Haydn:  Piano Trio in C, Hob. XV:27
Chausson: Piano Trio in g minor, Op. 3
Intermission
Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B, Op. 8

Website: http://www.triosolisti.com

• Maria Bachmann, violin
• Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello
• Adam Neiman, piano

Trio Solisti has forged a reputation as “the most exciting piano trio in America” (The New Yorker) with a passionate performance style that combines exceptional virtuosity and penetrating musical insight. Possessing a repertoire that encompasses the standard repertoire and works by contemporary composers, rave reviews follow the trio throughout its concert tours. Noted Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout proclaimed, “To my mind, Trio Solisti has now succeeded the Beaux Arts Trio as the outstanding chamber music ensemble of its kind.” Described by The New York Times as “consistently brilliant,” the group has been praised by The Washington Post for its “unrelenting passion and zealous abandon.”

Alongside its ongoing touring activities, Trio Solisti is embarking upon a number of exciting new ventures. In Fall 2015, the ensemble unveils a three-concert series at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, presenting the complete piano chamber music of Brahms. Special guest performers include violinist Jesse Mills, violists Richard O’Neill and    Hsin-Yun Huang, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and French hornist Julie Landsman. Also this season, the trio releases its new recording: a two-CD set of the complete Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninoff piano trios. In addition, Trio Solisti is working with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon to commission a piano trio to be premiered in 2017.

Critical acclaim was recently accorded the ensemble for its 2014 recording of the Ravel & Chausson piano trios, on Bridge Records. The New York Times raved, “startlingly fresh and fascinating…plenty of fire and excitement in this standout recording.” Gramophone magazine described it as “a performance of kaleidoscopic hues, beauty of sound, and bountiful panache. Whether silken or sweeping, the music receives idiomatic and sophisticated treatment as shaped by these keenly perceptive artists.”

Founded in 2001, Trio Solisti – featuring violinist Maria Bachmann, cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach, and pianist Adam Neiman – has performed at prestigious concert venues such as the Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, People’s Symphony Concerts at Town Hall, Washington Performing Arts Society at Kennedy Center, Seattle’s Meany Hall and La Jolla’s Revelle Series. The ensemble has a varied discography on a number of record labels, including Naxos, Bridge Records, Endeavour Classics, and Marquis Classics. It actively champions contemporary music, collaborating with leading composers such as Philip Glass, Lowell Liebermann, Paul Moravec, and Kevin Puts.

Trio Solisti proudly marks its 12th year as Ensemble-in-Residence at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, and it is pleased to celebrate the 14th season of Telluride MusicFest, an annual chamber music festival founded by the ensemble.

Program

• Mozart: String Quartet No. 20 in D Major, K. 499
• Bartok: String Quartet No. 3
• Intermission
• Ravel: String Quartet in F Major

Website: http://www.johannesquartet.com

SOOVIN KIM, violin
JULIANNE LEE, violin
CHOONG-JIN CHANG, viola
PETER STUMPF, cello

The Johannes brings together the first American to win the Paganini Violin Competition in 24 years, Soovin Kim; the assistant principal second violinist of the Boston Symphony, Julianne Lee; the principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, C.J. Chang; and the former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Peter Stumpf. Their collaboration was forged at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont, and shaped and mentored by the Guarneri String Quartet whose style was influenced by the Budapest String Quartet decades before.  They are continuing the legacy of excellence.

“A Tale of Two Italian Cities: chamber music from Venice and Naples”

• Vivaldi: Lute Concerto and La Pastorella
• Castello: Sonata 15 in 4 parts
• Scarlatti: Concerto in A minor
• Falconieri: Folías para mi señora Doña Torolilla

Website: http://tempestadimare.org

Fanfare magazine recently hailed Tempesta di Mare for its “abundant energy, immaculate ensemble, impeccable intonation, and an undeniable sense of purpose.” Led by directors Gwyn Roberts and Richard Stone with concertmaster Emlyn Ngai, Tempesta performs baroque music on baroque instruments with a repertoire that ranges from staged opera to chamber music. The group performs all orchestral repertoire without a conductor, as was the practice when this music was new.

