CMS to Return to SPAC this June

Saratoga Performing Arts Center announces that it has partnered with Pitney Meadows Community Farm to bring back the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for its annual Saratoga Springs residency. Kicking off on Sunday, June 13, the new "CMS at the Meadows" series marks the first live performances that SPAC has presented since the 2020 season was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The performances, limited to 200 attendees per show, will be held in Pitney Meadows Community Farm's beautiful open-air High Tunnel greenhouse, adhering to carefully mapped out, socially-distanced seating and rigorous COVID-19 protocols.

"Everyone at CMS is beyond thrilled to be back in Saratoga Springs after what has been too long of an absence from the stage. We cannot wait to reconnect with our friends and community at SPAC, and to invite audiences back to share with us what we love best: live performances with the best chamber musicians in the world today. We can't thank our partner SPAC enough for making this opportunity a reality, and for what we know will be a fantastic expanded summer visit for everyone," says co-Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's reimagined 2021 season at SPAC (June 13- August 29) will feature masterpieces from Beethoven's preeminent string quartets to Schumann's timeless Piano Quartet in E-flat major, alongside the U.S. Premiere of Twelve Blocks by pianist Michael Brown. Also highlighting the residency is the return of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center co-Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han and the SPAC debut of the Calidore String Quartet, praised by The New York Times for its "deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct."

"We are blessed to have so much outdoor space in the park and its environs that we were inspired to bring our beloved chamber musicians back in a new and innovative location -- right around the corner from the SPAC grounds. Instead of presenting CMS in their usual home in the Spa Little Theater, which presents COVID-era challenges, we are delighted to partner with Pitney Meadows Community Farm to give our community the opportunity to experience great music-making in a safe and beautiful outdoor setting surrounded by gardens and farmland," says Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.