EDWARD ARRON, CELLO A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician, throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The 2024-25 season marks Mr. Arron’s 12th season as the co-artistic director with his wife, Jeewon Park, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet and he is a regular performer at the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, Caramoor, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, Music in the Vineyards Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland. Other festival appearances include Salzburg, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Mostly Mozart, PyeongChang, Bravo! Vail, Bridgehampton, Spoleto USA, Santa Fe, Evian, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Chesapeake Chamber Music, and the Bard Music Festival. Mr. Arron’s performances are frequently broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today . In 2021, Mr. Arron’s recording of Beethoven’s Complete Works for Cello and Piano with pianist Jeewon Park was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label. The recording received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron currently serves on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

PHOTO GALLERY

November 15, 2015 – Jeremy Denk, piano; Stefan Jackiw, violin CÉSAR FRANCK (1822-1890) Violin Sonata in A major, M. 8 November 15, 2015 – Jeremy Denk, piano; Stefan Jackiw, violin César Franck, organist at St. Clothilde and professor of organ at the Paris Conservatory, influenced a generation of composers including d’Indy, Chausson, Duparc, and Vierne, yet was not prolific himself as a composer. He was a late achiever par excellence: he completed his only Symphony when he was sixty-six, and he composed his memorable chamber works, the Piano Quintet and Violin Sonata, just several years before, with the String Quartet closely following the Symphony. There is no telling what he might have achieved had he not died in 1890 at age sixty-seven. Franck’s concern for thematic unity led to the use of what his disciple and enthusiastic champion Vincent d’Indy called the “cyclic” principle—the use of similar thematic material in two or more movements in the same work. D’Indy related Franck’s cyclic procedures to Beethoven, who may have been his inspiration, but Franck’s structural ideas have much more in common with those of Liszt and his practice of deriving an entire work from one musical idea. The opening theme begins with a three-note “generating cell,” as d’Indy called it, that permeates the work. Almost immediately Franck shows his penchant for changing keys. As a teacher of organ, with composition mixed in, Franck grew uneasy when any student remained too long in one key—“Modulate, modulate!” he would urge, which was known to exasperate Debussy, who studied briefly in his class. Formally the first movement is based on this and another main theme that occurs only in piano interludes; the subjects alternate while passing through myriad keys. The presentation of the thematic material in this fashion and the lack of development give the movement the feel either of a prologue or of an inner movement. Originally Franck had conceived the movement in a slow tempo, but changed it to Allegretto after hearing it played by violin virtuoso Eugène Ysaÿe, to whom the work is dedicated. Full-fledged sonata form is saved for the second movement, which employs a bit of the generating cell and also introduces another theme that will return in the finale. The brilliance of this Allegro movement contrasts nicely with the poetic first movement and with the rhapsodic third movement. This Recitativo-Fantasia sounds improvisatory at the outset as Franck ruminates upon the generating cell. The final Fantasia section is dominated by another theme that will reappear in the finale and ends with an unexpected harmonic turn. The finale is remarkable for the exact imitation between the violin and piano—one of the famous examples of canonic writing in the literature—which appears four times like a rondo refrain. The intervening episodes are based on the materials of the previous movements. The Sonata was apparently given as a wedding present to Ysaÿe, who first performed it with pianist Léontine Bordes-Pène as the last work on an all-Franck concert at the Musée Moderne de Peinture in Brussels on December 16, 1886. D’Indy described that memorable late afternoon performance: It was already growing dark as the Sonata began. After the first Allegretto, the players could hardly read their music. Unfortunately, museum regulations forbade any artificial light whatever in rooms containing paintings; the mere striking of a match would have been an offense. The audience was about to be asked to leave, but, brimful with enthusiasm, they refused to budge. At this point, Ysaÿe struck his music stand with his bow, demanding, “Let’s go on!” Then, wonder of wonders, amid darkness that now rendered them virtually invisible, the two artists played the last three movements from memory with a fire and passion the more astonishing in that there was a total lack of the usual visible externals that enhance a concert performance. Music, wondrous and alone, held sovereign sway in the blackness of night. The miracle will never be forgotten by those present. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Founders Michael and Inmo Parloff Artistic Director Michael Parloff Artistic Advisory Board James Galway David Finckel Thomas Hampson Members of the Emerson String Quartet (Emeritus): Philip Setzer Eugene Drucker Lawrence Dutton Paul Watkins Executive Board Donald Reeder , Chairman of the Board Michael Parloff , P resident Warren F. Cooke , Vi ce President Elizabeth Forbes, Secretary Edward Lowentha l Peter Riemer Development Director Inmo Parloff Leadership Council Thomas and Heidi Ahlborn Anne Bosch Catherine Cooke Eugene Cornell and Susan Mayo Paul Gridley Christina Hembree Adrian and Christina Jones Gary Knapp Ronald and Mollie Ledwith Thomas and Carol Martin Dorothy Neff Barry Poskanzer and Mary Krugman Suzanne Taranto Donald and Gigo Taylor

October 17, 2021: Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Brook Speltz, cello; Roman Rabinovich, piano JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809) Piano Trio in G, Hob. XV: 25 (“Gypsy”) October 17, 2021: Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Brook Speltz, cello; Roman Rabinovich, piano Ethnomusicology—the comparative study of musics of the world, music as part of culture, and music of oral tradition—has only been considered a formal scholarly discipline since the 1880s. Yet the study of non-Western music dates back to the Renaissance with occasional flowerings in subsequent periods. Liszt in the Romantic period, for example, published The Gypsies and Their Music in Hungary (1859). In this context Haydn’s “ethnomusicological” activities in the Classic era prove intriguing. Haydn biographer Giuseppe Carpani (plagiarized by Stendhal in his well-known Haydn biography, translated in 1817 by William Gardiner) reported: Some years after Haydn’s establishment at Eisenstadt, when he had formed his style, he sought food for his imagination, by diligently collecting those ancient and original airs, which are to be found among the peoples of every country. The Ukraine, Hungary, Scotland, Germany, Sicily, Spain, Russia were laid under contribution by him. Though this passage confuses Haydn’s arrangements of folk tunes for British publishers with his other real use of folk tunes, it does speak to Haydn’s genuine interest in folk song. He was particularly interested in Hungarian-Gypsy lore (and their food!), a natural result of the geographical position of Esterháza in Hungary. The Esterházys’ appreciation of Hungarian-Gypsy folk music is reflected in an engraving made in 1791 from a drawing by Carl Schütz of an elaborate ceremony at the Esterházy castle that includes a Gypsy band playing off to the side. Haydn’s love of Hungarian-Gypsy melodies manifests itself from the 1760s through the 1790s. Haydn made no distinction (as in Bartók’s later painstaking work) between Hungarian and Gypsy music, using the label “Rondo all’ongarese” in his D major Piano Concerto (c. 1780) and “Rondo, in the Gypsies’ stile” (so-labeled in the authentic Longman & Broderip print) in the present G major Trio (1795). Hungarian scholar Ervin Major noted that the folk tunes Haydn used in his Finale are of particular significance for the history of Hungarian music: the dance melodies woven into [the Trio] belong to our earliest hitherto known recruiting [verbunkos] dances: among our more notable records, only the Hungarian dances of József Bengráf (1790) and four Hungarian dances in the ‘Hadi és más Nevezetes Történetek’ are of an earlier date. Bibliographic details on the wealth of information about Haydn’s borrowed folk melodies can be found in H. C. Robbins Landon’s monumental multivolume Haydn study. Some of Haydn’s Hungarian melodies, with slight variances, are paralleled in an 1805 publication issued by the Vienna “Chemische Druckerey.” The variances seem to indicate that Haydn used them as he knew them, possibly from childhood, without referring to any publication. Haydn’s Gypsy Trio was one of Three Trios, op. 73, probably the last compositions he wrote on his final English sojourn. He dedicated them to Mrs. Rebecca Schroeter, a piano student of his in London who had helped him with certain business matters and with whom he kept up a correspondence after his return to Austria. His piano trios at that time were called “sonatas for pianoforte with the accompaniment of a violin and violoncello”; accordingly the piano part is most prominent though the violin occasionally dominates as in the E minor variation in the first movement and the middle section of the Poco adagio second movement. The cello almost always reinforces the piano’s bass line. In his use of a leisurely (Andante) movement to begin the Trio, Haydn followed his old sonata da chiesa (church sonata) pattern of the 1760s. This lovely set of variations is followed, however, by an even slower second movement that presents a different harmonic world. The triplet accompaniment pattern of the slow movement continues through the three sections of the A-B-A form; a nice touch occurs in the penultimate bar when the cello alone continues the triplet motion. Haydn’s use of a leisurely movement followed by an even slower one intensifies the effect of his brilliant “Gypsy” Finale, which made this Trio an enormous favorite in England and soon after on the continent. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