Tempesta’s Philadelphia Concert Series, noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer for its “off-the-grid chic factor,” emphasizes creating a sense of discovery for artists and audience alike. Launched in 2002, the series has included 31 modern “world premieres” of lost or forgotten baroque masterpieces, leading the Inquirer to describe it as “an old-music group that acts like a new-music group, by pushing the cutting edge back rather than forward.” Its supporters include the Pew Charitable Trusts, the William Penn Foundation, the Presser Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

In a marketplace dominated by European ensembles, Tempesta is the only American baroque music group to record for the prestigious British label Chandos. Current releases are Weiss: Lute Concerti (2004), Handel: Flaming Rose (2007), Scarlatti: Cantatas and Chamber Music (2010), Fasch: Orchestral Music, vol. 1 (2008), vol. 2 (2011) and vol. 3 (2012), Bach: Trio Sonatas, BWV 525–530 (2014), Mancini: Sonatas for a Flute, (2014), and Comédie et Tragédie: French baroque orchestral music for the theater, vol. 1 (2015) and vol. 2 (2016, forthcoming). National broadcasts of live performances include SymphonyCast, Performance Today, Sunday Baroque and Harmonia. Our concert recordings are distributed worldwide via the European Broadcasting Union, a global alliance of public service media organizations, with members in 56 countries in Europe and beyond.

Tempesta’s international appearances have included the Prague Spring Music Festival, the Göttingen Handel Festival, the Mendelssohn-Remise Berlin and the International Fasch Festival in Zerbst. Notable North American presenters have included the Frick Collection, the Oregon Bach Festival, Abbey Bach Festival, Whitman College, Cornell Concerts, the Yale Collection, the Flagler Museum, and the Garmany Series, Hartford. This season, the orchestra performs on the Miami Bach Festival.

Please join us for this FREE Concert at the Chrysler Museum. 
Please note special start time of 3pm.

“A Midwinter Afternoon’s Delight”

In 2002, four friends decided to join forces to explore their collective passion for chamber music. Thus, Hampton Roads’ Ambrosia Quartet was formed.

This dynamic ensemble will thrill you with their interpretations of the very best music written for string quartet, from classical favorites to the most recent compositions of celebrated contemporary composers. These talented individuals are all members of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, but their backgrounds are as diverse as the music they play. Violinists Simon Lapointe and Mayu Cipriano hail from Québec and Tokyo, respectively; violist Beverly Kane Baker grew up locally in Hampton; and cellist Rebecca Gilmore came to the area from Charlotte, North Carolina. Their resumes collectively represent many years of study at the very best conservatories, including the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, Indiana and Rice Universities, and the Juilliard School.

Locally renowned pianist, Mr. Chris Kypros, will also be on the program performing a Beethoven piano sonata on the Museum’s concert Steinway.

Website: ambrosiaquartet.com

• Ambrosia’s program will include selections from:
• Tchaikovsky:  “Miniatures for Piano” arranged for String Quartet
• Beethoven:  String Quartet in F Major, Opus 59, Nr. 1
• Glazunov:  “5 Novelettes”

(Please note: all programs are subject to change.)

Program

• Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 64, No. 3 in B-flat
• Bartok: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 17
• Intermission
• Mendelssohn: String Quartet Op. 80 in f minor

Website: http://www.doricstringquartet.com

Alex Redington, violin
Jonathan Stone, violin
Hélène Clément, viola
John Myerscough, cello

The Doric String Quartet has firmly established itself as the leading British string quartet of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics across the globe. Selected for representation by YCAT in 2006, the Quartet went on to win several prizes including 1st prize at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition in Italy and the Ensemble Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany.

The Quartet performs in leading concert halls throughout Europe including Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and De Singel, Antwerp, and is a regular visitor to the Wigmore Hall. In 2010 the Quartet made its highly acclaimed American debut with recitals at the Frick Museum in New York and Library of Congress in Washington, and now returns for annual tours to North America. Alongside main season concerts the Quartet has a busy festival schedule and has performed at the Aldeburgh, Carinthischer Sommer, Delft, Edinbrugh, Grafenegg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Musica Viva Sydney, Risør, Schwetzinger and West Cork Festivals, collaborating with artists including Nicolas Altstaedt, Jonathan Biss, Ian Bostridge, Andreas Haefliger, Chen Halevi, Alina Ibragimova, Aleksandar Madžar, Alexander Melnikov, Daniel Müller-Schott, Mark Padmore, and Cédric Tiberghien.

Another recent highlight has seen the Quartet take on John Adams’ “Absolute Jest” for String Quartet and Orchestra. The Doric have now performed the piece with the Vienna Symphony at the Vienna Konzerthaus with John Adams conducting, with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw and with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Markus Stenz.

Highlights of the 2015/16 season include five performances at the Wigmore Hall, as well as return appearances at the Berlin Konzerthaus and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In April the Quartet returns to North America for its annual tour, this time including performances in Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Boston and Vancouver. European recital engagements include appearances in Aalborg, Aarhus, Clermont-Ferrand, den Bosch, Ferrara,,Haarlem and Perugia. They will also tour with Elisabeth Leonskaja, including performances at the Musikverein in Vienna and at Wigmore Hall. Festival engagements take the quartet to the Cheltenham, Poznan, Risør and Storioni Chamber Music Festivals, as well as appearances at the Oxford Lieder, Two Moors and North Norfolk Music Festivals.

