Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Direct from New York - the Pinnacle of Chamber Music Performance!
Sat., March 8, 2008 / 8:00 PM

Stephen Taylor, oboe
David Shifrin, clarinet
Peter Kolkay, bassoon
Stewart Rose, horn
Inon Barnatan, piano

“…a living treasure of the classical music establishment”   Andre Watts

“All-star ensemble”  New York Magazine

“[The performance] was touched with the spiritual, and, at its height,
seemed little less than prayer.”   The New York Sun

The defining feature of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is its distinguished assembly of artists that constitute the repertory company. These accomplished artists range from the world’s most important chamber music players to the brightest stars emerging from today’s conservatories. This regularly evolving roster represents the epitome of the repertory idea – safeguarding the traditions while passing them on to future generations of chamber music players and lovers. The artists are colleagues on stage and friends off—their chemistry makes for consistently absorbing and extraordinary performances.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

will appear with Chamber Music Monterey Bay in March 2008 as a wind + piano ensemble

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMSLC) is one of twelve constituents of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the largest performing arts complex in the world. Along with other constituents such as the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center Theater, and The Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Music Society has its home at Lincoln Center, in Alice Tully Hall. Through its performance, education, and recording/broadcast activities, it draws more people to chamber music than any other organization of its kind.

CMSLC presents annual series of concerts and educational events for listeners ranging from connoisseurs to chamber music newcomers of all ages. Performing repertoire from over three centuries, and numerous premieres by living composers, CMSLC offers programs curated to provide listeners a comprehensive perspective on the art of chamber music. The performing artists of CMSLC, a multi-generational selection of expert chamber musicians, constitute an evolving repertory company capable of presenting chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period (see Artists of the Society and Guests). Its annual activities include a full season of concerts and activities, national and international tours, nationally televised broadcasts on Live From Lincoln Center, a radio show broadcast nationwide, and regular appearances on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.

In 2004, CMSLC appointed cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han artistic directors. They succeed founding director Charles Wadsworth (1969-89), Fred Sherry (1989-93), and David Shifrin (1993-2004).

Commitment to Artistic Excellence and Expanding the Chamber Music Repertoire
As the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music, CMSLC is committed to bringing audiences the finest performances of an extraordinary body of repertoire, dating as far back as the Renaissance and continuing through the centuries to the finest works of our time. As a compelling and dynamic means of artistic expression, chamber music has always inspired composers to create some of their finest works. Today, CMSLC actively supports composers’ efforts. In its history, CMSLC has commissioned over 135 new works from a formidable array of composers, including Bruce Adolphe, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, George Crumb, Lukas Foss, John Harbison, Alberto Ginastera, Morton Gould, Keith Jarrett, Oliver Knussen, Gian Carlo Menotti, Darius Milhaud, Peter Schickele, Bright Sheng, Joan Tower, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. CMS also supports the work of living composers by awarding the Elise L. Stoeger Prize, a cash award given every other year to an outstanding composer of chamber music.

Artists of the Society, and Guests
When CMSLC was founded, live performance of chamber music was dominated by the string quartet. CMS drew together a small repertory company, nine of the finest string, wind, and keyboard artists, and started performing a rich array of repertoire not often heard on the concert stages of New York City. Since that time, the world of chamber music has grown and changed dramatically, with large numbers of ensembles across the country in varying instrumental combinations performing all imaginable kinds of chamber music – and CMSLC has grown and changed with it. CMSLC is now a company of some thirty-five artists with guest artists performing a wide range of concerts and education events. Among these artists are veteran favorites of CMSLC; newcomers to the core group of artists; young talents joining CMSLC through Chamber Music Society Two (a highly competitive three-year residency program); and guest artists who contribute to special repertoire projects. New in the 2006-2007 season is the concept of Season Composers, whose works will be heard throughout the season, leading to three world premieres in the spring.

Education Programs
Thousands of children and adults attend the educational programs of the Chamber Music Society through multiple points of entry into the world of live music making. From school-based programs, family concerts, and a specially designed teen concert series to pre-concert composer chats and intensive lectures on the season’s repertoire for adults, the CMS education department is dedicated to restoring the art of listening and to presenting the vast body of chamber music repertoire to audiences from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and levels of musical knowledge.

Chamber Music Beginnings introduces New York City public school children from all five boroughs to chamber music. Junior high and high school student ensembles compete in the Young Ensembles program for the opportunity to be coached by CMSLC artist and then to experience the thrill of performing in Alice Tully Hall. Teens Take Charge is a unique program for high school students, offering them the chance to create and produce their own programs for their peers. The program was just featured in a New York Times Arts and Leisure feature. Meet the Music! is a popular concert series drawing families together for a humorous and entertaining approach to classical music. Inside Chamber Music offers the interested layman a series of in-depth lectures that are tied to CMS’ public performances. A course new in the 2006-2007 season, Chamber Music Essentials, introduces newcomers to chamber music. All together, these programs demonstrate the leadership role CMSLC plays in assuring continued growth in the number of lives touched by chamber music.

National Touring Presence
In keeping with its mandate to reach a broad audience, CMSLC presents national and international tours and multi-concert series outside New York. In addition, CMS appears at some of the country’s most prestigious music festivals, including the Lincoln Center, Mostly Mozart and Ravinia festivals. CMSLC has also performed throughout Canada and Mexico, Australia, Japan, and Israel. The ambitious level of touring activity amounts to over 40 concerts annually outside New York City. CMSLC is now represented by the prestigious artist management agency ICM Artists.

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