Shostakovich: 1906-1975
Sun, Feb 1, 2026, 5:00 pm
Alice Tully Hall
2 hours, including intermission
Dmitri Shostakovich was an unsurpassed musical chronicler of his life and times, and of the Soviet state’s complicated relationship with artists. Despite being a highly decorated member of the Communist Party, he wrote works that clashed with the state and led to denouncements on multiple occasions. His body of music speaks to the tension of being both celebrated and denigrated by a government that fell short of its own ideals as it embraced paranoia and persecution. The Sitkovetsky Trio performs a work which blends lyrical beauty with uneasy discord, soprano Andriana Chuchman performs songs set to the words of a poet who also had a contentious relationship with the Soviet state, and the program finishes with a chamber version of Shostakovich’s enigmatically ironic final symphony.
Program
Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906–1975)Trio No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 8
(1923)Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906–1975)Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok for Soprano, Violin, Cello, and Piano, Op. 127
(1967)Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906–1975)Symphony No. 15 in A major for Ensemble, Op. 141 (arr. Derevianko)
(1970-71, arr. 1972)
Andriana Chuchman
Inon Barnatan
Paul Huang
Jonathan Swensen
Victor Caccese
Ayano Kataoka
Ian Rosenbaum
Sitkovetsky Trio
Ukranian-Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman has earned much acclaim for her performances in a wide range of repertoire, including the heroines of Mozart and Handel, 20th-century masterpieces, and the premieres of new operas and orchestral works. This season, she makes her debut at Pacific Opera Victoria in Orfeo ed Euridice and appears in concert with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Kansas City Symphony. In the past few seasons, she has debuted several important new roles including Violetta, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni,and the title role in Alcinia.In concert, Ms. Chuchman has appeared in Lincoln Center’s White Lights Festival in staged performances of the Pegolesi Stabat Mater, and has also appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Rhode Island Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and at the Cincinnati May and Ravinia festivals.
Pianist Inon Barnatan performs regularly with leading orchestras and conductors worldwide. He was the inaugural Artist-in-Association of the New York Philharmonic and has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago and Boston symphonies, and most major US ensembles, as well as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Zurich Tonhalle, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, and the London, Hong Kong, and Royal Stockholm Philharmonics. In the 2025–26 season he performs with the Baltimore, Dallas, and Minnesota symphonies, gives solo recitals at Tippet Rise Art Center and Wigmore Hall, and takes part in the Complete Etudes of Philip Glass project at the Krannert Center and the University Musical Society. Barnatan is Music Director of La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest in California, a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, and an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and a 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, violinist Paul Huang’s recent appearances included the Detroit Symphony, Rotterdam and Seoul philharmonics, and the BBC, San Francisco, Dallas, Baltimore, Houston, San Diego and NHK symphonies. In the 2025–26 season, he debuts with London Philharmonic, Tampere Philharmonia, Naples and Rochester philharmonics, and returns to Rotterdam Philharmonic, National Symphony of Taiwan, and North Carolina, Colorado, Pacific, and Vancouver symphonies. In fall 2021, he became the first classical violinist to perform his own arrangement of the US national anthem for the opening game of the NFL to an audience of 75,000. His recent recital appearances included those at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Aspen, and Lucerne Festivals. He plays on the legendary 1742 ex-Wieniawski Guarneri del Gesù on loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Cellist Jonathan Swensen is the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and joint first prize of the Naumburg International Cello Competition, and was featured as “One to Watch” in Gramophone. He made his concerto debut performing the Elgar Concerto with Portugal’s Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, and has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony, Greenville Symphony, and the Aarhus, Odense, and Iceland symphonies. He has captured first prizes at the Windsor International String Competition, Khachaturian International Cello Competition, and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. A graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Swensen continued his studies with Torleif Thedéen at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and Laurence Lesser at New England Conservatory, where he received his Artist Diploma. He is now an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel working with Gary Hoffman, and a member of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Victor Caccese is a founding member of the Brooklyn-based percussion quartet Sandbox Percussion and a Grammmy-nominated percussionist. As a member of Sandbox, he has performed over 200 concerts worldwide and taught at institutions such as University of Missouri-Kansas City, the New School College of the Performing Arts, the Peabody Conservatory, the Curtis Institute, Yale School of Music, Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University, University of Kansas, and University of Massachusetts Amherst. Victor has collaborated with composers such as Amy Beth Kirsten, Andy Akiho, David Crowell, James Wood, John Luther Adams, and Thomas Kotcheff. This past summer Victor taught and performed at the eighth annual Sandbox Percussion Seminar, a chamber music festival accepting students from around the world to study and perform some of today’s leading contemporary percussion pieces. Also a composer and arranger, Victor has written a number of pieces for percussion. His works have been performed by Sandbox Percussion more than 50 times throughout the United States. While music is at the core of his professional life, Victor has also worked as a photographer and videographer. As head of media and content development for Sandbox Percussion, he has developed and maintained a YouTube presence consisting of performance videos, workshop documentaries, and travel vlogs. Victor holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale School of Music. He is also a member of The Percussion Collective, a stunning ensemble founded by performer and pedagogue Robert van Sice. Victor serves on faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory as a percussion instructor and ensemble-in-residence with Sandbox Percussion. He also is on faculty at the New School College of the Performing Arts, and has served as visiting artist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with Sandbox Percussion.
