The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Announces November 2025 Asia Tour

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) will embark on a major Asia tour from November 8 through November 22, 2025, presenting seven concerts in four cities along with masterclasses. The touring ensemble is led by cellist David Finckel, Co-Artistic Director of CMS, joined by pianists Hyeyeon Park (in Korea), Wu Qian (in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai), violinist Kristin Lee, violist Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt, hornist Radovan Vlatković, and clarinetist Tommaso Lonquich. Together, this intergenerational roster of artists exemplifies the depth and excellence of CMS’s global touring tradition.

The 2025 Asia tour reflects both the renewal of longstanding ties and the expansion of CMS’s international presence. CMS has a deep history in Korea, first performing there in 2009 and returning regularly through 2018. This fall marks its first visit since before the pandemic.  In Korea, CMS will make its first appearance in the city of Goyang, presented by DotheG Record with the support of the Goyang Cultural Foundation. 

This 2025 tour also marks ten years since CMS’s inaugural China tour in 2015 under the guidance of CMS’s Global Ambassador Shirley Young.  Ms. Young was committed to the mission which is also central to CMS – advancing cultural exchange and creating opportunities for seasoned artists to impart the traditions of chamber music to the next generation of musicians in China, opening the doors for them nationally and internationally. The foundation which Ms. Young founded, The US-China Cultural Institute, has provided support for this China tour as CMS continues to pursue the mission that we shared with Ms. Young and carries forward her legacy. 

In Hong Kong, CMS will present three concerts, masterclasses, and open rehearsals at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts as part of its residency, now in its third year. CMS also returns to Beijing, continuing its ongoing relationship with the National Centre for the Performing Arts since 2023 and embarking on its first collaborative concert series with musicians from the National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra (NCPAO), the resident orchestra of the NCPA. Finally, CMS makes a highly anticipated return to Shanghai, presented by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as part of the 24th China Shanghai International Arts Festival. Following the enthusiastic response to its 2023 masterclass, CMS will perform in the Conservatory’s historic He Luting Concert Hall and conduct a series of masterclasses. These engagements underscore CMS’s commitment to forging meaningful connections across Asia through chamber music of the highest caliber.

The programs for this tour showcase the expressive breadth of chamber music. Audiences will encounter the intimacy of Mozart’s trio and quartet, the warmth of Bruch’s Eight Pieces for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, and the brilliance of Brahms and Schumann. The repertoire also features Dohnányi’s exuberant Sextet in C major, Fibich’s rarely performed Quintet in D major, and 20th-century works by Françaix, Martinů, Ibert, and Youmans that highlight the wit, color, and energy of the chamber tradition. Together, these works reflect CMS’s mission to balance beloved masterpieces with seldom-heard treasures, offering audiences a vivid portrait of chamber music’s past, present, and enduring vitality.

November 8
South Korea, Goyang Aram Theater
November 8 Program

November 12, 14, & 15
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Concert Hall
November 12 Program
November 14 Program
November 15 Program

November 18 & 19
Beijing, National Centre for the Performing Arts
November 18 Program
November 19 Program

November 22
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
November 22 Program

The tour in Asia is part of CMS’s robust program of touring concerts and residencies, which brings world-class classical musicians and major works of chamber music to cities and towns throughout North America and beyond. Based in New York at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, CMS is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions dedicated to chamber music, presenting hundreds of concerts, broadcasts, and educational programs worldwide each season, performed by a roster of more than 150 of today’s foremost musicians.

CMS’s tour to China is made possible by the generous support of US-China Cultural Institute in honor and memory of our dear friend Shirley Young.

The cello used on this tour has been generously loaned to David Finckel by Y. Chen Cellos.