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Opening night belongs to the renowned Sphinx Virtuosi, which returns to PCMS for a fifth consecutive season, this time with the gifted young cellist Sterling Elliott as the featured soloist. Comprising 18 of the nation’s top Black and Latinx classical soloists, the “vibrant” and “rhapsodic” Virtuosi (New York Times) bring to PCMS a program titled Visions of Peace which offers a unique convergence of musical voices that usher us into a realm where music becomes an emissary of peace and unity. Sphinx writes: “We hope to lift every voice and remember our complex history while looking toward our shared journey as we face a brighter tomorrow. We explore peace while remembering the conflict of past and present and recognizing the repeated history and the resilience of the human spirit.”

Lauded as “everywhere sharp-edged and engaging” (New York Times), The Sebastians are a dynamic and vital ensemble specializing in music of the baroque and classical eras. They have been praised for their “well-thought-out articulation and phrasing” (Early Music Review) and “elegant string playing… immaculate in tuning and balance” (Early Music Today). For their PCMS debut, The Sebastians are joined by soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon, a PCMS favorite who is noted for her “dazzling, virtuoso singing” (Boston Globe).

PCMS welcomes back the Belcea Quartet—praised for their “superior artistry… full of style, feeling, and expressive depth” (New York Classical Review). The Belcea’s return to the Kimmel Center features a Philadelphia premiere by one of Europe’s most esteemed composers, Brett Dean; the last of the quintessential string quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn (who, upon hearing it, immediately declared Mozart “the greatest composer I know, either personally or by reputation”); and the bittersweet potency of Beethoven’s final complete opus.

For her seventh solo recital with PCMS, British pianist Imogen Cooper returns to Perelman Theater for an evening of works that showcases her stunning virtuosity, graceful lyricism, and poetic interpretations. Among the finest interpreters of the Classical and Romantic repertoire, Cooper presents a recital that includes both sets of Schubert’s impromptus—eight “Poems in Sound” that are flowing, evocative, and reflective of the rhythms of the heart and soul of life itself.

PCMS delights in highlighting the Jasper Quartet, one of today’s preeminent American string quartets which also happens to call Philadelphia home. Hailed as being “expressively assured and beautifully balanced” (Gramophone), the ensemble is joined for this concert by Julietta Curenton, a flutist known for her “bold and dramatically characterized playing” (Dallas Morning News) and a “tone that draws in one’s ear with sounds and ideas that simply cannot be resisted” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Famous for its energy and passion, the Paris-based Modigliani Quartet brings a stylish precision to every performance. The ensemble begins their PCMS program with Hungarian composer György Kurtág’s set of tiny Zen koans, each of its 12 microludes exacting the utmost of the modern “sound byte” attention span, or, in the best sense of a 12-course tasting menu, a delicious series of sound bites. The Modiglianis then turn their attention to Beethoven, concluding the evening with one of the more famous quartets from the composer’s middle period. The C Major Quartet has acquired the nickname Eroica because of its glorious, triumphant finale.

Revered for the intelligence and depth of her interpretations, Beatrice Rana is sought-after worldwide for playing that has a delicate, almost weightless quality. Her gift for weaving gossamer textures comes to the fore in a program matched by a fearless technical address that blurs dreams and reality. In a recital that covers a kaleidoscopic range of colors and styles, Rana makes her PCMS recital debut with some of the most demanding and dazzling music written for piano.

Greatly admired for his years with the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri Quartet, cellist Peter Wiley makes his annual PCMS appearance—this time in recital with Anna Polonsky, “a chamber musician of exceptional refinement” (New York Times). At the heart of this concert are two masterpieces for cello and piano by Brahms and Mendelssohn. Brahms’s first cello sonata has its roots firmly planted in the music of the past—almost as if he was turning his back on his wild, young self. Mendelssohn’s second cello sonata also demonstrates the pathos of the Romantic period, while remaining grounded in the tenets of Classicism inherited from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven

For 60 years, the Musicians from Marlboro touring program has brought memorable performances from Vermont’s legendary chamber music school and festival to national audiences. The first of three Marlboro touring ensembles this season is led by Lysander Trio violinist Itamar Zorman. Their program features Britten’s Phantasy for string trio and oboe, his first work to gain major international recognition, as well as Shostakovich’s introspective, sardonic, and elegiac String Quartet No. 8, a work dedicated to the victims of war and fascism. The program concludes with the youthful brilliance of the 16-year-old Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in A Major.

PCMS audiences were enthralled by lutenist Thomas Dunford’s first two Philadelphia appearances with his Jupiter Ensemble and with soprano Lea Desandre. Now this passionate interpreter of early music—with a galaxy of awards and starry collaborations behind him—returns to PCMS with cellist Nicolas Altstaedt, an artist equally acclaimed in his own sphere, with rave reviews of his performances on both modern and gut strings. Delight in a rare combination of instruments and talents, as two young princes of the concert stage join forces for a program spanning from the early Baroque to the late Romantic period.