The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center returns to Alice Tully Hall this July to present its eighth season of Summer Evenings on July 9, 11, 16 and 18, with free and $20 tickets. In response to sold-out performances last summer, the series expands to four concerts this season, featuring artists from the acclaimed CMS roster in programs of chamber music masterworks designed to appeal to longtime chamber music fans as well as newcomers to classical music.

To make the concerts as accessible as possible to a large and varied audience, CMS is once again offering all tickets at $20 as well as 100 free tickets per performance via public lottery in partnership with TodayTix; the lottery for each concert opens two weeks before the performance date. Following each performance, CMS hosts a free wine reception for the entire audience in the lobby, with the artists in attendance (sponsored by Somm Cellars).

Highlights of this summer’s concerts include an evening featuring wind instruments, including Dukas’ famously difficult Villanelle, performed by pianist Michael Stephen Brown and horn player David Byrd-Marrow (July 11). Guitarist Jason Vieaux joins the Miró Quartet for guitar quintets by Boccherini and Castelnuovo-Tedesco (July 16). Violist Molly Carr, who was named to the venerable Juilliard Quartet last year following the death of Roger Tapping, makes her CMS New York debut with an ensemble that also includes noted Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen (July 18). The series opens with two delightful string quintets (by Boccherini and Glazunov) and a Beethoven trio for strings, performed by a CMS ensemble including violinists Aaron Boyd and Jennifer Frautschi (July 9).

“Summer is an ideal time for new and long-time audiences to experience great performances by extraordinary musicians, in the beautiful acoustics and air conditioning of Alice Tully Hall, without the bugs, heat, sirens, and inclement weather that can plague outdoor concerts,” said CMS executive director Suzanne Davidson. “Add a free post-concert wine reception—with the musicians—for the whole audience, and it’s the perfect summer evening. Last summer, almost forty percent of Summer Evenings attendees were new to CMS, and we can’t wait to welcome more newcomers next month.”

CMS Ticket Info
TodayTix Lottery Info

Note: The TodayTix website at this link provides performance information, but the lottery sign-up is available only on the free TodayTix app. The lottery for the first concert opens on June 25, two weeks before the July 9 concert.  

CMS Summer Evenings 2023
Alice Tully Hall

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. Through its many performance, education, recording, digital, and broadcast activities, CMS brings the experience of great chamber music to more people than any other organization of its kind with a full season in New York, as well as national and international tours. Under the artistic leadership of 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 best chamber musicians, enabling CMS to present chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period. The CMS Bowers Program, its competitive three-season residency, is dedicated to developing the chamber music leaders of the future and integrates this selection of extraordinary early-career musicians into every facet of CMS activities. Its incomparable digital presence, which regularly enables CMS to reach hundreds of thousands of viewers and listeners around the globe annually, includes: a growing number of live-streamed programs; more than 1,000 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 Taiwan and mainland China; appearances on American Public Media; the monthly program “In Concert with CMS” on the ALL ARTS broadcast channel;  the NY-Emmy-nominated documentary “Transcending: The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Celebrates 50 Years;” the PBS documentary film, "Chamber Music Society Returns;" and performances featured on Medici.tv, Tencent, and SiriusXM’s Symphony Hall channel.

Thousands of children, teens, and adults discover the joys of chamber music and deepen their knowledge and appreciation of this beautiful art form through CMS education and community engagement programs. CMS offers an extraordinary number of learning formats and experiences to engage and inform listeners of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of musical knowledge, and to provide unique educational opportunities for the most talented early career chamber musicians. This includes school-based programs for elementary school students, family concerts in both traditional and casual and accessible formats, teen-centered programs, master classes throughout the United States and internationally, pre-concert composer chats, and insightful lectures for adults on the season’s repertoire.