Tuesday, October 19, 2021, 7:30 pm - Alice Tully Hall
Opening Night: Road to Romanticism
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) makes its long-awaited return to live concerts with Road to Romanticism, a celebratory concert to welcome audiences back to Alice Tully Hall for the first time in what will have been almost 19 months. This concert fills the stage with dynamic chamber musicians, performing bold music to lift us forward, out of the haze of the pandemic, into a better tomorrow. The program begins with Beethoven and draws the audience forward through time with works by Hummel, Schubert, and Mendelssohn. 

Beethoven Trio in C minor for Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 9, No. 3 (1797-98)
Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello

Hummel Quintet in E-flat for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Bass, Op. 87 (1802)
Wu Qian, piano; Richard Lin, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass

Schubert Rondo in A major for Piano, Four Hands, D. 951 (1828)
Orion Weiss, Wu Qian, piano

Mendelssohn Sextet in D major for Piano, Violin, Two Violas, Cello, and Bass, Op. 110 (1824)
Orion Weiss, piano; Richard Lin, violin; Arnaud Sussmann, Matthew Lipman, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass

Schubert Rondo in A major for Piano, Four Hands, D. 951 (1828)
Orion Weiss, Wu Qian, piano

Mendelssohn Sextet in D major for Piano, Violin, Two Violas, Cello, and Bass, Op. 110 (1824)
Orion Weiss, piano; Richard Lin, violin; Arnaud Sussmann, Matthew Lipman, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass

Thursday, October 28, 2021, 7:30 pm - Rose Studio
New Milestones 1: Boundaries and Edges 
CMS’s series devoted to the work of living composers opens the season with an evening of music for wind instruments from an international group of composers, including: Alexandre Lunsqui’s Topografia Index 3A, a piece that invites the musicians to sing and explores the percussive abilities of the flute and clarinet; Shih-hui Chen’s Returnings, which explores the interplay of the composer’s Taiwanese roots and western classical  music; and works by Marcos Balter, George Lewis and Nina Shekhar.  

Marcos Balter delete/control/option for Alto Flute and Cello (2008)
Sooyun Kim, flute; Mihai Marica, cello

Shih-Hui Chen Returnings for Flute, Cello, and Percussion (2009)
Sooyun Kim, flute; Mihai Marica, cello; Ayano Kataoka, percussion

George Lewis The Mangle of Practice for Violin and Piano (2014)
Artists to be announced

Alexandre Lunsqui Topografia Index 3A for Flutes, Clarinets, and Percussion (2008)
Sooyun Kim, flutes; Todd Palmer, clarinets; Ayano Kataoka, percussion

Nina Shekhar Glitch for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (2019)
Mihai Marica, cello; additional artists to be announced

Friday, November 5, 2021, 7:30 pm - Alice Tully Hall
Mozart & Dvořák: The Great Serenades
The magnificent Serenades for large wind ensembles by Dvořák and Mozart are rarely heard on stage, especially on the same program. So when CMS assembles a cast of the world’s best wind players – including Radovan Vlatković, Anthony McGill and Eric Reed -- it will be an international wind-fest not to be missed. 

Dvořák Serenade in D minor for Winds, Cello, and Double Bass, B. 77, Op. 44 (1878)
James Austin Smith, Stephen Taylor, oboe; Tommaso Lonquich, Anthony McGill, clarinet; Bram van Sambeek, Peter Kolkay, bassoon; Tom Sefčovič, contrabassoon; Radovan Vlatković, Eric Reed, Michelle Reed Baker, horn; Mihai Marica, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass

Mozart Serenade in B-flat major for Winds and Double Bass, K. 361, “Gran Partita” (1783-84)
Stephen Taylor, James Austin Smith, oboe; Anthony McGill, Tommaso Lonquich, clarinet; Romie de Guise-Langlois, Pavel Vinnitsky, basset horn; Peter Kolkay, Bram van Sambeek, bassoon; Tom Sefčovič, contrabassoon; Radovan Vlatković, Eric Reed, Julia Pilant, Michelle Reed Baker, horn; Anthony Manzo, bass

Thursday, November 11, 2021, 6:30 and 9:00 pm – Rose Studio
Rose Studio Concerts
Quintets galore! The international gathering of wind players continues with a program featuring rarely programmed works from a diverse mix of composers. 

