From ragtime to music for ballet and film, this program showcases American music in a wide range of styles from four of its greatest composers: William Bolcom, an American icon as prolific as Mozart; Amy Beach, who broke the gender barrier with works of genius; Bernard Herrmann, a New York City wunderkind who took Hollywood by storm; and Aaron Copland, whose music personified the American spirit.

EPSG:4326

Copland's Appalachian Spring

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

The timeless art of the recital lives on thanks to present-day virtuosos. Experience the musical journeys curated by this season's thrilling performers.

Bella Hristova & Gloria Chien

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

In a program where music evolves from work to work, all roads lead to Mendelssohn, who assimilated and combined the best of his predecessors during the midst of the Romantic era. The wit of Haydn, the strength of Beethoven, and the lyricism of Schubert all found a home in Mendelssohn’s prolific pen. Join us for an exciting journey from the elegant Age of Reason into the turbulent 19th century.

Madison, NJ

Drew University

CMS Kids offers relaxed, interactive concerts for children and their families. These informal performances welcome all young listeners, including those with sensory sensitivities.

CMS Kids: Building Blocks of Music

In a program where music evolves from work to work, all roads lead to Mendelssohn, who assimilated and combined the best of his predecessors during the midst of the Romantic era. The wit of Haydn, the strength of Beethoven, and the lyricism of Schubert all found a home in Mendelssohn’s prolific pen. Join us for an exciting journey from the elegant Age of Reason into the turbulent 19th century. 

Mendelssohn's B-minor Piano Quartet

The journey from Beethoven’s first piano sonata to his last is among the most astonishing and consequential achievements in the history of music. In this lecture series, Gilles Vonsattel complements his season-long exploration of the sonatas, providing a listener’s guide and an interpreter’s perspective from the piano. This 75-minute lecture explores different facets of Beethoven’s creative process and his development as a composer.

Beethoven Lecture I

Get up close and personal to the art of chamber music in the Rose Studio at CMS, our most intimate venue. Discover the splendor of chamber music like never before with both classics and rarities of the repertoire.

Czerny & Brahms

With the death of Johann Sebastian Bach in 1750, shortly after he completed his Musical Offering, the Baroque era began transitioning to the Classical style. Among its leaders were Bach’s immensely talented sons, whose works in this program pay respect to tradition while establishing a fresh, popular musical aesthetic.

Bach and Sons: Passing the Torch

Beethoven Lecture II

Only the most fortunate musicians get to perform two of the greatest piano quartets ever composed on the same program. When you throw in a third piece that could have been in that league, had Mahler finished more than this single movement, you have a chamber music concert made in heaven, for players and listeners alike.

Phoenix, AZ Masters of the Piano Quartet

Camelback Bible Church

Poignant string quartet miniatures, the last in the genre by both Haydn and Mendelssohn, set the stage for one of Schubert’s Winterreise. Finished during the composer’s final year, the song cycle follows a wanderer who, in the great Romantic tradition, searches in vain for the unattainable. As he trudges through snow and ice, his sanity leaves him as he talks to crows, trees, and finally, a barefoot hurdy-gurdy player, whom he asks to accompany his songs. Indeed, in the end, the wanderer appears to be Schubert himself.  

Schubert's Winterreise

CMS is thrilled to present one of the greatest cycles of music ever created: Ludwig van Beethoven's sonatas for solo piano.

Esteemed pianist Gilles Vonsattel presents this monumental cycle in eight concerts spanning the entire season. Possessing consummate technique, stylistic integrity, and probing intellect, he has emerged as a descendant of history's most celebrated Beethoven interpreters.

Beethoven Piano Sonatas V

This engaging evening of chamber music features works by Dvořák, Mozart, and Weber. Dvořák’s Miniatures for Two Violins and Viola, written for family friends of the composer with Dvořák himself intending to play the viola part, offer a set of intimate character pieces that highlight the warmth of the string trio. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A major, one of his crowning chamber works and the first great clarinet quintet ever written, established the instrument as a central voice in the repertoire through its effortless dialogue with the strings. The evening concludes with Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B-flat major, a practically operatic work that explores the instrument’s extraordinary technical possibilities and impressive range.