ALEX BROWN, JAZZ PIANO Setting the tone for the second decade of the 21st century, pianist Alex Brown kicked it off with a feature article in the January 2010 issue of Keyboard magazine. His reputation continues expanding via his notable performances with everyone from innovative saxophonist Miguel Zenon to the legendary Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. A member of Paquito D’Rivera’s ensemble since 2007, he shared in that ensemble’s 2010 Grammy nomination for D’Rivera’s album, Jazz-Clazz. Of Brown’s 2010 debut CD with his own ensemble, Pianist, DownBeat magazine proclaimed it “A really fine record that leaves you wanting more.” This just a year after his 2009 graduation with a Bachelor of Music from New England Conservatory where he studied with Danilo Perez and Charlie Banacos, among others. Due to his diverse influences, classical, rhythm and blues, hip-hop, Afro-Caribbean, and Brazilian styles all co-mingle—naturally and infectiously—in Brown’s music. Doubtlessly, this versatility contributed to his collecting an array of student and young composer awards from ASCAP, DownBeat magazine, and BMI, propelling him towards a professional career. Now in Alex Brown’s rear-view mirror are appearances at top jazz venues and festivals, including: Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater, Birdland, Blue Note in New York (and Tokyo), Blues Alley in Washington, D.C., the Telluride Jazz Celebration, and Israel’s Red Sea Jazz Festival.

April 2, 2023: ETTORE CAUSA, VIOLA; BORIS BERMAN, PIANO JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) Sonata in E-flat for viola and piano, Op. 120, No. 2 April 2, 2023: ETTORE CAUSA, VIOLA; BORIS BERMAN, PIANO This rich, warm product of Brahms’s later years was originally conceived for the clarinet. While writing his G major String Quintet in the summer of 1890 at Ischl, his holiday haunt, Brahms decided he would retire from composing. Yet the following spring he became so enamored of the playing of Richard Mühlfeld, principal clarinetist of the Meiningen orchestra, that in the next few years he wrote four works all featuring the instrument: the Clarinet Trio and the Clarinet Quintet, both composed mostly in the summer of 1891, and the two Clarinet Sonatas, op. 120, written in the summer of 1894. In order to reach a wider audience Brahms also produced alternate versions of all these works, substituting the viola for the clarinet. He even made violin versions of the Trio and of the two Sonatas. Brahms was drawn to Mühlfeld as a musician, not for his flash and technical brilliance, but for his warm tone, sophistication, and sensitivity—qualities Brahms emphasized in the four late clarinet works. The composer accompanied Mühlfeld in the first private performance of the Sonatas in November 1894 and also in the first public performances in January 1895. In arranging the Sonatas for viola Brahms transposed certain passages an octave lower and introduced some double stops, but the works were already well suited for the deep, mellifluous tone of the viola; the piano part was left unchanged. With these Sonatas Brahms broke new ground in the repertoire for both the clarinet and the viola. The Sonatas follow Brahms’s tendency to compose in pairs—usually contrasting in character. The F minor Sonata displays storminess in its first movement and ebullience in its last, framing more intimate inner movements in a fairly traditional four-movement framework. The E-flat major Sonata projects a more relaxed feeling in its outer movements, which surround an impassioned scherzo—a less orthodox three-movement sequence. The E-flat major first movement, Brahms’s last in sonata form, shows just how pliable the form could be in his hands. The songful, amabile (amiable) main theme is immediately varied, leading succinctly to his second theme, which as in many of his works is a theme group. Brahms delights in obscuring the outlines of the form so that the end of the exposition and beginning of the development flow seamlessly together. Similarly the end of the development and beginning of the recapitulation are dovetailed. The E-flat minor second movement, Brahms’s last scherzo, takes an intense stand as the Sonata’s centerpiece. Yet it, too, relaxes in a lovely oasis, a trio in B major, rich in the parallel thirds and sixths and the octave doublings of which Brahms was so fond. Brahms turned to his beloved variation form one last time in the closing movement. The first three variations return to the Classic technique of employing increasingly faster note values so that the basic subdivisions change from predominantly eighth notes, to sixteenths, to thirty-second notes. Far from becoming cluttered, Brahms’s texture retains a miraculous clarity. The fourth variation relaxes with quiet, syncopated chords to set up the only fiery variation, the fifth, which also shifts to the minor mode. Amiability returns with the Più tranquillo coda, but Brahms allows the two instrumentalists their virtuosic say in the final bars of the piece. © Jane Vial Jaffe Return to Parlance Program Notes