Milhaud La cheminée du roi René, Suite for Woodwind Quintet, Op. 205 (1939)
Sooyun Kim, flute; James Austin Smith, oboe; Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Bram van Sambeek, bassoon; Radovan Vlatković, horn

Haas Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Horn, Op. 10 (1929)
Sooyun Kim, flute; James Austin Smith, oboe; Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Bram van Sambeek, bassoon; Radovan Vlatković, horn

Carter Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Horn (1948)
Sooyun Kim, flute; James Austin Smith, oboe; Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Bram van Sambeek, bassoon; Radovan Vlatković, horn

Coleman Umoja for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Horn (2001)
Sooyun Kim, flute; James Austin Smith, oboe; Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Bram van Sambeek, bassoon; Radovan Vlatković, horn

Tomasi Cinq danses profanes et sacrées for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, and Horn (1961, arr. 1963)
Sooyun Kim, flute; James Austin Smith, oboe; Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Bram van Sambeek, bassoon; Radovan Vlatković, horn

Friday & Sunday, December 10 & 12, 2021, 7:30 pm – Alice Tully Hall 
Solo Bach
This concert gives audiences a rare opportunity to hear the distinctive Alice Tully organ, as well as solo pieces for piano, violin, cello, and lute. One of Bach’s French Suites for keyboard and his Suite for lute are being performed by CMS for the first time in Alice Tully Hall.

Bach Partita No. 3 in E major for Violin, BWV 1006 (c. 1720)
Bella Hristova, violin

Bach Suite in G minor for Lute, BWV 995 (c. 1730)
Paul O’Dette, lute

Bach French Suite in B minor for Keyboard, BWV 814 (c. 1722-25)
Gilles Vonsattel, piano  

Bach Partitas on O Gott, du frommer Gott for Organ, BWV 767 (c. 1707-08) 
Stephen Tharp, organ

Bach Suite No. 6 in D major for Cello, BWV 1012 (c. 1720)
Colin Carr, cello

Tuesday, February 1, 2022, 7:30 pm - Alice Tully Hall
Quartetto di Cremona – Lincoln Center Debut
This critically acclaimed international quartet makes its Lincoln Center debut on CMS’s International Quartet series. In the quartet’s 20-year existence it has established itself as one of Europe’s leading ensembles, and the quartet’s interpretations and performance appeal has endeared it to a wide and loyal audience. Especially exciting in this program is the pairing of two of the most challenging works in the quartet literature: the somber, intense first quartet of Prokofiev, and Schoenberg’s epic first quartet, still in the hyper-expressive style of his early period. Their most recent recording is Italian Postcards, on Avie Records. 

Prokofiev Quartet No. 1 in B minor for Strings, Op. 50 (1930)
Quartetto di Cremona (Cristiano Gualco, Paolo Andreoli, violin; Simone Gramaglia, viola; Giovanni Scaglione, cello) 

Weber Quintet in B-flat major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 34 (1811-15)
David Shifrin, clarinet; Quartetto di Cremona 

Schoenberg Quartet No. 1 in D minor for Strings, Op. 7 (1904-05)
Quartetto di Cremona

Friday, February 4, 2022, 7:30 pm– Alice Tully Hall
Winter Festival: Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time
CMS proudly delivers the promised completion of its epic 50th Anniversary Season “Milestones” programming, which was postponed due to the pandemic and has been transplanted to this season’s Winter Festival. “These concerts,” said David Finckel, “spotlight a diverse assortment of masterworks that tell the story of chamber music’s evolution by showcasing consequential works in our art form’s history from across centuries and oceans.” Milestone works – here, Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time – serve to anchor each concert in the series. 

Brahms Sonata in F minor for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 120, No. 1 (1894)
Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; Wu Qian, piano

Stravinsky Suite italienne for Violin and Piano (1932)
Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; Wu Qian, piano

Messiaen Quatuor pour la fin du temps (Quartet for the End of Time) for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (1940-41)
Alexander Fiterstein, clarinet; Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; Mihai Marica, cello; Wu Qian, piano

Sunday, February 13, 2022, 5:00 pm – Alice Tully Hall
Winter Festival: Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet
Shostakovich’s master work is sandwiched between two prime examples of the traditional classical canon. All three pieces feature Juho Pohjonen, one of the brightest young instrumental talents to emerge from Finland today. He was part of CMS’s Bowers Program as a young musician and has attracted great attention as one of the Nordic country's most intriguing and talented pianists. He was mentored by the legendary pianist Sir Andras Schiff. 