Chicago, IL Virtuosic Clarinet Quintets

Harris Theater

Go behind the scenes as leading artists mentor the next generation of chamber musicians. Audiences will witness CMS artists working directly with emerging ensembles from across the country as they share ideas, refine interpretations, and bring the music to life in real time.

Daniel Phillips, violin

CMS's 2027 Vero Beach season opens with this engaging performance of chamber music from Dvořák, Mozart, and Weber. Dvořák’s Miniatures for Two Violins and Viola, written for family friends of the composer with Dvořák himself intending to play the viola part, offer a set of intimate character pieces that highlight the warmth of the string trio. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A major, one of his crowning chamber works and the first great clarinet quintet ever written, established the instrument as a central voice in the repertoire through its effortless dialogue with the strings. The evening concludes with Weber’s Clarinet Quintet in B-flat major, a practically operatic work that explores the instrument’s extraordinary technical possibilities and impressive range. Join CMS and our artists in this celebratory evening, hosted in our new space at the Community Church of Vero Beach.

Vero Beach, FL

The Community Church of Vero Beach

Only the most fortunate musicians get to perform two of the greatest piano quartets ever composed on the same program. When you throw in a third piece that could have been in that league, had Mahler finished more than this single movement, you have a chamber music concert made in heaven, for players and listeners alike. 

Mahler, Brahms, and Schumann

Join distinguished composer and public radio personality Bruce Adolphe for investigations and insights into masterworks performed during the Alice Tully Hall season. Inside Chamber Music lectures are beloved by regulars and a revelation to first timers for their depth, accessibility and brilliance.

Grieg's Quartet in G minor for Strings, Op. 27

Fibich & Martinů

Author Kahlil Gibran’s prophet said: “The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.” The ability of classical music to mourn is one of its most powerful facets, here on full display in a program devoted to sadness, remembrance, and ultimate triumph in Taneyev’s uplifting quintet.

Rachmaninoff and Taneyev

Mozart's Quartet in D minor for Strings, K. 421

CMS Kids offers relaxed, interactive concerts for children and their families. These informal performances welcome all young listeners, including those with sensory sensitivities.

Every CMS Kids event offers a Relaxed Performance, fostering an inclusive concert experience free from judgment. This performance is less formal and more supportive of sensory, communication, movement, and learning needs. Learn more about what to expect here. Kids explore chamber music through movement and play, then enjoy an up-close session with musicians and an instrument petting zoo.

CMS Kids: Musical Moods

The greatest pianist of his era left a wealth of music for the keyboard, from 27 piano concertos to 18 sonatas. Always inventing, Mozart composed history’s first piano quartet as well as standard-setting violin sonatas and solo works, all featured on this program. 

Mozart and the Piano

Mozart's Fantasia in C minor for Piano, K. 475

Both a gesture of respect and a claim of musical territory, Mozart’s six “Haydn” quartets were dedicated to the father of the genre in 1785. Declaring Mozart “the greatest composer known to me” after hearing them, Haydn rightly foresaw a place for these works in the pantheon of string quartets, each incomparable in skill, beauty, and invention.

Mozart: The "Haydn" Quartets

Beethoven Piano Sonatas VI

Experience music of the late 20th and 21st centuries, including premieres, in the intimate setting of the Rose Studio at CMS. Designed in collaboration with CMS artists, Sonic Spectrum concerts are an opportunity to hear the boundaries of chamber music expanded in real time.

Sonic Spectrum III 2027

Introduce your children to the fundamentals of classical music in a warm and inviting atmosphere. Host Bruce Adolphe guides families through engaging musical journeys, featuring his well-known character Inspector Pulse, the world's greatest and only "private ear."

At a music school led by robot teachers, the students play accurately but with no emotion. Inspector Pulse saves the day, coaching a trio of piano, cello, and clarinet students in how to bring real feeling into their performances of Chopin, Fauré, Poulenc, and Brahms.

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Oct 13, 2026

Copland's Appalachian Spring

Oct 15, 2026

Bella Hristova & Gloria Chien

Oct 17 - Dec 12, 2026

Madison, NJ

Oct 18, 2026

CMS Kids: Building Blocks of Music

Oct 18, 2026

Mendelssohn's B-minor Piano Quartet

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center