Parlance Chamber Concerts. New Jersey Symphony and Classical Orchestra Style Concerts 2025-2026 SEASON THE JOY OF SINGING August 1, 2025 Dear Friends, Welcome to the 18th Season of Parlance Chamber Concerts! This season, Parlance Chamber Concerts celebrates the art of singing — the most universal form of musical expression, and the wellspring from which all music flows. From the soaring drama of opera to the intimate storytelling of Lieder to the luminous harmonies of the Renaissance chamber choir, vocal artistry will be a central thread running through our 18th season. Even our instrumental programs will highlight music shaped by the influence of the voice — works that sing without words, inspired by the human breath and vocal phrasing that are the foundation of musical expression. Please explore our 2025-2026 Season below. I look forward to seeing you again soon at Parlance Chamber Concerts! Michael Parloff Artistic Director CONCERTS 2025 – 2026 SUNDAY, May 17, 2026 AT 4 PM A BRAHMSIAN FINALE CHEE-YUN, VIOLIN STERLING ELLIOTT, CELLO HENRY KRAMER, PIANO Violinist Chee-Yun returns to Parlance Chamber Concerts following her unforgettable 2024 performance of Brahms’s Horn Trio — an interpretation so compelling that Artistic Director Michael Parloff invited her back for an afternoon devoted entirely to Brahms’s chamber music. She will be joined by two extraordinary young artists: Sterling Elliott , a cellist of “astonishing maturity” (The Millbrook Independent ), and Henry Kramer , a pianist whose Brahms playing has been called “thrilling and nearly flawless” (Cleveland Classical Review). Their program will open with Brahms’s dramatic D-minor Violin Sonata , followed by the lyrical F-major Cello Sonata . The concert will culminate in a performance of Brahms’s towering B-minor Piano Trio , uniting all three artists in a powerful and expressive finale to Parlance Chamber Concert’s 18th season. LEARN MORE Violinist Chee-Yun has “the kind of high-gloss tone that pulls sensuously at the listener's ear. ” — The New York Times Sterling Elliott is a star cellist who has risen beyond hopeful promise to astonishing maturity . — The Millbrook Independent “Henry Kramer’s pianism is as technically flawless and precise as a faceted diamond… ” — Portland Press Herald PAST CONCERTS 2025 – 2026 The members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra spend their careers listening to and collaborating with the world’s greatest singers. As a result, a vocal sensibility — lyrical, expressive, and flexible — deeply informs their approach to phrasing and musical line. PCC's Opening Concert will feature three of the Met’s principal instrumental "singers,” hornist Brad Gemeinhardt, bassoonist William Short, and clarinetist Anton Rist , performing some of Mozart’s greatest wind concertos with colleagues from the Met Orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Michael Parloff. The program will also include Haydn’s Symphony No. 6, "Le Matin," designed to showcase the artistry of the virtuoso musicians in his handpicked orchestra at the court of Prince Paul Anton Esterházy. LEARN MORE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2025 AT 4 PM “SINGERS” FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA BRAD GEMEINHARDT, HORN WILLIAM SHORT, BASSOON ANTON RIST, CLARINET with MUSICIANS FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA MICHAEL PARLOFF, CONDUCTOR Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat, K. 495 Haydn: Symphony No. 6, in D, Hob. 1/6 (The Morning) Intermission Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat, K. 191 Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2025 AT 4 PM THE BEL CANTO TENOR LAWRENCE BROWNLEE, TENOR KEVIN J. MILLER, PIANO Tenor Lawrence Brownlee has been hailed by The New York Times as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory,” and described by The Boston Classical Review as “perhaps the most agile bel canto tenor on the scene today.” Brownlee is celebrated worldwide for the dazzling technique, expressive warmth, and vocal agility that he brings to the high-flying arias of this virtuosic repertoire. In this special recital appearance, he will perform a signature selection of beloved bel canto arias and songs — the very works that have made him one of the most sought-after opera singers of our time. “The singing is everything we’ve come to expect from the tenor. His instrument is glorious, his diction exemplary, and his delivery consistently vibrant and impassioned. Every note is voiced fearlessly.” — San Francisco Classical Voice LEARN MORE SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2025 AT 4 PM THE LIEDER BARITONE For Dieter: The Past and The Future BENJAMIN APPL, BARITONE JAMES BAILLIEU, PIANO PETER FRANCIS JAMES, NARRATOR BBC Music Magazine has called baritone Benjamin Appl “not only a singer of boundless promise, but already a