Radius Ensemble returns to Longy for a winter concert that will warm you up with four ravishing works representing the four seasons. First, Summer Dreams, a whimsical duo for piano four hands (two pianists at one instrument) by the famed Boston composer from the turn of the last century, Amy Beach. Next comes the world premiere of Autumn Music, a work for winds and strings by the contemporary Boston composer Michael Gandolfi, commissioned by Suzanne Bass to celebrate the life of her late husband, Henry. With the help of mezzo-soprano Sophie Michaux, we’ll immerse ourselves in Caroline Shaw’s sumptuous non-denominational Winter Carol… perhaps we’ll get you to sing along! And close with a stunning arrangement by Jon Russell of Stravinsky’s iconic Rite of Spring. Take that, Vivaldi!

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Seasons | Radius Ensemble | Artistic Partner

Longy School of Music of Bard College

Radius Ensemble opens their 27th concert season with Augusta Read Thomas’s contemplative Rumi Settings, exploring the “exquisite humanity and raw soul” of the 13th-century mystic and poet Rumi. Next, an early quartet by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, written while he was a student in Paris. Aaron Copland’s Quiet City for trumpet, English horn, and piano was originally written for a play that closed after only three nights but whose score continues to resonate. Finally, Radius closes with a dazzling work by the Chinese-American composer Fang Man, telling the story of the four dragons who sacrificed themselves for humanity. Celebrity chef and tenor Jason Wang narrates.

Chronicles | Radius Ensemble | Artistic Partner

The anniversary season finale unfolds as the quintessential Radius concert—eclectic and dynamic, each piece the Epitome of its type. The swashbuckling biography of Joseph Bologne, aka the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, belies a sensitive musical voice that comes through in a capstone collection of sonatas for violin and viola, including the opus posthumous B-flat major sonata featured here. Post-modernist par excellence, George Crumb creates a spellbinding and immersive soundscape that recalls the songs of humpback whales in his now classic work Vox balaenae (Voice of the Whale) for amplified flute, cello, and piano. Trademark pulsing and rich harmonies pervade New York Counterpoint for clarinet and tape by minimalist icon Steve Reich. Finally, a new work by hometown hero and longtime friend of Radius, Elena Ruehr, brings the season to a climactic close. Inspired by Mondrian’s painting Broadway Boogie Woogie, the piece includes all members of the ensemble to commemorate 25 years.

Radius Ensemble | Epitome

Geographic points characterize the second program—each Locus with its particular flavor and patois. Composer Shawn Okpebholo combines extended techniques with the breathy cadence of the bamboo shakuhachi in the virtuosic solo flute work, On a Poem by Miho Nonaka “Harvard Square,” evoking the poet’s native Japan. Chinese-American composer Chen Yi’s serene Tibetan Tunes for clarinet, cello, and piano draws inspiration from Tibetan folk melodies and dances. Missy Mazzoli brings an affecting and deceptive simplicity to her Still Live with Avalanche for flutes, clarinets, violin, cello, piano, and percussion. Next comes a new work by local rising star Lavell Blackwell, followed by the delightful tongue-and-cheek silliness of Luciano Berio’s Opus Number Zoo, a Radius signature.

Radius Ensemble | Locus

Gnarly blues and blistering cross-rhythms launch the 2023-24 season at full-speed with Filter for solo violin by the genre-bending Haitian-American composer Daniel Bernard Roumain. The luxuriant Shining Gate of Morpheus for horn and strings by Eleanor Alberga, a British composer of Jamaican descent, compliments a world premiere for flute, oboe, and clarinet by longtime Radius collaborator and Boston local Curtis Hughes. Igor Stravinsky’s own trio arrangement of L’Histoire du Soldat, a neo-classical Parable, brings the concert to a close. L’Histoire du Soldat is the Faustian tale of a soldier who makes a fateful trade with the Devil: his violin for a book that can predict the future.

Radius Ensemble

Feb 26, 2026

Seasons | Radius Ensemble | Artistic Partner

Oct 9, 2025

Chronicles | Radius Ensemble | Artistic Partner

Radius Ensemble