In 2009 the Doric String Quartet’s first CD was released to critical acclaim on the Wigmore Live label and was chosen as Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Since 2010 the Quartet has recorded exclusively for Chandos Records. The first CD, the complete Korngold String Quartets, was featured as one of the 2010 Critic’s Choice discs in Gramophone and was followed by a CD of the Walton String Quartets which was nominated for a 2011 Gramophone Award. The Quartet’s release of the Schumann String Quartets was named CD of the Month in both Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine and was shortlisted for a 2012 Gramophone Award. Their most recent releases of Haydn’s Op 20 Quartets and Quartets by Janáček and Martinů have both gathered enthusiastic reviews across the board, with the Haydn disc being named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone and shortlisted for a 2015 Gramophone Award.

Program

• Beethoven: Quartet No. 12 in E-flat, Op. 127
• Webern:  Five Pieces, Op. 5
•  Intermission
• Debussy:  Quartet in g minor, Op. 10

Website:  http://escherquartet.com

ADAM BARNETT-HART, VIOLIN
AARON BOYD, VIOLIN
PIERRE LAPOINTE, VIOLA
BROOK SPELTZ, CELLO

The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as Artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, this season presenting the complete Zemlinsky Quartets Cycle in a concert streamed live from the Rose Studio. In 2013, the quartet became one of the very few chamber ensembles to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Within months of its inception in 2005, the ensemble came to the attention of key musical figures worldwide. Championed by the Emerson Quartet, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet in Residence at each artist’s summer festival: the Young Artists Programme at Canada’s National Arts Centre; and the Perlman Chamber Music Programme on Shelter Island, NY. The quartet has since collaborated with artists including David Finckel, Leon Fleischer, Wu Han, Lynn Harrell, Cho Liang Lin, Joshua Bell, Vilde Frang, David Shifrin and guitarist Jason Vieaux.

The Escher Quartet has made a distinctive impression throughout Europe, with recent debuts including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus and Les Grands Interprètes series in Geneva. Last season also saw debuts at London’s Kings Place and Slovenian Philharmonic Hall in Ljubljana, and festival appearances at Dublin’s Great Music in Irish Houses and the Risør Chamber Music Festival in Norway.

In the current season, the quartet undertakes further UK tours including the Wigmore Hall and makes debuts at the Heidelberg Spring Festival and De Oosterpoort Groningen in the Netherlands. The ensemble also renews its collaboration with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor in a European tour including the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris.

Alongside its growing European profile, the Escher Quartet continues to flourish in its home country, performing at Alice Tully Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the Ravinia and Caramoor festivals. In 2014, the quartet gave a highly praised debut at Chamber Music San Francisco and in 2015 returned to Music@Menlo in California, focussing on the quartets of Schubert. In the 12/13 season, the ensemble performed a critically acclaimed Britten Quartets series at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and this season is one of five quartets chosen to collaborate in a complete presentation of Beethoven’s string quartets.

Elsewhere, the ensemble made its first Australian appearance at the Perth International Arts Festival in 2012, and last season made its debut at the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival. Return engagements took the quartet to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel and the Campos do Jordão Music Festival in Brazil for coaching activities. The quartet fervently supports the education of young musicians and frequently gives masterclasses, including regular coaching at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

In Spring 2015, the quartet released Volume 1 of the complete Mendelssohn Quartets on the BIS label, received warmly by critics with comments such as “This is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner: extrovert and eloquent… hugely engaging music-making” (BBC Music Magazine) and “The Eschers sound warm, relaxed and responsive to all of Mendelssohn’s expressive nuances…” (The Guardian). The Mendelssohn series continues this season with the release of Volume 2. The quartet has also recorded the complete Zemlinsky String Quartets in 2 volumes, released on the Naxos label in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Their great critical acclaim included 5 stars in the Guardian with “Classical CD of the Year”, a Recommendation in The Strad, “Recording of the Month” on MusicWeb International and a nomination for a BBC Music Magazine Award.

The Escher Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.

This is a special concert being co-presented with the Virginia Arts Festival. SOLD OUT.

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED as one of the world’s foremost quartets, the American String Quartet celebrates its 41st season in 2016–2017. Critics and col­leagues hold the Quartet in high esteem and many of today’s leading artists and composers seek out the Quartet for col­lab­o­ra­tions.

The Quartet is also known for its performances of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók, Mendels­sohn, and Mozart, as well as all the string quintets of Mozart, Mendels­sohn, and Brahms. The Quartet’s recordings of the complete Mozart string quartets on a matched set of Stradi­varius instruments are widely held to set the standard for this repertoire.

Program to be determined.

Website: www.americanstringquartet.com