The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is one of twelve constituents of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the largest performing arts complex in the world. Along with other constituents such as the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center Theater, and The Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Music Society has its home at Lincoln Center, in Alice Tully Hall. Through its performance, education, and recording/broadcast activities, it draws more people to chamber music than any other organization of its kind.
CMS presents annual series of concerts and educational events for listeners ranging from connoisseurs to chamber music newcomers of all ages. Performing repertoire from over three centuries, and numerous premieres by living composers, CMS offers programs curated to provide listeners a comprehensive perspective on the art of chamber music. The performing artists of CMS, a multi-generational selection of expert chamber musicians, constitute an evolving repertory company capable of presenting chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period (see Artists of the Society and Guests). Its annual activities include a full season of concerts and events, national and international tours, nationally televised broadcasts on Live From Lincoln Center, a radio show broadcast nationwide, and regular appearances on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
In 2004, CMS appointed cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han artistic directors. They succeed founding director Charles Wadsworth (1969-89), Fred Sherry (1989-93), and David Shifrin (1993-2004).
Commitment to Artistic Excellence and Expanding the Chamber Music Repertoire
As the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music, CMS is committed to bringing audiences the finest performances of an extraordinary body of repertoire, dating as far back as the Renaissance and continuing through the centuries to the finest works of our time. As a compelling and dynamic means of artistic expression, chamber music has always inspired composers to create some of their finest works. Today, CMS actively supports composers’ efforts. In its history, CMS has commissioned over 150 new works from a formidable array of composers, including Bruce Adolphe, Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, George Crumb, Lukas Foss, John Harbison, Alberto Ginastera, Morton Gould, Keith Jarrett, Oliver Knussen, Gian Carlo Menotti, Darius Milhaud, Peter Schickele, Bright Sheng, Joan Tower, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. CMS also supports the work of living composers by awarding the Elise L. Stoeger Prize, a cash award given every other year to an outstanding composer of chamber music.
Artists of the Society, and Guests
When CMS was founded, live performance of chamber music was dominated by the string quartet. CMS drew together a small repertory company, nine of the finest string, wind, and keyboard artists, and started performing a rich array of repertoire not often heard on the concert stages of New York City. Since that time, the world of chamber music has grown and changed dramatically, with large numbers of ensembles across the country in varying instrumental combinations performing all imaginable kinds of chamber music – and CMS has grown and changed with it. CMS is now a company of some thirty-five artists with guest artists performing a wide range of concerts and education events. Among these artists are veteran favorites of CMS; newcomers to the core group of artists; young talents joining CMS through Chamber Music Society Two (a highly competitive three-year residency program); and guest artists who contribute to special repertoire projects.
Education Programs
Thousands of children and adults attend the educational programs of the Chamber Music Society through multiple points of entry into the world of live music making. From school-based programs, family concerts, and a specially designed teen concert series to pre-concert composer chats and intensive lectures on the season’s repertoire for adults, the CMS education department is dedicated to restoring the art of listening and to presenting the vast body of chamber music repertoire to audiences from a wide range of backgrounds, ages, and levels of musical knowledge.
Chamber Music Beginnings introduces New York City public school children from all five boroughs to chamber music. Junior high and high school student ensembles compete in the Young Ensembles program for the opportunity to be coached by CMS artist and then to experience the thrill of performing in Alice Tully Hall. The Student Producers is a unique program for high school students, offering them the chance to create and produce their own programs for their peers. The program was featured in a New York Times Arts and Leisure feature. Meet the Music! is a popular concert series drawing families together for a humorous and entertaining approach to classical music. Inside Chamber Music offers the interested layman a series of in-depth lectures that are tied to CMS’ public performances. Chamber Music Essentials, introduces newcomers to chamber music. All together, these programs demonstrate the leadership role CMS plays in assuring continued growth in the number of lives touched by chamber music.
National Touring Presence
In keeping with its mandate to reach a broad audience, CMS presents national and international tours and multi-concert series outside New York. In addition, CMS appears at some of the country’s most prestigious music festivals, including the Lincoln Center, Mostly Mozart and Ravinia festivals. CMS has also performed throughout Canada and Mexico, Australia, Japan, and Israel. The ambitious level of touring activity amounts to over 40 concerts annually outside New York City. CMS is represented by the prestigious artist management agency Opus 3 Artists.
National Radio Presence
CMS launched its own national radio series in the 2003-2004 season. This series of thirteen one hour programs featured live performances by CMS. In its first season, the series was picked up by 245 commercial and non-commercial stations throughout the country. The series has since been expanded to twenty-six programs.
