.S. Bach, Johannes Brahms, W.A. Mozart, Oliver Messiaen, Edvard Grieg, and Clarence Cameron White. Grevious has been praised for her “violin pyrotechnics” and “sheer intensity” by the Washington Classical Review.

The 2027 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 1-18, 2027.The 2027 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 1-18, 2027.

Newport Classical 2026-2027 Chamber Series Schedule At-A-Glance:

September 18: Opening Night: Invoke performs "American Voices"
October 9: Trio Azura performs "Piano Trio Through Time"
October 23: Rasa String Quartet performs “Portraits of an American Patchwork”
November 6: Michael Leonardo Davidman, Winner of the American Piano Awards
November 20: Guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre performs "Latin Passions"
January 29: Cello Sonatas with Sterling Elliott and Elliot Wuu
February 19: Anna Urrey & Kristi Shade perform Works for Flute and Harp
March 12: Dorian Wind Quintet performs "Preludes and Variations"
April 9: Voice and Piano with Chelsea Guo
April 23: Rubén Rengel and Friends
May 7: Radu Ratoi & Alexandra Tirsu perform Vivaldi, Piazzolla, and more
June 4: Chamber Series Finale: Violinist Njioma Grevious 

Complete concert details can be found at www.newportclassical.org/concerts. All Chamber Series concerts are held on select Fridays at 7:30pm at Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn Street).

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 Enrichment and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools and community organizations 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.

After a year-long community-driven process, and rooted in the organization’s mission “to celebrate the living art form of classical music in intimate and iconic locations,” Newport Classical released its 2025-2028 Strategic Plan, presenting a clear roadmap to become a stronger, healthier, and more vibrant organization that enhances its programs and community engagement, promotes responsible financial growth and sustainability, and centers artistic excellence in every decision, as the organization aspires to open its doors even wider.

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Christina Jensen Christina Jensen

Caramoor Celebrates the Holiday Season & New Year - Christmas with Cantus Concerts, Holiday Tea Musicales, Holiday Rosen House Tours, and Much More

Caramoor Celebrates the Holiday Season & New Year - Christmas with Cantus Concerts, Holiday Tea Musicales, Holiday Rosen House Tours, and Much More

Photos available in high resolution here.

Caramoor Celebrates the Holiday Season & New Year

November 19: Juilliard Extension Class – Sacred Songs, Folk Roots: The Making of the Christmas Carol

December 3: Rosen House Studio Nights – Winter Wreath-Making
December 5: Kids Crafts at Caramoor – Winter Wreath-Making
December 6: Christmas with Cantus Concerts
December 9 to 20: Holiday Rosen House Tours
December 9 to 20: Holiday Tea Musicales
December 19: Gingerbread House Decorating for Families
January 5 to 26: Yoga in the Music Room Series

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts | Rosen House
149 Girdle Ridge Road | Katonah, NY
Tickets & Information

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, celebrates the season and welcomes the New Year with holiday-themed performances, classes, workshops, house tours, and teas from November through January. Highlights include Christmas with Cantus as part of the Rosen House Concert Series on Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 2:00pm and 4:00pm; plus Holiday Rosen House Tours, showing off the house decked for the holidays, running from December 9 to 20, 2026 at 12:30pm and 1:00pm (by advance ticket purchase only); Holiday Tea Musicales from December 9 to 20, 2026; and two Winter Wreath-Making workshops, one for adults on December 3 and one for children on December 5, 2026. Caramoor will also offer a Gingerbread House Decorating event for families, in collaboration with local bakery BreadsNBakes, on December 19, 2026 at 10:00am. New this year, through its inaugural lifelong-learning collaboration with Juilliard Extension Caramoor offers the class Sacred Songs, Folk Roots: The Making of the Christmas Carol on November 19, 2026. Additionally, from December 9 to 20, 2026 Caramoor’s Summer Dining Room is transformed into a Holiday Gift Shop, which includes locally made artisan goods. In January, Caramoor invites guests to reset for the New Year with Yoga in the Music Room, on Tuesday evenings throughout the month. Once the estate of music and art lovers Walter and Lucie Rosen, Caramoor is one of the region’s most distinctive destinations for live performance, cultural engagement, and exploration. The estate’s gardens and grounds are also open year round to visitors, free of charge, for picnicking and walking daily from 10am to 4pm.

