Chamber Music Society Of Lincoln Center Begins Winter/Spring Season Next Month

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center starts its 2019 winter/spring season in Alice Tully Hall with two exciting performances. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, a Meet the Music!concert for families based on Paul Goble's haunting tale of a Native American girl who understands horses on a mystical level, will be presented on January 13. Led by series creator and host Bruce Adolphe, the performance features flutist Sooyun Kim, clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois, cellist Mihai Marica, pianist David Kaplan, percussionist Eduardo Leandro, and a free instrumental petting zoo in the lobby for kids. It will be followed by Esteemed Ensemble, which reunites close friends and colleagues pianist Wu Han, violinist Daniel Hope, violist Paul Neubauer, and cellist David Finckel,performing piano quartet classics by Suk, Brahms, and Dvo?ák on January 27 and 29.

2019 winter/spring highlights include the continuation of CMS' season-long focus on the music of Russia with its annual Winter Festival: Russian Panorama. In four programs (Mar. 10, 15, 19 & 24) filled with works composed between 1832 and 1979, the festival's broad survey of repertoire ranging from the age of the tsars to beyond the Soviet era will comprise works by Balakirev, Borodin, Glinka, Glazunov, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rubinstein, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Taneyev, and Tchaikovsky. Among the many superb artists taking part in these concerts are acclaimed pianists Anne-Marie McDermott and Wu Han, violinists Chad Hoopes and Arnaud Sussmann, violist Matthew Lipman, and the legendaryBorodin String Quartet, returning to CMS with its interpretation of quartets by several Russian composers, including its namesake, Borodin. The complete artist roster is included in the listing section.

American Icon: George Crumb at 90 will celebrate George Crumb's 90thbirthday with two programs (Apr. 14 & 16) of nine different works, including the world premiere of the iconic composer's KRONOS-KRYPTOS for Percussion Quintet (a CMS co-commission), which was the first commission he accepted in more than 15 years. Crumb was proclaimed "the savior of music" in the early 1970s era of atonal music. This mini-festival will feature pianist Gilbert Kalish- whose definitive interpretations helped fuel the composer's meteoric rise, along with soprano Tony Arnold and baritone Randall Scarlata, flutist Tara Helen O'Connor, and many more artists. Performers for the premiere of the percussion quintet will be Victor Caccese, Daniel Druckman, Ayano Kataoka, Eduardo Leandro, and Ian David Rosenbaum.

CMS will present six premieres during the winter/spring season: The world premieres of George Crumb's KRONOS-KRYPTOS for Percussion Quintet (Apr. 14), Brett Dean's New Work for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (Apr. 5): and Mark-Anthony Turnage's Massarosa for Bassoon, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello (May 16); the U.S. premiere of Huw Watkins' Quintet for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello (Feb. 22); and the New York premieres of Anthony Cheung's All Roads for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello on Jan. 17, andAndrew Norman's New Work for String Quartet (May 7). All works are CMS co-commissions.

CMS offers numerous educational initiatives for both young and old during the season, including FREE master classes with violinist Daniel Hope (Jan. 28), pianist Gilles Vonsattel (Feb. 25), and flutist Tara Helen O'Connor (Apr. 17). These presentations (reservation required to attend) are a priceless opportunity for the next generation of chamber musicians to learn the art of interpretation and details of technique from chamber music masters. The events are also livestreamed on the CMS website. There will also be two CMS Kids concerts in the intimate Rose Studio (Jan. 27 & May 5), curated for ages 3-6. These family-friendly performances are presented in a judgment-free environment, and are less formal and more supportive of sensory, communication, movement, and learning needs. Each CMS Kids program is a Relaxed Performance, an inclusive concert experience adapted for neurodiverse audiences, including children with autism or other special needs.

Additional Winter/Spring Alice Tully Hall Concerts

Alice Tully Hall's winter programs in the New Year will also include a Total Mozart program with the Escher String Quartet (Feb. 10); and International Collection which will showcase pianist Gilles Vonsattel, violinists Paul Huang and Alexander Sitkovetsky, violists Matthew Lipman and Richard O'Neill, cellists Nicholas Tzavaras and Paul Watkins, and clarinetist David Shifrin. It features the U.S. premiere of a new work by Huw Watkins, who will illuminate his piece with a pre-concert chat (Feb. 22). Farewells explores music's ability to say "goodbye" in works by Beethoven, Strauss, and Dvo?ák (Feb. 26) with pianist Gilbert Kalish, violinists Bella Hristova and Arnaud Sussmann, violists Mark Holloway and Richard O'Neill, cellists Dmitri Atapine and David Requiro, and bassist Xavier Foley. Hungarian Fire will survey how Hungary's musical roots in folk tradition had a widespread influence on composers of other lands, demonstrated in works by Brahms, Kodály, Bartók, Ligeti, and Dohnányi (Mar. 3). The program will be performed by pianist Alessio Bax, violinists Ida Kavafian and Alexi Kenney, violist Yura Lee, cellist Dmitri Atapine, and clarinetist Sebastian Manz.