Beethoven Sonata in D major for Violin and Piano, Op. 12, No. 1 (1797-98)
Angelo Xiang Yu, violin; Juho Pohjonen, piano

Shostakovich Quintet in G minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 57 (1940)
Juho Pohjonen, piano; Angelo Xiang Yu, Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Paul Watkins, cello

Mendelssohn Trio No. 1 in D minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 49 (1839)
Juho Pohjonen, piano; Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin; Paul Watkins, cello

Thursday, February 17, 2022, 7:30 pm – Kaplan Penthouse
New Milestones 2: New York Premiere of Marc Neikrug’s A Song to Mahler

CMS presents the New York premiere of Marc Neikrug’s chamber opera A Song by Mahler, co-commissioned by CMS, with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, baritone Kelly Markgraf, David Shifrin on clarinet and the FLUX Quartet. The opera centers on the agonizing reality of two characters: a classical singer who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s and her accompanist husband. The title comes from Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder, “Liebst du um Schönheit” (“If You Love for the Sake of Beauty”); in the opera, it is the art song which had been the singer’s signature encore. It depicts an aspirational love not dependent on beauty, speaking directly to the emotional core of the story. A Song for Mahler will be presented in the Kaplan Penthouse. Composer’s note and program notes available here. 

Marc Neikrug A Song by Mahler for Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone, Clarinet, and Strings (2018) (NY Premiere) 
Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano; Kelly Markgraf, baritone; David Shifrin, clarinet; FLUX Quartet (Tom Chiu, Conrad Harris, violin; Max Mandel, viola; Felix Fan, cello)

Thursday, February 24, 2022, 7:30 pm
The Art of the Recital: Dmitri Atapine and Hyeyeon Park - Rose Studio
This series celebrates the distinguished tradition of the recital: concerts crafted by the performers to showcase their unique talents and musical passions. Cellist Dmitri Atapine and pianist Hyeyeon Park perform the World Premiere of Lowell Lieberman’s Sonata No. 5, a CMS co-commission written for Atapine and Park.

Bridge Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano (1913-17)
Dmitri Atapine, cello; Hyeyeon Park, piano

Liebermann Sonata No. 5 for Cello and Piano, Op. 136 (2019) (CMS Co-Commission, World Premiere)
Dmitri Atapine, cello; Hyeyeon Park, piano

Martinů Variations on a Theme of Rossini for Cello and Piano (1942)
Dmitri Atapine, cello; Hyeyeon Park, piano

Debussy Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915)
Dmitri Atapine, cello; Hyeyeon Park, piano

Shostakovich Sonata in D minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 40 (1934)
Dmitri Atapine, cello; Hyeyeon Park, piano

Winter Festival: Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night – Alice Tully Hall
Friday, March 18, 2022, 7:30 pm
A brilliant highlight of the Winter Festival’s exploration of chamber music milestones is Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) on March 18. This is the extraordinary work that combined not only Brahmsian romanticism with flights of modernism but also ushered into the chamber music genre a true tone poem sextet, which tells the story of conflict and reconciliation between lovers. Composed at the end of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th, the work bridges ages and styles with such magic that it is now regarded as classic, unique in the chamber music literature.  

Boccherini Quintet in C major for Two Violins, Viola, and Two Cellos, G. 324, “La musica notturna delle strade di Madrid” (1780)
Yura Lee, Angelo Xiang Yu, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, Sihao He, cello

Schubert Notturno in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, D. 897, Op. 148 (1828)
Orion Weiss, piano; Yura Lee, violin; Sihao He, cello

Britten Phantasy Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 2 (1932)
James Austin Smith, oboe; Angelo Xiang Yu, violin; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello

Debussy “La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune” from Préludes, Book II for Piano (1913) 

Debussy “Clair de lune” from Suite bergamasque for Piano (c. 1890; rev. 1905)
Orion Weiss, piano

Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht [Transfigured Night] for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Two Cellos, Op. 4 (1899)
Yura Lee, Angelo Xiang Yu, violin; Hsin-Yun Huang, Matthew Lipman, viola; Sihao He, Nicholas Canellakis, cello

Thursday, March 24, 2022, 7:30 pm  - Rose Studio
New Milestones 3: Visions and Illuminations
Sofia Gubaidulina’s String Quartet #4 anchors a program of new music performed by the Calidore Quartet. This work by Gubaidulina is scored for a live quartet performing along with layers of recorded sound that include strings played with mallets, instruments tuned a quarter-tone higher than the live ensemble and visual elements embedded in the score. CMS commissioned an essay about the piece, which is available here.  The Calidore also performs the New York premiere of the Grammy-nominated composer Anna Clyne’s Breathing Statues.

