FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

New York, NY, June 10, 2020—The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) announces the postponement of its scheduled fall 2020 Season to fall 2021 due to the ongoing uncertainties of the current pandemic and its commitment, first and foremost, to the health and safety of its audiences, artists, and staff. Rescheduling the fall season as a whole was a conscious artistic decision. It serves to honor both the artistic effort invested in the programming and the importance of the artists being able to eventually complete these creative endeavors. CMS will pay its performing artists 50% of their fees this season and 75% of their fees in 2021, to not only support them financially during these difficult times, but emotionally as well, by laying out a clear plan for moving forward that aims to inspire hope for the future. 

CMS is currently programming an entirely new season of concerts for fall 2020 that is being curated and produced specifically for the online, at-home concert experience, and will, as always, feature exceptional production values, with crystal-clear HD video and uncompromised sound quality. Details of CMS fall 2020 Front Row programming will be announced later this summer.

The postponement of the originally scheduled season and the creation of a new, online fall season were announced by CMS Executive Director Suzanne Davidson. “We had hoped that we would be able to gather together safely this fall, but in light of the uncertain health situation, that is not possible. We all worked together to find an innovative path forward that will keep us safe, continue to unite and inspire us and allow us to present the season we were so eagerly anticipating, albeit one year later than planned. Our Board has generously committed to make gifts and fundraise so that we can take the unprecedented step of compensating our artists both this season and next, to minimize the hardship they must endure now, and to reinforce our commitment to presenting these programs next season. We look forward to concerts this fall that will use technology to bring us together for unique musical experiences, strengthening us as a community of artists, audiences, staff, Board and Global Council members and funding partners until we can once again gather together for inspiring concerts in one physical space.”

CMS also announces the extension of its online concert series with Front Row Summer Evenings, six weeks of at-home programming beginning July 12.  The series is comprised of HD performance video from the CMS archive, featuring the thoughtfully curated repertoire that CMS audiences have come to expect and enjoy. About the Summer Evenings series programming, Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han commented: “Summer Evenings concerts have traditionally presented music that breathes the pleasant airs of the season, and these concerts not only follow but enhance that idea with the inclusion of joyful works from the Baroque era to open every program. We hope to lift hearts, minds and spirits over the coming months with music that is truly restorative.” The concerts will be streamed on Sundays at 5:00 pm from July 12 through August 16. Hosted by CMS co-Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han, each concert will also include introductions to the music by the artists, visual program notes and end with a live Q&A with featured artists. Summer Evenings streams will be available on the CMS website and social media channels for one week after the original broadcast time. Audience questions for the live Q&A may be submitted prior to the weekly broadcast on social media or during the concert on the CMS website.

CMS Summer Online Schedule
Sunday, July 12 – Friday, August 21

WEEK OF JULY 12

Sunday, July 12, 5:00 pm
Summer Evenings I

Leclair: Concerto in B-flat major for Violin, Strings, and Continuo, Op. 10, No. 1 (1745)
Bella Hristova, Aaron Boyd, Sean Lee, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Mihai Marica, cello; Timothy Cobb, bass; Gilles Vonsattel, harpsichord

Haydn: Sonata in G major for Keyboard, Hob. XVI:40
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano

Dvořák: Quintet in A major for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, B. 155, Op. 81 (1887)
Wu Han, piano; Chad Hoopes, Paul Huang, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Dmitri Atapine, cello

Friday, July 17, 11:00 am
Inspector Pulse@Home

Home Key
Inspector Pulse discovers that not only can you open a door with a key, but a key can be your home!

WEEK OF JULY 19

Sunday, July 19, 5:00 pm
Summer Evenings II

Gabrieli: Canzon XVI a 12, for Cellos, C. 209 (1615)
The Cellists of Lincoln Center: David Finckel, Sumire Kudo, Sarina Zhang, Timothy Eddy, Rafael Figueroa, Dmitri Atapine, James Jeonghwan Kim, Richard Aaron, Carter Brey, Yi Qun Xu, Kevin Mills, Jerry Grossman

Beethoven: Trio in B-flat major for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 11 (1797)
Inon Barnatan, piano; Anthony McGill, clarinet; Alisa Weilerstein, cello

Rachmaninov: Suite No. 2 in C minor for Two Pianos, Op. 17 (1900-01)
Wu Qian, Anne-Marie McDermott, piano

Friday, July 24, 11:00 am
Inspector Pulse@Home

Between the Walls
Inspector Pulse lives in the spaces between walls in his apartment and the word interval means the space between walls! But what are musical intervals?!

WEEK OF JULY 26

Sunday, July 26, 5:00 pm
Summer Evenings III

Albinoni: Sonata di concerto a 7 for Trumpet, Two Violins, Two Violas, Cello, and Continuo (1694)
David Washburn, trumpet; Ani Kavafian, Giora Schmidt, violin; Mark Holloway, Richard O’Neill, viola; Mihai Marica, cello; Stéphane Logerot, bass; Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord

Mozart: Quartet in D major for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello, K. 285 (1777)
Tara Helen O’Connor, flute; Benjamin Beilman, violin; Richard O’Neill, viola; Keith Robinson, cello

Brahms:Trio in C minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 101 (1886)
Michael Brown, piano; Paul Huang, violin; Dmitri Atapine, cello

Friday, July 31, 11:00 am
Inspector Pulse@Home

Different Hats
According to Inspector Pulse, if you change hats, you are like a musical theme with hat variations!

