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Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Brings World-Class Chamber Music to Drew University in 2025-2026
3 Concerts in Madison, NJ
Saturday, November 22 at 7:30 pm
Saturday February 21 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 pm
Tickets & Info
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) returns to the beautiful Concert Hall at Drew University in Madison, NJ, for a three-concert series this season, with performances by an outstanding roster of CMS artists. Concerts take place on Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm on November 22, February 21, and April 11.
The series opens Saturday, November 22, with an intergenerational ensemble featuring the Viano Quartet, which has quickly soared to international acclaim as one of the most dynamic and in-demand string quartets of their generation; they are also current members of CMS's Bowers Program for extraordinary early-career artists. The Quartet performs music by Haydn and Mendelssohn, followed by Brahms's Quintet with the legendary pianist Gilbert Kalish — who recently celebrated his 90th birthday with a special performance at CMS.
The concert on Saturday, February 21, features three chamber music masterpieces for strings — quintets by Mozart and Dvořák and a trio by Kodály. The ensemble features five internationally acclaimed, award-winning chamber music artists: violinists Paul Huang and Danbi Um; violists Matthew Lipman and Paul Neubauer; and cellist Dmitri Atapine. The series concludes Saturday, April 11, with soprano Erika Baikoff, a recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She joins an outstanding ensemble of CMS artists in a program that moves from the elegance of mid-19th-century French chamber music to the lush lyricism of early 20th-century song.
CMS brings the experience of great chamber music to more people than any other organization of its kind with a full season in New York as well as residencies, concert series and concert tours at venues around the country and around the world. The series at Drew University joins CMS’s ongoing, year-round series at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York State and concert series at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at Long Island University in Brookville, NY; the Harris Theater in Chicago, IL; St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids, MI; The Barns at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA; and Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, KY.
Subscriptions and Single Tickets for CMS at Drew University are on sale now. Single tickets are $60 and three-concert subscriptions are $155.
CMS at the Concert Hall at Drew University
Concert Schedule, 2025-26
The Concert Hall is located at 36 Madison Avenue, at Lancaster Road
* Indicates an artist who is a current Bowers Program member (2024-2027).
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 7:30 pm
Gilbert Kalish and the Viano Quartet
Tickets & Info
The internationally acclaimed Viano Quartet are current members of CMS's Bowers Program and winners of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant (2025). In this program, the Quartet traces the development of chamber music from the clarity and elegance of Haydn’s late quartets to the emotional richness of the Romantic era. Mendelssohn extends Haydn’s structural brilliance with sparkling lyricism and warmth. The quartet is joined by the profoundly influential pianist Gilbert Kalish for Brahms’s grand Piano Quintet, overflowing with profound emotional depth.
Haydn Quartet in D minor for Strings, Hob. III:83, Op. 103 (1803)
Mendelssohn Quartet in D major for Strings, Op. 44, No. 1 (1838)
Brahms Quintet in F minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 34 (1864)
GILBERT KALISH, Piano; VIANO QUARTET* (LUCY WANG, Violin; HAO ZHOU, Violin; AIDEN KANE, Viola; TATE ZAWADIUK, Cello)
Violinists Paul Huang and Danbi Um
Saturday, February 21, 2026, 7:30 pm
Mozart and Dvořák Quintets
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The spirit of innovation and cultural fusion shines in this program of chamber music masterpieces for strings. Mozart’s Quintet in C minor, originally composed as a wind octet, takes on new depth and intensity in the composer’s own reworking for strings, blending the Classical style with bold harmonic exploration. Kodály’s Serenade, a strikingly original piece for two violins and viola, pulses with Hungarian folk rhythms and an exhilarating sense of dialogue. Dvořák’s “American” Quintet, written during his time in the U.S., brims with the wide-open energy of the American landscape while maintaining the profound lyricism of his Bohemian roots. Together, these works weave a path between tradition and innovation.
Mozart Quintet in C minor for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, K. 406 (1782, arr. 1787)
Kodály Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 12 (1919–20)
Dvořák Quintet in E-flat major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 97, “American” (1893)
PAUL HUANG, DANBI UM, Violin; MATTHEW LIPMAN, PAUL NEUBAUER Viola; DIMITRI ATAPINE, Cello
Soprano Erika Baikoff
Saturday, April 11, 2026, 7:30 pm
Parisian Voices
This program moves from the elegance of mid-19th-century French chamber music to the lusciousness of early 20th-century song, exploring how Saint-Saëns, Duparc, Ravel, and Fauré expanded the expressive palette of their ensembles. The interplay of piano, strings, and voice — central to their music — culminates in Fauré’s work, where rich textures and warm harmonies create a distinctive depth and intimacy. Soprano Erika Baikoff joins an outstanding cast of CMS musicians.
Saint-Saëns Trio No. 1 in F major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 18 (1864)
Henri Duparc "L'Invitation au voyage" for Voice and Piano (c. 1870)
Ravel Shéhérazade for Voice, Flute, and Piano (1903)
Fauré Quartet No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 15 (1876–79)
ERIKA BAIKOFF, Soprano; KEN NODA, Piano; ORION WEISS, Piano; LUN LI, Violin; MATTHEW LIPMAN, Viola; DAVID REQUIRO, Cello; SOOYUN KIM, Flute