great artist.” Appl will bring his warmly expressive voice and deeply personal artistry to a heartfelt tribute honoring his mentor, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, in the year of the legendary baritone’s centennial. Entitled “To Dieter: The Past and The Future,” this richly varied program will feature songs by Schubert, Brahms, Clara Schumann, Wolf, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Barber, and others — composers who shaped Fischer-Dieskau’s legacy and continue to inspire Appl’s own musical journey. He will be joined by his superb recital partner, pianist James Baillieu . This event will include narration by acclaimed actor Peter Francis James. LEARN MORE SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2025 AT 4 PM THE RENAISSANCE CHOIR Mother and Child THE TALLIS SCHOLARS For over five decades, The Tallis Scholars , led by founder and director Peter Phillips , have reigned as the world’s leading interpreters of Renaissance sacred music. Renowned for their purity of tone, exquisite blend, and deep musical insight, the ensemble has brought the glories of early choral music to audiences across the globe. Their program, Mother and Child , offers a profoundly moving meditation on motherhood, mystery, and the divine. Spanning five centuries, the all-English program features Thomas Tallis’s magnificent Missa Puer natus, William Byrd’s tender Votive Mass of the Virgin, John Taverner and John Nesbett’s intricate Renaissance gems, and Benjamin Britten’s radiant Hymn to the Virgin. Together, these works form a luminous arc that connects England’s sacred choral tradition from the Tudor era to the modern age. LEARN MORE “It may surely be said that the Tallis Scholars are the consummate vocal ensemble. ” — The Guardian, March 2025 “The chamber choir’s ethereal beauty of sound and control of long phrases came to the fore.” — Chicago Classical Review, December 10, 2024 "The Tallis Scholars were welcomed the minute they stepped onto the stage with tumultuous applause. The Tallis Scholars, led by director and founder Peter Phillips, immediately proceeded to justify that tumultuous applause ." — Vancouver Presents, April 23, 2024 SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2026 AT 4 PM THE VIRTUOSO OPERA FANTASY BENJAMIN BEILMAN, VIOLIN JONATHAN SWENSON, CELLO ORION WEISS, PIANO This thrilling program showcases three of today’s most exciting young artists — violinist Benjamin Beilman, cellist Jonathan Swensen, and pianist Orion Weiss — in a dazzling celebration of operatic fantasies. Drawing on melodies from such beloved operas as Mozart’s The Magic Flute , and Bizet’s Carmen , the program features instrumental works that transform iconic operatic themes into virtuosic showpieces. The concert promises to be an electrifying homage to opera’s enduring influence on instrumental brilliance. The program will include works by Beethoven-Mozart, Wagner-Liszt, Massenet, Bizet-Hubay, Fauré, and Mendelssohn LEARN MORE Violinist Benjamin Beilman is “a prodigious artist , who combines the gift of utmost sound perfection and a deep, delicate, intense, simmering sensitivity ” — Le Monde (Paris) “Cellist Jonathan Swensen proves to be a mature artist with a bold, rounded sound and the chops to back it up. ” — Clive Paget, Musical America "The gods of music must be smiling upon pianist Orion Weiss. Here was playing of inspired virtuosity, but with bountiful thought behind the technical strength. ” — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2026 AT 4 PM THE VIRTUOSO ACCORDION RADU RATOI, ACCORDION Parlance Chamber Concerts is proud to present its first-ever accordion recital, featuring the charismatic young Moldovan virtuoso Radu Ratoi . A rising star on the international stage, Ratoi has been lauded for his “breathtaking precision and profound musicality” (Neue Musikzeitung ) and is widely recognized as one of the most innovative accordionists of his generation. With equal command of classical masterworks and bold contemporary repertoire, he is transforming perceptions of what the accordion can be. In this captivating program, Ratoi will perform his own dazzling transcriptions of works by Bach, Rameau, Liszt , and Saint-Saëns , alongside striking modern works that reveal the instrument’s full expressive and technical range. A trailblazer and a poet of the accordion, Ratoi promises an unforgettable musical experience . LEARN MORE SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2026 AT 4 PM JONATHAN BISS PIANO MUSIC BY MOZART, JANÁĊEK, AND SCHUMANN Pianist Jonathan Biss is internationally acclaimed for his impeccable taste, formidable technique, and profound musical insight. He has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and, since 2018, has served as Co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival alongside Mitsuko Uchida. In his thoughtfully curated program, Jonathan Biss charts an expressive journey through three centuries of piano masterpieces — from Mozart’s stormy Sonata in C minor, K. 457, to Janáček’s early 20th-century nostalgia in On an Overgrown Path , and the sweeping Romantic passion of Schumann’s Fantasy in