Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia This week we welcome another husband and wife duo to our virtual performance and interview series: Jessica Bodner and Daniel Chong of the Parker Quartet. Known for their “exceptional virtuosity and imaginative interpretation” (Washington Post), the acclaimed Parkers return to Philadelphia this December after a few years' absence. Their fifth appearance with the Society features two more PCMS favorites, violist Kim Kashkashian and cellist Efe Baltacigil, and a wonderful evening of Brahms, Strauss ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia It has been wonderful to read your responses to our video interviews and virtual performances with pianists Amy Yang and Shai Wosner. Thank you for watching! This week’s installment features J and Rachel Freivogel, a married couple who are half of the Jasper String Quartet, the fantastic, Philadelphia-based ensemble that returns to PCMS this fall. In the video below, J and Rachel share with us a special home performance, created for the PCMS audience, of works by Bach and James Tenney. The ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia Following our initial video Q&A and mini-performance with Amy Yang, this week we present another intimate video portrait of an artist appearing with PCMS this fall – the superb pianist Shai Wosner. Shai's upcoming recital (Dec. 4) marks his eighth appearance with the Society. Born in Israel and educated at Juilliard, he has gone on to have an internationally acclaimed career, performing a broad range of repertoire with a degree of virtuosity and intellectual curiosity that has led ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia Though absent from our concert halls, we have asked several artists who will be performing with PCMS next fall if they might be willing to partake in a short Q&A and share a special mini-performance with us from their homes. To our great delight, the majority have said yes. As many of these artists have young children, we are even more impressed that they are managing to find some quiet moments to speak and perform with us virtually. The first artist to join us is pianist Amy Yang, who will appear wit ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia Quatuor Ebène embarked on their “Beethoven Around the World” tour last year—giving some 40 concerts across 18 countries on all six continents. In conjunction with this tour, they recorded the complete cycle at seven venues—including the Perelman Theater! Although we had to cancel their two scheduled performances with the Society this month, we caught up with Raphaël Merlin, their founding cellist, to discuss Beethoven’s quartets, their "Beethoven Around the World" recording project (release date: May 15), and ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia Over the past several years, the Chamber Music Society has brought a variety of artists to work with Philadelphia Sinfonia musicians. This past fall, when the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) performed on our series, they took time on Saturday to coach the Sinfonia's advanced chamber orchestra. Afterwards, Adah Kaplan, an eighth grader who holds the Principal Chair of the Second Violins, wrote a first-hand account of the event. High Energy and Musicianship by Adah Kaplan Philadelphia Sinfonia Chamber Or ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia The London-based Belcea Quartet is celebrating their 25th year as a quartet this season! They have made the Beethoven quartets a central part of their standard repertoire, complete with a box set recording of the composer’s full cycle. On two consecutive nights this month, they will sample works from across Beethoven’s entire output. We spoke with Krzysztof Chorzelski, the quartet’s founding violist, about the inspiration of Beethoven on the quartet, the dynamics of the group in its current roster, and his sid ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia With an international career that finds her in both opera houses and concert halls, Ana María Martínez brings a program to Philadelphia that we don’t often hear—works by Rodrigo, Granados, Lecuona, de Falla, Moré, and Capó. In addition to promoting these unsung voices, this Grammy Award winner is a passionate advocate of young singers. We recently discussed her debut program with Craig Terry and her thoughts on beginning a career in music. Erik Petersons: You are bringing an all-Spanish program for your recita ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia Bridget Kibbey debuts with the Chamber Music Society on February 13 in collaboration with mandolin player Avi Avital. The pairing is a unique one, combining the grace of the harp with the energy of the mandolin. To get the background on this collaboration and their program, we connected with Bridget for a quick interview between her lessons for harp students at Bard College. Erik Petersons: You are appearing with Avi Avital on February 13. How did you know him and what is your collaboration like? Bridget Kibbe ..read more

Philadelphia Chamber Music Society - Your Choice for Classical Music in Philadelphia Hana Kim’s work as a projection designer adds a new dimension to the four Perelman Theater concerts in our Emerging Voices Project. Full text translations will be paired with still and moving images, projected on a large screen behind the artists, offering audiences a compelling way to follow the narrative and emotional arc of each song. We spoke with Hana about her work and how her experience immigrating to America has shaped her thoughts on the project. Erik Petersons: Tell us about your work as a projectio ..read more