The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Announces Postponement of Scheduled Fall 2020 Season to Fall 2021

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) has announced 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.

In addition to the Summer Evenings, CMS continues to offer its hugely popular new family video series, Inspector Pulse@Home, for online viewing from July 17 to August 21. CMS's Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Programs Bruce Adolphe will reprise his role as Inspector Pulse, the comedic "private ear" who leads children through the fundamentals of music making and performing in Meet the Music programs at Alice Tully Hall. CMS invites children to join Inspector Pulse for six more short music lessons and digital Q&As on Fridays at 11:00 am on CMS's Facebook page. Shortly after the Facebook premiere, the videos will also be available for on-demand streaming on the Pulse@Home page on the CMS website with accompanying activities and a learning guide. To submit a question to the Q&A, children may share their questions in the comments below the Facebook video. A limited number of questions will be answered in subsequent episodes.

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!

The Cellists of Lincoln Center
Photo: Tristan Cook

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!

Francisco Fullana and Kristin Lee
Photo: Tristan Cook

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?!?!!

Photo Credit: Tristan Cook