WEEK OF AUGUST 2

Sunday, August 2, 5:00 pm
Summer Evenings IV

Geminiani: Sonata in C Major for Cello and Continuo, Op.5, No. 3 (1746)
Timothy Eddy, Mihai Marica, cello; Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord

Haydn: Quartet in F Major for Strings, Op. 50, No. 5, “The Dream” (1787)

Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite for Ensemble (1944)
Gloria Chien, piano; Kristin Lee, Chad Hoopes, Arnaud Sussmann, Angelo Xiang Yu, violin; Matthew Lipman, Paul Neubauer, viola; David Finckel, Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Anthony Manzo, double bass; Ransom Wilson, flute; David Shifrin, clarinet; Marc Goldberg, bassoon

Friday, August 7, 11:00 am
Inspector Pulse@Home

A Trilling Story!
We can spice up food, decorate our home, and put ornaments on a tree. What about ornaments and decorations in music?

WEEK OF AUGUST 9

Sunday, August 9, 5:00 pm
Summer Evenings V

Tartini: Sonata in G minor for violin and continuo “Devil’s Trill” (before 1756)
Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Timothy Eddy, cello; Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord

Mozart: Adagio and Fugue in C minor for String Quartet K.546 (1788)

Mendelssohn: Fugue in E-flat major for String Quartet, Op. 81, No. 4 (1827)
Schumann Quartet (Erik Schumann, Ken Schumann, violin; Liisa Randalu, viola; Mark Schumann, cello)

Glinka: Trio pathétique in D minor for Clarinet, Bassoon, and Piano (1832)
David Shifrin, clarinet; Marc Goldberg, bassoon; Anne-Marie McDermott, piano

Friday, August 14, 11:00 am
Inspector Pulse@Home

Story Telling Without Words!
Inspector Pulse investigates how musicians can tell stories without saying a single word!

WEEK OF AUGUST 16

Sunday, August 16, 5:00 pm
Summer Evenings VI

Handel: "Let the Bright Seraphim" from Samson for Soprano, Trumpet, Strings, and Continuo, HWV 57 (1741-42)
Joélle Harvey, soprano; Brandon Ridenour, trumpet; Francisco Fullana, Kristin Lee, violin; Richard O'Neill, viola; Marc Goldberg, bassoon; Efe Baltacigil, cello; Xavier Foley, double bass; Kenneth Weiss, harpsichord

Mendelssohn: Andante and Allegro brilliant for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 92 (1841)
Orion Weiss, piano; Huw Watkins, cello

Franck: Quintet in F minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola and Cello (1879)
Wu Qian, piano; Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Huang, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Sophie Shao, cello

Friday, August 21, 11:00 am
Inspector Pulse@Home

Is It Over?
! ? ; . Punctuation marks indicate the end of a sentence, but what about the end of a musical sentence?!?!!

About The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is one of eleven constituents of the largest performing arts complex in the world, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which includes the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center Theater, and The Metropolitan Opera. With its home in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, CMS is known for the extraordinary quality of its performances and its programming, and for setting the benchmark for chamber music worldwide. Through its many performance, education, recording, and broadcast activities, it brings the experience of great chamber music to more people than any other organization of its kind. Under the leadership of Co-Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han, CMS presents a wide variety of concert series and educational events for listeners of all ages, appealing to both connoisseurs and newcomers. The performing artists constitute a revolving multi-generational and international roster of the world’s finest chamber musicians, enabling CMS to present chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period. Annual activities include a full season in New York, as well as on national and international tours. CMS continues its leadership position in the digital arena, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners around the globe each season with live streaming, more than 750 hours of performance and education videos free to the public on its website, a 52-week public radio series across the US, radio programming in Hong Kong and mainland China, appearances on American Public Media, the new monthly program In Concert with CMS on the ALL ARTS broadcast channel, and performances featured on Medici.tv, Tencent, and SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall channel.

Chamber Music Society Summer Evenings are made possible, in part, by Sally D. and Stephen M. Clement, III.

CMS digital initiatives are supported, in part, by The Hauser Foundation, MetLife Foundation, and the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.

CMS education and outreach programs are made possible, in part, with support from the Chisholm Foundation, Colburn Foundation, Con Edison, The Jerome L. Greene Foundation, the Hearst Foundations, The Frank and Helen Hermann Foundation, Alice Ilchman Fund, the Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Fund, and the Tiger Baron Foundation. Public funds are provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

CMS thanks the following for their leadership support: the AE Family Foundation, Ann S. Bowers, Carmel Cultural Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, the Marion Goldin Charitable Gift Fund, the Irving Harris Foundation, Elinor and Andrew Hoover, the Estate of Andrea J. Klepetar-Fallek, the Lincoln Center Corporate Fund, The New York Community Trust, the NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund in The New York Community Trust, Mr. and Mrs. James P. O'Shaughnessy, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., and the Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Foundation.