Sofia Gubaidulina Quartet No. 4 for Strings with Tape (1993)
Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello)

Anna Clyne Breathing Statues for String Quartet (2019) (CMS Co-Commission, NY Premiere)
Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello)

Joan Tower White Water for String Quartet (2011)
Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello)

Jörg Widmann Jagdquartett for Strings (2003)
Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello)

Thursday, April 14, 2022, 7:30 pm – Rose Studio
New Milestones 4: Emergence of Beauty
The final New Milestones concert of the season presents the New York Premiere of Salina Fisher’s Kintsugi for Piano, Violin, and Cello; Julius Eastman’s tour de force, Gay Guerrilla, a gritty hymn to identity in the composer’s often Messianic style; two pieces for solo cello by Jeffrey Mumford - amid fleeting pockets of billowing radiance (1990) and let us breathe, written for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Fanfare Project in response to incidents of police brutality and specifically to the killing of George Floyd; and Clarence Barlow’s 1981, inspired by Robert Schumann.

Jeffrey Mumford amid fleeting pockets of billowing radiance for Cello (1990)
Darrett Adkins, cello

Salina Fisher Kintsugi for Piano, Violin, and Cello (2020) (NY Premiere)
Darrett Adkins, cello; additional artists to be announced

Clarence Barlow 1981 for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1981)
Darrett Adkins, cello; additional artists to be announced

Jeffrey Mumford let us breathe for Cello (2020)
Darrett Adkins, cello

Julius Eastman Gay Guerrilla for Two Pianos (1979)
Gilles Vonsattel, Terrence Wilson, piano

Tuesday, May 3, 2022, 7:30 pm – Alice Tully Hall
The Innovators: Debussy to Crumb
CMS presents an evening that pairs masterpieces of vocal chamber music with an instrumental work of stunning depth and structure. David Finckel calls this “the most anticipated program of the entire season, offering a trio of compositions that all deserve to be recognized among music’s greatest inventions.” Soprano Tony Arnold and pianist Juho Pohjonen perform songs by Debussy, the French genius who created groundbreaking advances in harmonic language. Pianist Gilbert Kalish joins Pohjonen for what is arguably Stravinsky’s most famous (or infamous) work, the Rite of Spring, for four hands. And Kalish, who was at the piano for the premiere of George Crumb’s hugely successful work, “Ancient Voices of Children,” at the Library of Congress in 1970, brings that piece to life once again in this concert. 

Debussy Selected Songs for Voice and Piano
Tony Arnold, soprano; Juho Pohjonen, piano

Stravinsky The Rite of Spring for Piano, Four Hands (1911-13)
Juho Pohjonen, Gloria Chien, piano

Ives Selected Songs for Voice and Piano
Tony Arnold, soprano; Gilbert Kalish, piano

Crumb Ancient Voices of Children for Soprano, Boy Soprano, Oboe, Mandolin, Harp, Piano, and Percussion (1970)
Tony Arnold, soprano; Gilbert Kalish, piano; James Austin Smith, oboe; William Anderson, mandolin; Bridget Kibbey, harp; Ayano Kataoka, Ian David Rosenbaum, Daniel Druckman, percussion

Thursday, May 5, 2022, 6:30 and 9:00 pm – Rose Studio
Rose Studio Concerts
This concert offers two rarely heard quintets, written by composers who were neglected and overlooked for far too long; even now, their work is still not heard often enough. This piano quintet by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was composed when he was only 18 and still a student, but it provides a glimpse into his flair for melody and spontaneity that emerged over the course of his career, cut short by his death from pneumonia at 37. The remarkable Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) was a pianist, composer and teacher who was the only female professor appointed to the Paris Conservatory in the 19th century, and whose work is finally being appreciated after going largely unnoticed for more than a century.  

Coleridge-Taylor Quintet in G minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 1 (1893)
Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Stella Chen, Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello

Farrenc Quintet in A minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass, Op. 30 (1842)
Gilles Vonsattel, piano; Arnaud Sussmann, violin; Matthew Lipman, viola; Nicholas Canellakis, cello; Anthony Manzo, bass