Despite being a highly decorated member of the Communist Party, Dmitri Shostakovich also wrote works that led to multiple denunciations by the Soviets. His body of music speaks to the tension of being both celebrated and denigrated by the Soviet government. This all-Shostakovich program features his first piano trio; a series of songs with piano trio set to the words of fellow Soviet poet Alexander Blok; and a chamber version of Shostakovich’s final symphony. The varying ensembles include the Sitkovetsky Trio; soprano Andriana Chuchman; pianist Inon Barnatan, dubbed "one of the most admired pianists of his generation” by The New York Times; the always in-demand violinist Paul Huang; cellist Jonathan Swensen, a current Bowers Program participant and winner of the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition; and a trio of percussionists – Victor Caccese and Ian David Rosenbaum, founding members of the Grammy-nominated Sandbox Percussion, and the dynamic and elegant Ayano Kataoka, who was the first percussionist selected for CMS’s Bowers Program.
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Shostakovich
Trio No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 8
Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok for Soprano, Violin, Cello, and Piano, Op. 127
Symphony No. 15 in A major for Ensemble, Op. 141 (arr. Derevianko)*

Andriana Chuchman, SOPRANO • Inon Barnatan, PIANO • Paul Huang, VIOLIN • Jonathan Swensen†, CELLO • Victor Caccese, Ayano Kataoka, Ian David Rosenbaum, PERCUSSION • Sitkovetsky Trio (Wu Qian, PIANO • Alexander Sitkovetsky, VIOLIN • Isang Enders, CELLO)

Thursday, February 5 at 7:30 PM
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center • Rose Studio at CMS
ART OF THE RECITAL: DAVID BYRD-MARROW AND CORY SMYTHE
World Premieres by Byrd-Marrow and Smythe

Horn player David Byrd-Marrow is a versatile artist who plays horn in the International Contemporary Ensemble and The Knights and is on the faculty at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Byrd-Marrow and pianist Cory Smythe present an unusual program that includes two world premieres for horn and piano by the artists as well as work by French trombonist and composer Jérôme Naulais; American composer Alec Wilder; German composer, conductor and clarinetist Jörg Widmann; jazz pianist and composer Billy Strayhorn; and Olivier Messiaen. 

“This program is meant to be an expression of gratitude for the horn and the wonderful landscape of music in which the instrument has allowed me to participate," said Byrd-Marrow. "Reflection is also a theme, but the common thread is a search for new horizons. With the introduction of two new works, by Cory Smythe and myself, I hope to discover even more expressive avenues for the instrument that has given me so much.”
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Jérôme Naulais Miroir for Horn*
David Byrd-Marrow Assumed Lineage for Horn and Piano (World Premiere)*
Wilder Sonata No. 3 for Horn and Piano*
Jörg Widmann Air for Horn
Cory Smythe ventriloquism for Ryan for Horn and Piano (World Premiere)*
Strayhorn Suite for the Duo for Horn and Piano*
Messiaen Chant (dans le style Mozart) for Horn and Piano