C, envisioned as a coded love letter to his beloved wife-to-be, Clara Wieck. LEARN MORE “impeccable taste and a formidable technique” — The New Yorker Mozart: Sonata in C minor, K. 457 Janáček: On an Overgrown Path (selections) Intermission Mozart: Sonata in F, K. 533/494 Schumann:Fantasy in C, Op. 17 SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2026 AT 4 PM THE JERUSALEM STRING QUARTET MUSIC BY HAYDN, SHULAMIT RAN, AND BEETHOVEN Renowned for their “amazing technical finesse and overwhelming musical insight” (BBC Music Magazine), the Jerusalem String Quartet returns to Parlance Chamber Concerts for an expressively far-ranging program featuring works by Haydn, Beethoven , and Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Shulamit Ran . Celebrated for their warm, balanced sound and eloquent ensemble unity, the Quartet brings a rare blend of tradition, individuality, and emotional depth to both classical masterworks and contemporary voices. LEARN MORE “Consummately brilliant playing throughout, combining amazing technical finesse with overwhelming musical insight…. ” — BBC Music Magazine Joseph Haydn: Quartet in B-flat, Op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”) Shulamit Ran: Betwixt and Between – String Quartet No. 4 Intermission Ludwig van Beethoven:Quartet in B-flat, Op. 130 ABOUT PARLANCE CHAMBER CONCERTS VIDEO INTRO TO PARLANCE CHAMBER CONCERTS Michael Parloff introduces the mission and history of PCC. Audience members share their experiences. LEARN MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM PCC’S 17TH SEASON Enjoy this 5-minute video recap of memorable moments from 2024-25, including performances by pianist Paul Lewis, cellist Steven Isserlis, flutist Denis Bouriakov, and others. MEET THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE SEASON 18 YEARS OF GREAT MUSIC MAKING COVID-19 Info for Parlance Chamber Concerts attendees: Read more here.

HESPÈRION XXI, EARLY MUSIC ENSEMBLE Ancient music’s most important value stems from its ability as a universal artistic language to transmit feelings, emotions and ancestral ideas that even today can enthrall the contemporary listener. With a repertoire that encompasses the period between the 10th and 18th centuries, Hespèrion XXI searches continuously for new points of union between the East and West, with a clear desire for integration and for the recovery of international musical heritage, especially that of the Mediterranean basin and with links to the New World. In 1974 Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras, together with Lorenzo Alpert and Hopkinson Smith, founded the ancient music ensemble Hespèrion XX in Basel as a way of recovering and disseminating the rich and fascinating musical repertoire prior to the 19th century on the basis of historical criteria and the use of original instruments. The name Hespèrion means “an inhabitant of Hesperia”, which in ancient Greek referred to the two most westerly peninsulas in Europe: the Iberian and the Italian. It was also the name given to the planet Venus as it appeared in the west. At the turn of the 21st century Hespèrion XX became known as Hespèrion XXI. Today Hespèrion XXI is central to the understanding of the music of the period between the Middle Ages and the Baroque. Their labours to recover works, scores, instruments and unpublished documents have a double and incalculable value. On one hand, their rigorous research provides new information and understanding about the historical knowledge of the period, and on the other hand, the exquisite performances enable people to freely enjoy the aesthetic and spiritual delicacy of the works of this period. Right from the beginning Hespèrion XXI set out on a clearly innovative and artistic course that would lead to the establishment of a school in the field of ancient music because they conceived, and continue to conceive, ancient music as an experimental musical tool and with it they seek the maximum beauty and expressiveness in their performances. Any musician in the field of ancient music will have a commitment to the original spirit of each work and has to learn to connect with it by studying the composer, the instruments of the period, the work itself and the circumstances surrounding it. But as a craftsman in the art of music, he is also obliged to make decisions about the piece being played: a musician’s capacity to connect the past with the present and to connect culture with its dissemination depend on his skill, creativity and capacity to transmit emotions. Hespèrion XXI’s repertoire includes, amongst others, the music of the Sephardi Jews, Castilian romances, pieces from the Spanish Golden Age, and Europa de les Nacions. Some of their most celebrated concert programmes are Les Cantigues de Santa Maria d’Alfons X El Savi, La Diàspora Sefardí, the music of Jerusalem, Istanbul, Armenia and the Folías Criollas. Thanks to the outstanding work of numerous musicians and collaborators who have worked with the ensemble over all these years Hespèrion XXI still plays a key role in the recovery and reappraisal of the musical heritage, and one that has great resonance throughout the world. The group has published more than 60 CDs and performs concerts for the whole world, appearing regularly at the great international festivals of ancient music.