“Welcome to our 4th season of great musical classics, international musicians, and the most effortless, instantly enjoyable live chamber music,” said Andrew Armstrong, Artistic Director of New Canaan Chamber Music.
Concert goers can “Anticipate the Unexpected” in five concerts, each with different world class musicians, programs, ensembles, and instruments. All concerts are offered on Thursday afternoons at 3pm and Friday evenings at 7:30pm at the First Presbyterian Church in New Canaan at 173 Oenoke Ridge. The May 18 Children’s Concert will be at 3pm the New Canaan Library. Tickets are available at www.newcanaanchambermusic.org
The season premiere on November 7 at 3 pm and November 8 at 7:30 pm will surprise with a new twist for New Canaan Chamber Music. Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale” will be accompanied by powerful artwork projections by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, one of the most individual and complete artists of our time.
Returning to New Canaan are favorites, Stefan Jackiw, one of America’s foremost violinists and award-winning clarinetist Yoonah Kim, along with piano virtuoso Andrew Armstrong. Classical favorites include Richard Strauss’ incredibly romantic “Violin Sonata in E-Flat” and Franz Schubert’s breathtaking “Ave Maria” arranged for violin and clarinet.
“We can’t wait for the musical journey we will take together, said Board Chair Tom Butterworth.
The highlight of the February 6 and 7 concert, “Americans in Paris,” is the unconventional works of two pieces for one piano and four hands: George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and Gabriel Fauré’s “Dolly Suite” with virtuoso pianists Andrew Armstrong and Orion Weiss, one of the most sought- soloists and chamber music collaborators. Mak Grgić, the gifted young guitarist and two-time Grammy nominee will perform stunning solos by Bosnian composer Miroslav Tadić.
The March 20 and 21 concert, “The Link from Mozart to Film” showcases an all-star group of famous soloists who illustrate the link between two Austrian composers born 150 years apart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Both made outstanding contributions to classical music. The lesser-known Korngold also had a profound influence on Hollywood film scores in the 1930’s.
Another link between classics and film is Samuel Barber’s lush ‘Adagio for Strings” recognizable in “Platoon (1986), “The Elephant Man” (1980) and many other compositions in film and TV. Korngold’s “Piano Quintet in E Major” (1921) beautifully blends romanticism with early modernism and will be played by Stella Chen and Geneva Lewis, violins; Matthew Lipman, viola; Ani Aznavoorian, cello; and Andrew Armstrong, piano, who opens the concert with Mozart’s “Fantasia in D minor for Piano.”
The May 15 and 16 concert “Roll Over, Three B’s” welcomes back a pairing of long-time New Canaan favorites Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin, and Edward Arron, cello, performing with Andrew Armstrong, piano.
They program features Armenian composer Arno Babajanian, Luigi Boccherini and the famous Johannes Brahms, one of the original “3 B’s” with Bach and Beethoven. Babajanian’s “Piano Trio in F-sharp Minor” is not widely known “but everyone is going to love it,” says Armstrong as well as Boccherini’s “Sonata in D Major for Violin and Cello,” and Brahms’ “Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major.”
The Children’s Concert will be held on May 18 at 3 pm at the New Canaan Library.
New Canaan Chamber Music was founded in 2020 by Andrew Armstrong, a New Canaan native son. In over 35 years as a concert pianist, Armstrong has built a uniquely personal network of the great musical artists of our time who have shared the stage with him. They enthusiastically come from all over the world to perform together again in New Canaan. In just four years, New Canaan Chamber Music has become a thriving new addition to the concert scene. It also provides growing and inclusive programs of outreach with the Children’s Concerts and programs during the year that bring great music to seniors, youth orchestras, and local schools in New Canaan, Stamford, and Norwalk.
To learn more and purchase tickets, visit www.newcanaanchambermusic.org. NCCM is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
