Please note this series has been updated to include all Saturday dates (including the November 2018 concert). This concert series is also available just on Sundays.
The 42nd season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society (SCMS) features musical masterpieces from the 17th to the early 21st century, played on some of the world’s most highly prized musical instruments. Concerts take place in the newly endowed Nicholas and Eugenia Taubman Hall of Music at the National Museum of American History.
Kenneth Slowik, SCMS artistic director and recipient of the Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar Award, again curates a series of pre-concert talks one hour prior to each concert (except the Nov. 17 concert).
GENERAL SERIES INFORMATION
The season opens in October with a Schubert/Schumann evening marking the return of tenor Aaron Sheehan (who gave such a moving performance of Schubert’s Winterreise last year) and several of SCMS’s most senior players.
In mid-November, Dutch actress Katja Herbers—well known to American audiences for her television appearances in “Manhattan,” “The Americans,” and “Westworld”—interprets the evocative texts of of Reinbert de Leeuw’s Im wunderschönen Monat Mai.
The Smithsonian Consort of Viols returns in early January, playing little-known but exquisite works of English composers Richard Mico (1590-1661) and William Lawes (1602-1645).
February and early March performances features works of Bach, Haydn, and Mozart, in which three veteran SCMS violinists and three exceptional players of the younger generation dialogue with keyboardist Kenneth Slowik.
In mid-March, Pedja Muzijevic and Slowik present a program containing some of Schubert’s and Beethoven’s most impressive four-hands works.
Long-time SCMS members Vera Beths and Steven Dann return in early April, in the company of two rising stars, for Anton Bruckner’s evocative Quintet. A variety of series selections makes it possible to hear a representative sampling of these varied programs, or to enjoy the entire selection.
The final May concert returns to works of Bach, Haydn, and Mozart.
SCHEDULE
Sat., Oct. 20, 2018
Franz Schubert: Schwanengesang, D 957
Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet, Op. 44
The Smithsonian Chamber Players: Aaron Sheehan, tenor; Ian Swensen and Marilyn McDonald, violins; Gregory Luce, viola; Myron Lutzke, violoncello; Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano
Sat., Nov. 17, 2018 (UPDATED DATE, PROGRAM, & LOCATION)
Reinbert de Leeuw: Im wunderschönen Monat Mai: Three times seven Lieder after Schumann and Schubert (2004)
The Smithsonian Chamber Players: Katja Herbers, actress; Kenneth Slowik, piano & direction
Please note there is no pre-concert talk for this concert.
LOCATION UPDATE: Nicholas and Eugenia Taubman Hall of Music, American History Museum
Sat., Jan. 5, 2019 (CANCELED)
Consort Music of Richard Mico and William Lawes
The Smithsonian Consort of Viols: Kenneth Slowik, Lucine Musaelian, Zoe Weiss, Catherine Slowik, Arnie Tanimoto, viols; with Thomas MacCracken, organ
Sat., Feb. 2, 2019
J. S. Bach: Suite in G Minor, BWV 808
J. S. Bach: Sonata in B Minor, BWV 1014
Joseph Haydn: Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI: 50
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in A Major, K305/293d
The Smithsonian Chamber Players: Marilyn McDonald, violin; Kenneth Slowik, harpsichord and fortepiano
Sat., March 2, 2019
J. S. Bach: Suite in E Minor, BWV 810
J. S. Bach: Sonata in E Major, BWV 1016
Joseph Haydn: Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in E-flat Major, K302/293b
The Smithsonian Chamber Players: Adriane Post, violin; Kenneth Slowik, harpsichord and fortepiano
Sat., March 16, 2019
Ludwig van Beethoven: Three Marches, Op. 45; Große Fuge, Op. 134
Franz Schubert: Rondo in A Major, D 951; Fantasie in F Minor, D 940
The Smithsonian Chamber Players: Pedja Muzijevic and Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano
Sat., April 6, 2019
Robert Schumann: Quartet in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3
Anton Bruckner: Quintet in F Major, WAB 112
The Smithsonian Chamber Players: Vera Beths and Meredith Riley, violin; Steven Dann and Jasper Snow, viola; Kenneth Slowik, violoncello
Sat., May 11, 2019
J. S. Bach: Suite in D Minor, BWV 811
J. S. Bach: Sonata in A Major, BWV 1015
Joseph Haydn: Sonata in D Major, Hob. XVI: 37
Wolfgang Amadus Mozart: Sonata in C Major, K303/293c
The Smithsonian Chamber Players: Aisslinn Nosky, violin; Kenneth Slowik, harpsichord and fortepiano
8 concerts
Programs and artists subject to change.