In addition, performances from CMS are featured regularly on American Public Media’s series Performance Today.
CMS’ Discography
In 2007, the Chamber Music Society launched its first ever in-house recording label, CMS Studio Recordings. Its mission is to capture selected CMS performances under optimal recording conditions using the latest audiophile technology, offering recordings of the highest possible quality. The first release under the new label features works of Beethoven and Dvorak,
CMS’s discography ranges from Bach to Zwilich and includes critically acclaimed recordings of Dvorák’s Serenade and Quintet, Beethoven’s Septet and Serenade, music by Carl Maria von Weber, and Walton’s Façade with Lynn Redgrave as narrator. Fi Magazine named CMS’s recording of Bach’s Complete Brandenburg Concertos “one of the best recordings of the year” in 1996. Recent releases include Mendelssohn Sextet, Op. 110 & Octet, Op. 20 and the Grammy-nominated The Complete Chamber Music of Claude Debussy, both on the Delos label.
History
In 1965, as plans for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts were in the final stages, the distinguished American composer and President of Lincoln Center, William Schuman, first conceived of an organization dedicated to performing the finest chamber music. This organization, to be housed in its own specially designed recital hall, would take its place among the finest ballet, symphonic and opera companies at Lincoln Center. Charles Wadsworth took on the challenge of the creation and artistic direction of the organization. With the patronage and inspiring leadership of Alice Tully, the plan was brought to fruition. On September 11, 1969, Alice Tully Hall opened with the first performance of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, beginning a new era for chamber music in the United States. The eager audiences that filled Alice Tully Hall welcomed the opportunity to hear over three centuries of music written by history’s great composers.
In addition to its ability to regularly program an enormous variety of chamber works, the achievements of CMS include innovative projects such as collaborations with the Bill T. Jones/Arne Zane Dance Company and Jazz at Lincoln Center, thematic “series within a series” such as two “Musical Evolutions” examinations and specially focused Winter Festvivals, and the highly successful “Great Day in New York,” which brought together New York composers in all genres of music for a festival in collaboration with Merkin Concert Hall. With its success, the Chamber Music Society helped inspire phenomenal growth in the field of chamber music.
Artistic Directors: Biography
Current artistic directors cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han rank among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world today. The talent, energy, imagination and, dedication they bring to their multi-faceted endeavors as concert performers, recording artists, educators, artistic administrators and cultural entrepreneurs, go unmatched. Their duo performances take them to some of the most prestigious venues and concert series across the United States, including San Francisco Performances, Stanford Lively Arts, New York’s Lincoln Center and 92nd Street Y, Washington’s Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institute, and Dumbarton Oaks, Wisconsin’s Union Theater, Milwaukee’s Pabst Theater, UCLA’s Performing Arts Series, the University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall, Princeton University Concerts, the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium, the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, New Orleans Friends of Chamber Music, Santa Barbara’s UCSB Arts and Letters, and Aspen’s Harris Concert Hall.
The duo’s international engagements have taken them to Mexico, Canada, the Far East, Scandinavia, and continental Europe to unanimous critical acclaim. Highlights from recent seasons include their debuts in Germany and at Finland’s Kuhmo Festival, their presentation of the complete Beethoven cycle in Tokyo, and their signature all-Russian program at London’s Wigmore Hall.
David Finckel and Wu Han’s wide-ranging musical activities also include the launch of ArtistLed, the first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company. All seven ArtistLed recordings have received critical acclaim and are available via the company’s Web site at www.artistled.com. The duo’s “Russian Classics” recording, featuring works by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich, received BBC Music Magazine’s coveted “Editor’s Choice” award. The 2005-2006 season saw ArtistLed’s eighth release, featuring the cello sonatas of Johannes Brahms.
In recognition of their widespread contributions to the field of chamber music and their artistic excellence both on and off stage, David Finckel and Wu Han were named Artistic Directors of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 2004. They are also the founders and Artistic Directors of Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival in Silicon Valley that has garnered international acclaim since its inception in 2003. Prior to launching Music@Menlo, Wu Han and David Finckel served for three seasons as Artistic Directors of SummerFest La Jolla. For many years, David Finckel and Wu Han taught alongside the late Isaac Stern at Carnegie Hall and the Jerusalem Music Center. They appear annually on the Aspen Music Festival’s Distinguished Artist Master Class series, and in various educational outreach programs across the country. David Finckel and Wu Han reside in New York with their daughter Lilian.
Last updated November 2009. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
