Quintessentials

St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church

Victoria Bond’s Dancing on Glass evokes the unique musical language that has garnered accolades for this American composer and conductor. Scion for solo cello reveals Betsy Jolas, doyenne of Franco-American sophistication, still at the top of her game at age 97. Moritz Moszkowski’s Suite for Two Violins and Piano offers turn-of-the-century fireworks and we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel’s birth with his ravishing String Quartet

ELAN

Yaniv Dinur joins his NBSO colleagues for a performance of Brahms’s colossal Piano Quintet, one of the cornerstones of the chamber repertoire. A charming Trio by Philipp Scharwenka and Bohuslav Martinů’s riveting Duo No. 1 for Violin and Cello round out a program ablaze with heavenly inspiration.

Galaxy

Many thanks to Patty Plum Wylde, whose generous Gift of Music has made this concert possible. She dedicates her gift to all teachers of music for their devotion to the art of making music eternal.

Sing To Me

The recent passing of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho ended a brilliant career in the highest echelons of the music world. Aure, a work for violin and viola, demonstrates her mastery and originality. Danny Elfman, prolific film composer (Spider-Man, Good Will Hunting), singer, and percussionist, turns his protean talents to the Piano Quartet, with amazing results. The ravishing renegade Rebecca Clarke explores both modern concepts and ancient styles with her duo-concertante Dumka. Lastly, the autobiographical String Quartet No. 1 (“From My Life”) of Bedřich Smetana, father of Czech nationalist music, closes our season with one of the most beloved works in the chamber repertoire. 

Banquet

St Peter's Episcopal Church

St Gabriel's Church

One of America’s most eminent black composers of the early twentieth century, H. T. Burleigh wrote hundreds of art songs and introduced Antonin Dvořák to the spiritual. Southland Sketches, his suite for violin and piano, illustrates the American style that Burleigh did much to promulgate. By contrast, Dohnányi’s C minor Piano Quintet radiates high drama from first note to last. Britten’s second String Quartet, commissioned in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Henry Purcell’s death, was coincidentally composed following Britten’s recital tour of the newly-liberated concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen. Britten’s admiration for Purcell’s “clarity, brilliance, tenderness, and strangeness” as well as his horror of war’s depravity find voice in this deeply emotional work.

Trifecta

The addition of a second viola lifts the string quartet into a symphonic stratosphere, as we shall hear with Mendelssohn’s impassioned Second Quintet, Op. 87, and Dvorak’s sublime Third Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 97. Between these two blockbusters, the piano offers an amuse-bouche with selections from Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano by the arch-iconoclast John Cage. Bid midwinter doldrums adieu with this infusion of daring and delight.

Viva Viola

South Coast Chamber Music opens its season with a pair of virtuoso duos: Paul Wiancko’s American Haiku, a riveting fusion of Appalachian and Japanese folk idioms, and Grazyna Bacewicz’s timeless Suite on Folk Tunes. Beethoven makes an All Hallow’s Eve appearance with the remarkable “Ghost” Trio. Our program closes with an American gem that deserves serious reappraisal. Arthur Foote, born in Salem, a distinguished member of the “Boston Six”, was noted for many fine chamber works. His Piano Quintet, a feast of romantic Americana, rounds out a rich autumn cornucopia.

EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks

Events

Upcoming events

Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2026

Winter Fire · New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

28 - 29 Mar, 2026

Story Time · New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

2 - 3 May, 2026

Foursomes ·

Past events

22 - 23 Nov, 2025

Quintessentials · New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

29 - 30 Mar, 2025

ELAN · New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Violin in Three Pieces for String Quartet by Stravinsky

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

Violin in Piano Quintet in A major D.667 "The Trout" by Schubert

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

Violin in Piano Quintet No. 1 by Farrenc

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

Violin in String Quartet No. 2 by Prokofiev

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

Violin in A Tale for Two Violins by Najarian

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra

About

EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks hasn't added a bio