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. As part of this Series, Caramoor rings in the season with Christmas with Cantus in two performances Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 2:00pm and 4:00pm. Now in its 32nd season, the widely acclaimed low-voice ensemble Cantus is known for its trademark warmth, blend, and innovative programming. Lessons and Carols for Our Time invites audiences to a rich, contemplative holiday experience that merges tradition with timely resonance. Cantus reimagines the beloved format of Lessons and Carols, exploring themes of hope, peace, and unity through classic carols, music from around the world, and a captivating blend of poetry curated by award-winning author Michael Kleber-Diggs. Celebrate the season with the timeless beauty of carols such as “Silent Night” and “I Saw Three Ships,” alongside recent works from bold, fresh compositional voices like Zanaida Robles, Kim Andre Arnesen, and Sarah Quartel. The program unfolds with a dynamic range of emotions and textures, featuring pieces by Eric Whitacre and Taku Izumi that spark reflections on faith and humanity. At once classic and modern, Lessons and Carols for Our Time is a heartfelt program that evokes the spirit of celebration and reflection.

Watch Cantus at Westminster Presbyterian Church

 
 

Prior to Christmas with Cantus, audiences have the opportunity to learn more about the caroling tradition on Thursday, November 19, 2026 from 6:00 to 8:00pm with Sacred Songs, Folk Roots: The Making of the Christmas Carol, one of the six classes that Caramoor is offering this season through a new collaboration with Juilliard Extension. Participants will learn from acclaimed professors and lecturers and engage in thoughtful discussion with fellow music lovers. Long before becoming synonymous with Christmas, carols originated in medieval Europe as lively folk dances, before eventually giving rise to some of the world's most cherished anthems. This lecture explores that rich evolution through the surprising backstories of several iconic carols, including Veni Emmanuel, O Tannenbaum, and Stille Nacht. Together, these vignettes reveal how local folk customs and monastic devotion intersected to forge a global holiday tradition. Taught by Juilliard Extension Music Theory and Analysis Chair Patrick Kreeger, who serves as associate organist at New York City’s historic Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church where he works with a 20-voice professional choir, this class is a great primer for Christmas with Cantus.

From December 9 to 20, 2026, Caramoor invites guests to step into a holiday wonderland on special Holiday Rosen House Tours at 12:30pm and 1:00pm daily (by advance ticket purchase only). The art-filled Rosen House is decked out for the holidays with enchanting decorations inspired by the cherished Rosen family archive. Beloved favorites like the towering Music Room tree will return, but there are new decorations as well, so returning visitors and first-time guests will be beguiled. The House offers a number of treasures, including complete 18th-century rooms, originally from private villas and chateaux in Italy, France, and England. The Burgundian Library is a French 17th-century, paneled room with a brilliant blue groin-vaulted ceiling. An exquisite 16th-century painted Spanish ceiling resides in an alcove off the Music Room. The Formal Dining Room features doors thought to have been designed by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1695-1770), made for a Venetian palace, along with turquoise Chinese export wallpaper featuring birds perched in flowering trees. The Music Room includes Renaissance furniture and architectural elements such as the intricately carved coffered ceiling from a house in Lecce, Italy; a pair of pink marble twisted columns from Verona, once in the collection of William Randolph Hearst; and a magnificent Franco-Flemish tapestry titled “The Holy Family.” With the holiday decor enhancing these extraordinary rooms, Caramoor’s Holiday Rosen House Tours offer a unique seasonal experience steeped in art, history, and beauty.

From December 9 to 20, 2026 at 2:00pm, Caramoor also offers Holiday Tea Musicales (by reservation only), featuring tea service in the Music Room and seasonal performances by vocalist Kimberley Hawkey with pianist Peter Yarin on December 9, 10, and 11; plus alumni of Caramoor’s Schwab Vocal Rising Stars program including mezzo-soprano Kate Morton with pianist Michele Wong on December 12, 13, and 15;  tenor Nathan Romportl on December 16 and 17; and soprano Sophia Baete with pianist Francesco Barfoed on December 18, 19, and 20. Following the spirited performances, the tea service includes an assortment of finger sandwiches, scrumptious holiday treats, a variety of teas, and hot chocolate with marshmallows for children.