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2018 AT 3 PM CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS ALESSIO BAX AND LUCILLE CHUNG, PIANOS WITH LEADING MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC BUY TICKETS SHERYL STAPLES, VIOLIN Principal Associate Concertmaster New York Philharmonic ALESSIO BAX, PIANO “Among the most remarkable pianists now before the public.” — Gramophone LUCILLE CHUNG, PIANO “…a blazing, gutsy performance.” — The Washington Post QIAN-QIAN LI, VIOLIN Principal Second Violin New York Philharmonic PASCUAL MARTÍNEZ FORTEZA, CLARINET New York Philharmonic CYNTHIA PHELPS, VIOLA Principal Viola New York Philharmonic BARRY CENTANNI, PERCUSSION TIMOTHY COBB, DOUBLE BASS Principal Bass New York Philharmonic EILEEN MOON-MYERS, CELLO Associate Principal Cello New York Philharmonic YOOBIN SON, FLUTE New York Philharmonic FEATURING ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE BUY TICKETS Bring the whole family to hear Saint-Saën’s beloved classic! This all-star ensemble will also perform zoological favorites by Vivaldi, Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Mozart. PROGRAM Antonio Vivaldi Flute Concerto in D, RV428, (The Goldfinch) Program Notes Modest Musorgsky Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks Program Notes Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Flight of the Bumblebee, arr. Rachmaninoff Program Notes Louis-Claude Daquin Le Coucou Program Notes Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky The White Swan (Pas D’action from Swan Lake) Program Notes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Clarinet Trio in E flat, K. 498 (“Kegelstatt”) Program Notes Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals Program Notes Watch Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung perform “Tarantelle” from Rachmaninoff’s Suite No. 2 for two pianos:

ANNE AKIKO MEYERS, VIOLIN Violin superstar Anne Akiko Meyers is one of the most in-demand violinists in the world. Regularly performing as guest soloist with the world’s top orchestras, she presents ground-breaking recitals and is a best-selling recording artist with 35 albums. Meyers is known for her passionate performances, purity of sound, deeply poetic interpretations, innovative programming and commitment to commissioning significant new works from living composers. Anne’s recent recording of Rautavaara’s Fantasia was the only classical instrumental work to be selected on NPR’s 100 best songs of 2017. Fantasia, Anne’s 35th recording, includes works for violin and orchestra by Rautavaara, Ravel and the Szymanowski Concerto No.1, recorded with Kristjan Järvi and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2018, she will premiere a new violin concerto by Adam Schoenberg (which she commissioned) with the Phoenix and San Diego Symphony Orchestras. Anne will also return to Leipzig, Germany to premiere Rautavaara’s Fantasia with the MDR Leipzig Orchestra and has been invited by legendary composer, Arvo Pärt, to perform at the opening celebration of the new Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia. Earlier this year, Anne performed the world premiere of Fantasia by Einojuhani Rautavaara, a work written for her and considered to be the composer’s final masterpiece, with the Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Michael Stern. She performed recitals in Florida, New York, Virginia, Washington D.C., and returned to the Nashville Symphony to perform the Bernstein Serenade with Giancarlo Guerrero. In May, she headlined the Kanazawa Music Festival performing the Beethoven Concerto with cadenzas by Mason Bates with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, toured New Zealand with the Mason Bates Violin Concerto and New Zealand Symphony, and returned to Krakow and Warsaw, Poland to perform the Szymanowski Concerto and Jakub Ciupinski’s newly orchestrated Wreck of the Umbria. Other recent projects include a nationwide PBS broadcast special and a Naxos DVD featuring the world premiere of Samuel Jones’ Violin Concerto with the All-Star Orchestra led by Gerard Schwarz, the French premiere of Mason Bates Violin Concerto with Leonard Slatkin and the Orchestre de Lyon, and two new recordings-Naïve Classics celebrating Arvo Pärt’s 80th birthday and a box set of Anne’s RCA Red Seal discography on Sony Classics. Anne’s prior releases the Four Seasons: The Vivaldi Album, debuted at #1 on the classical Billboard charts, as did Air: The Bach Album, and the Vivaldi was the recording debut of the Ex-Vieuxtemps’ Guarneri del Gesu violin, dated 1741, which was awarded to Meyers for her lifetime use. A champion of living composers, Meyers collaborates closely with many of today’s leading composers. She has expanded the violin repertoire by commissioning and premiering works by composers such as Mason Bates, Jakub Ciupinski, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Samuel Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Akira Miyoshi, Arvo