Spring concerts will feature Haydn's moving work Seven Last Words - a commission the composer received to mark Good Friday - along with Bach's cantata Ich habe genug, performed by bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green, harpsichordist Paolo Bordignon, the Orion String Quartet, bassist Timothy Cobb, and oboist Stephen Taylor (Mar. 31). A spring Meet the Music!program for families titled Magical, Mystical Moonlight offers music byDebussy, Beethoven, Schumann, and George Crumb, all written about the moon (Apr. 7). Three Centuries will be highlighted by the world premiere and CMS co-commission of Australian composer Brett Dean's Clarinet Quartet, alongside classics from the Classical and Romantic eras and will feature pianist Wu Qian, violinist Arnaud Sussmann, violist Yura Lee, cellistNicholas Canellakis, and clarinetist Tommaso Lonquich (Apr. 5). From Mendelssohn juxtaposes two of the composer's works from 1845 with those by three masters he influenced: Schumann, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky and will showcase pianist Inon Barnatan, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist Jakob Koranyi, and clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois(Apr 28).

May performances at Alice Tully Hall will include Deeply Inspired - presenting pieces by Schubert, Barber, Arensky, and Bloch, composers from four eras and four cultures at their emotional heights - with baritone Yunpeng Wang, pianist Michael Brown, violinists Kristin Lee and Danbi Um, violistMatthew Lipman, and cellists Nicholas Canellakis and David Finckel (May 3). An Evening with the Escher Quartet - graduates of CMS' Bowers Program - will feature the NY premiere and CMS co-commission of Andrew Norman's new String Quartet (May 7). The CMS season finale completes its Russian theme paying tribute to Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with an evening of music by composers commissioned by the Company: Falla, Ravel, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky. The concert will be performed by mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, pianists Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung, violinist Nicolas Dautricourt, violist Yura Lee, cellistDavid Finckel, harpist Bridget Kibbey, and flutist Tara Helen O'Connor (May 19).

Winter/Spring Rose Studio Concerts

The Rose Studio will host the much-loved Inside Chamber Music with Bruce Adolphe series, which combines entertaining lectures full of fascinating insights into masterworks with short live performances. Each lecture is illustrated by excerpts from the featured piece, performed live by CMS artists. The season comprises music by Beethoven (Jan. 30), Borodin (Feb. 6), Beethoven (Feb. 13), and Stravinsky (Feb. 20).

Three Rose Studio Concerts will explore classical and rarely-heard chamber music repertoire. Each program is presented in two ways: in a traditional setting, and as part of the cozy Late Night Rose series with cabaret-style seating and a complimentary glass of wine. The winter/spring season will feature works by Janá?ek, Dvo?ák, and Korngold with pianist Gilles Vonsattel, violinists Sean Lee and Kristin Lee, violist Matthew Lipman, and cellist David Requiro (Jan 24); Beethoven, Hindemith, and Weber with violinists Francisco Fullana and Philip Setzer, violist Paul Neubauer, cellistMihai Marica, and clarinetist Sebastian Manz (Feb. 28); and Mozart, Rota, and Dohnányi with pianist Lise de la Salle, violinist Ani Kavafian andAngelo Xiang Yu, violist Hsin-Yun Huang, cellist Timothy Eddy, and flutistSooyun Kim (Apr. 25).

New Music in the Rose begins the new year with a program highlighted by the NY premiere of Anthony Cheung's All Roads for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello with pianist Gilles Vonsattel and the Escher String Quartet(Jan. 17). The series continues with an evening of innovative works by du Bois, Wuorinen, Pintscher, and Ludwig with pianist Michael Brown, violinistBella Hristova, violist Richard O'Neill, and cellist Mihai Marica (May 21); and a concert featuring the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage'sMassarosa for Bassoon, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello with the Calidore String Quartet and bassoonist Peter Kolkay (May 16). New Music in the Rose concerts are presented in two seatings, at 6:30 and 9 pm.

The Art of the Recital (in the Rose Studio) concerts, curated by the artists,will present flutist Tara Helen O'Connor and pianist Pedja Muzijevic in a program of works composed between 1764 and 2000 (Feb 7), and violinistCho-Liang Lin and pianist Jon Kimura Parker in an all-American composer evening (May 9).

Most Rose Studio series - including Inside Chamber Music, Late Night Rose, The Art of the Recital, and the 9 PM New Music performances - are offered as livestreamed events and are also available on-demand for an additional 72 hours later. Programs can be accessed here.

Tickets for concerts may be purchased in person at the Alice Tully Hall box office at Broadway and West 65th St. or the CMS ticketing office at The Samuel B. and David Rose Building, 165 West 65th Street, 10th floor; by calling 212.875.5788; or online at www.chambermusicsociety.org.

Winter/Spring Tours

A global leader in chamber music, CMS is the largest producing presenter of chamber music in the world and now offers even more concerts on tour and in annual residencies than in its busy home at Lincoln Center. Beginning on January 22 in Costa Mesa, California and running through May 26 in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, the 2019 winter/spring tour season will perform in 21 citiesacross the U.S. at venues in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, Washington D.C.; andoverseas in France, the U.K., Denmark, and the Netherlands. For a complete list of tour dates, artists, and programs, click here.

Visit the CMS website for complete information on New York City performances.