On Thursday, December 3, 2026 from 6:30 to 8:00pm, Caramoor hosts Rosen House Studio Nights: Winter Wreath-Making. In this seasonal hands-on art workshop, floral designer Abby Blatte guides participants in creating their very own holiday wreath using fresh flowers and fragrant greens. Taking inspiration from the Rosen House’s beautiful holiday décor, the event will start with a self-guided tour of the West Corridor of the Rosen House. Participants will craft a stunning, personalized wreath that reflects their unique style, creating the perfect festive centerpiece to take home and enjoy all season long. All premium materials will be provided. On Saturday, December 5, 2026 from 10:00 to 11:30am, children can enjoy their own wreath making workshop with Kids Crafts at Caramoor: Winter Wreath-Making, also led by Abby Blatte. Parents or guardians must stay for the duration of the class.

On Saturday, December 19, 2026 at 10:00am, Caramoor invites families to celebrate the season with a festive Gingerbread House Decorating event in collaboration with BreadsNBakes. Perfect for children ages 4 and up (accompanied by an adult), this cozy, hands-on class offers a creative morning of holiday magic as participants bring their own candy cottages to life while sipping warm hot chocolate. Before the class begins, families can stroll through the Rosen House to gather inspiration from its holiday decor. Each child will take home their own decorated gingerbread house and gingerbread friend, wrapped and ready to display (or eat!). All materials are included: pre-baked gingerbread house pieces, icing bags, candies, and packaging.

Following the holidays, Caramoor begins the New Year with a special yoga series on Tuesdays at 5:30pm throughout the month of January. Yoga in the Music Room is designed to nurture both body and mind. Each session offers a gentle, mindful practice led by an experienced instructor, with an emphasis on breath, alignment, and presence, providing a peaceful way to end the day while experiencing Caramoor from a new perspective.

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 Venetian Theater, Friends Field, Spanish Courtyard, Sunken Garden, and the Music Room), 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 that draw inspiration from their environment. Caramoor also offers a formal afternoon tea service year-round in the Music Room (by reservation), the summer seasonal concessions Bravo Bar, and a selection of public programs such as yoga, art classes, and large-scale community 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.

How to get to Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit-us/amenities

More information about visiting Caramoor: caramoor.org/visit

At-a-Glance Calendar: 2026-27 Rosen House Concert Series Performances

Friday, October 2, 2026 at 7:30pm: Nobuntu

Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:30pm: Bandits on the Run

Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 3:00pm: Countertenor Iestyn Davies and Harpist Oliver Wass

Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3:00pm: Pianist Jonathan Biss

Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 3:00pm: Evnin Rising Stars

Friday, November 6, 2026 at 7:30pm: Pianist Aaron Diehl

Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 3:00pm: Renaissance Quartet

Sunday, December 6, 2026 at 2:00pm and 4:00pm: Christmas with Cantus

Sunday, March 7, 2027 at 3:00pm: Schwab Vocal Rising Stars

Sunday, April 4, 2027 at 3:00pm: Viano Quartet

Friday, April 9, 2027 at 7:30pm: The Summer Camargo Quintet

Sunday, April 11, 2027 at 3:00pm: ACRONYM and Countertenor Reginald Mobley

Saturday April 17, 2027 at 7:30pm and Sunday, April 18, 2027 at 3:00pm: The Other Mozart with Creator & Actress Sylvia Milo

Sunday, April 25, 2027 at 3:00pm: Pianist Inon Barnatan

Sunday, May 2, 2027 at 3:00pm: Renaissance Quartet

Friday, May 7, 2027 at 7:30pm: Sister Sadie

Friday, May 14, 2027 at 7:30pm: Cabaret in the Music Room with Vocalist Mandy Gonzalez

For Caramoor's complete schedule, including the Rosen House Concert Series and Beyond the Music events: caramoor.org/events/calendar

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