2010/2011 Season Schedule

Subscribe now to our seven-concert series.
Tickets to individual concerts
will be available at the door.

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Concert 1. Saturday, October 9, 2010, 8 p.m.
Lincoln Middle School

Pacifica Quartet
When New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art sought a new quartet-in-residence -- a position the Guarneri Quartet had held for 42 years -- they chose the Pacifica. And little wonder! The Pacifica also was named 2009 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America, received a 2009 Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance, and continues to leave journalists searching for new superlatives: "stupendous, breath-taking" extolled the reviewer of the Sunday Times, London. Click here to view their website.

Program Schumann: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1 Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3 in F Major, Op.73 Beethoven: String Quartet in C Major, Op.59, No.3

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Concert 2. Saturday, November 13, 2010, 8 p.m.
Lincoln Middle School

Walden Chamber Players
The outstanding musicians of this Boston-based ensemble have important careers on their own: as soloists, as teachers in major conservatories, as members of the Boston Symphony, Orpheus, and other organizations. Performing as an ensemble since 1997, they draw on their rich resources including string and wind instruments and piano to create varied and stimulating programs. "A season spent with the Walden Chamber Players is a time for discovery." -- Chamber Music America. Click here to view their website.

Program Schubert: Adagio and Rondo Concertant for Piano and String Trio in F Major, D.487 Brahms: Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op.114 Penderecki: Quartet for Clarinet and String Trio Dohnanyi: Sextet for Horn, Clarinet, Strings and Piano in C Major, Op. 37

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Concert 3. Saturday, December 4, 2010, 8 p.m.
Lincoln Middle School

Aulos Ensemble
During the past three decades, the many recordings of the Aulos Ensemble have created a new enthusiasm among the listening public for the joys of hearing Telemann, Bach, Vivaldi and their contemporaries on authentic Baroque instruments. "The performances were by far the most exhilarating examples of Baroque playing these ears have heard," praised the San Francisco Examiner. Click here to view their website.

Program Music at Versailles: A Royal Entertainment Rameau: Suite from "Les Fêtes d'Hébé" Couperin: 3ème Concert Royal Balbastre: La Castelmore; La Morisseau; La Malesherbe Rameau: Suite from "Les Indes Galantes"

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Concert 4. Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 7:30 p.m.*
Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, 5299 Jamesville Road, DeWitt

Quintessential Quintets
"Quintessence: the most perfect embodiment of something." Hear stars of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra in music for brass quintet, wind quintet and string quintet by composers such as Mozart, Brahms, and Milhaud exploring the "concentrated essence" of each family of instruments. We always schedule this special concert on a Tuesday evening so that musicians from the SSO can take part. *Please note the earlier time and different location.

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Concert 5. Saturday, February 19, 8 p.m.
Lincoln Middle School

Brentano String Quartet
We welcome the Brentano back for their third SFCM appearance. We're not alone in thinking them splendid: they enjoyed the coveted distinction of inaugurating Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society Two, they have been quartet-in-residence at London's distinguished Wigmore Hall and since 1999 they have been Princeton's first and only resident string quartet. "Passionate, uninhibited, and spellbinding" raves the London Independent. Click here to view their website.

Program Mozart: String Quartet No.15 in D minor, K.421 Berg: String Quartet Op.3 Renaissance music: short works by Orlando Gibbons and others Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op.135

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Concert 6. Saturday, March 12, 2011, 8 p.m.
Lincoln Middle School

Ames Piano Quartet
One of the few piano quartets in the world, the Ames Piano Quartet combines a lush string sound with the orchestral quality of the piano to produce an exquisite and rare sonority. Based at Iowa State University, the Quartet has concertized to great acclaim internationally, and made eleven highly praised recordings. Fanfare named their CD of Dvorak Quartets "one of the best chamber music recordings of the century." Click here to view their website.

Program Mozart: Piano Quartet in G minor, K.478 Schoenfield: Carolina Reveille Brahms: Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, Op.25

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Saturday, April 2, 2011, 8 p.m.
Lincoln Middle School

Ebène Quartet (Quatuor Ebène)
This young French ensemble deserves the reputation it has already gained in Europe. The Ebène received rave reviews in all the major U.S. cities on their debut tour last spring. Since their dramatic 2004 triumph at Munich's ARD international competition, the Ebène have gone on to be one of the foremost quartets on the international scene. Recently they won the Gramophone 2009 Record of the Year Award. Acclaimed for their performances of Debussy, Ravel and Fauré, the Ebène play jazz with equal facility. "...a rare degree of expressive subtlety, blended sonorities and electrifying joy." -- The Times, London. Click here to view their website.

Program Mozart: String Quartet in C Major, K.465 "Dissonance" Bartók: String Quartet No.3 Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10