Jerusalem Quartet to play Shostakovich cycle in new Cleveland Chamber Music Society season
In 1949, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine wanted to be able to experience the kind of first-rate chamber ensembles he was used to hearing back home in New York. He, along with some of his medical school colleagues, persuaded the venerable Budapest Quartet to perform three concerts in Cleveland. The wildly enthusiastic audience response set the stage for the founding of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society the following year.
The 2024-25 season marks Cleveland Chamber Music Society’s 75th anniversary. ‘As one of the most established concert presenters in Cleveland, we are proud to be able to bring these world-renowned artists from across the globe to our city. For three-quarters of a century, our audiences have enjoyed performances by artists like Chanticleer, guitarist Jason Vieux and the Jerusalem Quartet’, said Fern Jennings, CCMS board chair. ‘I’m thrilled for this upcoming season’.
A rare performance of all fifteen Shostakovich string quartets by the Jerusalem Quartet is the highlight of the season. Praised by BBC Magazine as ‘an absolute triumph’, the internationally acclaimed group will perform the quartets at the Cleveland Museum of Art in five concerts (21-30.4.2025).
The Cleveland CMS season also includes performances by Chanticleer, Imani Winds with Michelle Cann, Cuarteto Casals, flutist Emmanuel Pahud, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with guitarist Jason Vieaux. All the concerts will take place at the Cultural Arts Center at Disciples Church in Cleveland Heights.
The concert on 24 September will feature Chanticleer in the program ‘Music of a Silent World’, which centers on a new arrangement of Majel Connery’s The Rivers are Our Brothers. It includes music by William Byrd, Heinrich Isaac and Robert Schumann; and new arrangements of ‘Wildflowers’ by Tom Petty, ‘The Weather’ by Lawrence and a commission from Chanticleer’s composer-in-residence, Ayanna Woods.
On 15 October, Imani Winds with pianist Michelle Cann will perform Paquito D’Rivera’s ‘A Little Cuban Waltz’, Viet Cuong’s Sextet for Wind Quintet and Piano (a CCMS co-commission), Poulenc’s Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano and Sextet for Piano and Winds, and Valerie Coleman’s Portraits of Langston for Flute, Clarinet, Piano and Narrator.
The Cuarteto Casals comes on 12 November with a program of three works: Mozart’s ‘Hoffmeister’ String Quartet in D major, Sofia Gubaidulina’s ‘Reflections on the Theme B-A-C-H’ and Brahms’s String Quartet in C minor.
The first concert of 2025 will be on 21 January when flutist Emmanuel Pahud is joined by pianist Alessio Bax to perform Pahu’s arrangements of Mozart’s Sonata in E minor, Clara Schuman’s Three Romances and Franck’s Sonata in A. The pair will also play Bach’s Flute Sonata in B minor and Nicolas Bacri’s Sonata No.3 for Flute and Piano.
On 11 February, players from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will be joined by guitarist Jason Vieaux for a program of Spanish favorites. The program includes Fernando Obradors’s Canciones clásicas españolas, Isaac Albéniz’s ‘Mallorca’, Enrique Fernández Arbós’s ‘Three Original Pieces in Spanish Style’, Manuel de Falla’s Canciones populares españolas, Pablo de Sarasate’s ‘Romanza andaluza’, from Danzas españolas, Joaquín Rodrigo’s Tres canciones españolas and Joaquín Turina’s Piano Trio No.2 in B minor. The concert will be presented in collaboration with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society.
During the final two weeks of April, the Jerusalem Quartet will perform the complete Shostakovich string quartets in order, with three pieces per concert. The first week will include nine quartets in three concerts (21-23 April). The final six quartets will be performed on 29 and 30 April. This is believed to be the first occasion the complete cycle of these imposing works will be presented in Cleveland.
Tickets are available online here or by phone at (216) 291-2777.
Mark Jordan