Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach to begin ninth season with new executive director
With a new executive director and a return to a full in-person schedule, the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach is eager to embark on its ninth season of concerts.
Ahmad Mayes, who comes to the society from his previous post as education director for the Cincinnati Symphony, said in a prepared statement that it was “an exciting time” to take the helm of the nonprofit.
“I am honored to be a part of this organization, which has a remarkable track record of presenting deeply inspiring performances, and doing so for a range of audiences throughout the community,” said Mayes, who also has worked for the Sarasota Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony.
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Seven concerts are planned for the 2021-22 season at three venues: The Breakers, and two sites in West Palm Beach — the Norton Museum of Art and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. The lineup of performers includes some of the finest chamber musicians working today, several of them young rising stars of the classical music world.
The society’s artistic director, violinist Arnaud Sussmann, is featured on the first program on Nov. 15 at The Breakers in the company of five other musicians: violist Matthew Lipman, cellist Edward Arron, pianist Andrew Armstrong, clarinetist Alex Fiterstein and hornist Kevin Rivard. On the program are the Horn Trio of Johannes Brahms and the Sextet by Ernst von Dohnányi, the Hungarian pianist and composer who ended his career teaching at Florida State University, where a recital hall is named in his honor. The concert, which was almost sold out as of Friday, is at 7 p.m., which is the starting time for all concerts in this series.
Canadian violinist James Ehnes, who makes his home in the Tampa area, returns to this side of the state with the expert Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan on Dec. 22 at the Norton. Ehnes will play three major 19th-century violin sonatas, including the Sonata No. 1 by Gabriel Fauré, the Sonata No. 8 of Beethoven, and the Schubert "Fantasy" in C major.
The year opens with an appearance by the SPA Trio, a group composed of soprano Susanna Phillips, violist Paul Neubauer and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott. They’ll perform Jan. 13 at the Norton, and have planned a program of songs from the British Isles and Italy, as well as songs by Rachmaninov, Schumann and Gounod.
Holy Trinity Episcopal is the site for the next concert in the series on Feb. 3. On the bill is the Montrose Trio: violinist Martin Beaver, cellist Clive Greensmith and pianist Jon Kimura Parker. Scheduled are two audience favorites, the Piano Trio No. 1 of Schubert, and the "Dumky" Trio of Antonin Dvořák.
Three weeks later, on Feb. 24 at the Norton, the St. Lawrence String Quartet is on hand, joined by Sussmann on viola for a performance of the String Quintet No. 2 of Mendelssohn, which calls for two violas rather than two violins. Other works are planned but not yet announced.
The 22-year-old American cellist Zlatomir Fung, youngest-ever winner of the first prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition, returns to CMSPB on March 17 with the Sri Lankan pianist Rohan de Silva (longtime accompanist for Itzhak Perlman) for the Beethoven Cello Sonata No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s "Rococo Variations." Also on the Holy Trinity Episcopal program is "Baal Shem," by the Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch, and "Unlocked," a work written in 1999 by the British composer Judith Weir that is based on American spirituals found in the Lomax collection at the Library of Congress.
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The season concludes April 7 at The Breakers with string sextet music. Sussman and violinist Chad Hoopes, violists Lipman and Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, and cellists Nicholas Canellakis and Colin Carr perform the Brahms Sextet No. 1 and Tchaikovsky’s "Souvenir de Florence."
In his statement, Mayes noted that the concerts will observe COVID-19 precautions. “We welcome listeners, both returning and new, to join us in a safe, live-concert environment that follows CDC recommendations to ensure everyone’s health and well-being,” he said. Masks will be required, as will proof of vaccination or a recent negative test for the coronavirus, society officials said.
Tickets to concerts are sold on a subscription-donation platform of $1,750 per person, of which $600 is tax-deductible. Individual tickets are also available at $75 through the website at cmspb.org. More information is available at the website or by calling 561-379-6773.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach returns for full, in-person season