Pärt, Gene Pritsker, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Somei Satoh, Adam Schoenberg and Joseph Schwantner. Anne has collaborated with a diverse array of artists outside of traditional classical, including jazz icons Chris Botti and Wynton Marsalis, avant-garde musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, electronic music pioneer Isao Tomita, pop-era act Il Divo and singer Michael Bolton. She performed the National Anthem in front of 42,000 fans at Safeco Field in Seattle, appeared twice on The Tonight Show and was featured in a segment on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann that became that show’s the third most popular story of the year. Anne has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, CBS’ “The Good Wife”, NPR’s Morning Edition with Linda Wertheimer, All Things Considered with Robert Siegel and recently curated “Living American” on Sirius XM Radio’s Symphony Hall with host David Srebnik. She was on the popular Nick Jr. show Take Me To Your Mother with Andrea Rosen, and best-selling novelist J. Courtney Sullivan consulted with Anne for The Engagements and based one of the main characters loosely on her career. She also collaborated with children’s book author and illustrator Kristine Papillon on Crumpet the Trumpet where the character Violetta the violinist is played by Anne. Anne Akiko Meyers was born in San Diego and grew up in Southern California. She studied with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Colburn School of Performing Arts, Josef Gingold at Indiana University, and Felix Galimir, Masao Kawasaki and Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School. She received the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Colburn School of Music and is on the advisory council of the American Youth Symphony Orchestra.

YING FANG, SOPRANO Soprano Ying Fang has been hailed by the New York Times for her “pure and moving soprano, phrasing with scrupulous respect for the line and traveling with assurance through the mercurial moods,” as well as “singing with a fresh, appealing soprano and acting with coquettish flair.” She is blooming as a well-rounded singer. Ms. Fang has most recently performed Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by Gary Thor Wedow and directed by Stephen Wadsworth at The Juilliard School. She sang the title role in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Aulide conducted by Jane Glover. She sang The Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, Barbarina in the season opening new production of Le Nozze di Figaro conducted by James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera. She has performed Cleopatra in Wolf Trap Opera Company’s 2014 production of Giulio Cesare. She has been featured in The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School’s production of “A concert of comic operas” conducted by James Levine, in which she sang Konstanze, Teresa, and Adina. Ms. Fang made her Metropolitan Opera debut in their 2013–14 season, singing the role of Madame Podtochina’s Daughter in Shostakovich’s opera The Nose. The roles she performed include: Contessa di Folleville in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims with Wolf Trap Opera Company, the title role in Mozart’s opera Zaide with the New World Symphony; Bellezza in Handel’s oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno with the Juilliard 415 under the baton of William Christie at Alice Tully Hall. She was also heard in the role of Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Aspen Opera Theater Center, and gained acclaim: “Soprano Ying Fang sang Pamina with a creamy tone and marvelous specificity in each moment” (The Aspen Times). She also did Maria in Bernstein’s West Side Story with the Aspen Opera Theater Center. She made her Alice Tully Hall debut performing Handel’s motet Silete Venti with conductor Steven Fox leading the Juilliard 415. She sang the soprano solo in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Filene Center in Wolf Trap. In Juilliard opera productions, she has been featured as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Fanny in Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio, and The Spirit of the Boy in Britten’s Curlew River. A native of Ningbo, China, Ms. Fang is the recipient of Martin E. Segal Award, Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award, The Rose Bampton Award of The Sullivan Foundation, The Opera Index Award of The 2013 Opera Index Vocal Competition and 1st Prize Award of 2013 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition. She won one of China’s most prestigious awards, the 2009 7th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music. One of the youngest singers ever accorded this honor, she has been hailed as “the most gifted Chinese soprano of her generation” (Ningbo Daily). Ms. Fang holds a master’s degree from The Juilliard School and a bachelor’s degree from The Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She is a member of The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and The Artist Diploma in Opera Study program at Juilliard.