The first percussionist to join CMS’s Bowers Program, Ayano Kataoka is known for her brilliant technique and the distinctive elegance and imagination she brings to her performances. With cellist Yo-Yo Ma, she gave the world premiere of Bruce Adolphe’s Self Comes to Mind, and she has presented a solo recital on the B to C (Bach to Contemporary) series at Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall. Additional highlights include Steven Mackey’s Micro-Concerto at Alice Tully Hall; Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du soldat at 92nd Y with violinist Jaime Laredo and actors Alan Alda and Noah Wyle; and Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at CMS with pianists Emanuel Ax and Yoko Nozaki. Ms. Kataoka is a full professor of percussion at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she received the 2023–24 Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series honor and the Chancellor’s Medal. She has also served as a visiting professor at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and on the faculty of Yellow Barn and the So Percussion Summer Institute.
Praised for his “spectacular performances” (Wall Street Journal), and his “unfailing virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), percussionist Ian Rosenbaum has developed a musical breadth far beyond his years. As a passionate advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Rosenbaum has premiered dozens of new chamber and solo works, and his recordings have been nominated for eight Grammy awards. In 2012, Mr. Rosenbaum joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) as only the second percussionist selected in the program’s history. Mr. Rosenbaum is a founding member of Sandbox Percussion, and is on faculty at the Peabody Institute, the Mannes School of Music, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
The Sitkovetsky Trio is one of today’s outstanding piano trios, appearing on the most important stages around the globe. Their playing has been described as “musically exceptional, sonically versatile, with focused energy, analytical clarity, and intensity” (FonoForum).
The ensemble consists of Russian-British violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, German cellist Isang Enders, and Chinese pianist Wu Qian. The trio has existed for nearly 20 years and has earned the highest recognition for its progressive programming and remarkable ensemble cohesion. For many years, they have performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Auditori in Barcelona, Lincoln Center in New York, and, with particular regularity, London’s Wigmore Hall.
The Sitkovetsky Trio’s recordings on the BIS Records label have received multiple awards and high critical praise. Their album featuring works by Ravel and Saint-Saëns was awarded the BBC Music Magazine Award and the Diapason d’Or ARTE. Their complete recording of the piano trios by Ludwig van Beethoven was hailed by international critics as “one of the best recent releases” (Elisabeth Richter). The “Archduke” Trio was selected in blind-listening competitions as the top interpretation by FranceMusique and the BBC’s “Build your Library” series, while The Times praised the Beethoven cycle as one of the “Best Classical Albums of 2024”: “The Sitkovetsky Trio works its magic in Beethoven’s music.” Crescendo Magazine awarded the album its highest honor, the “Joker Absolu.”
Most recently, the Sitkovetsky Trio was Artist in Residence at the Beethovenfest Bonn, where they premiered a new triple concerto by Ferran Cruixent with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. A longstanding advocate for contemporary music, the trio has commissioned numerous works, with a particular emphasis on works by female composers.
Last year, the trio toured Israel, Hong Kong, the USA, and China, collaborating with artists such as Michael Collins, Vivi Vassileva, Brett Dean, and Sharon Kam.
Highlights of the 2025–26 season include returns to New York, London, Vienna, Copenhagen, and the Schubertiade in Hohenems, along with tours to North and South America and Australia.
Isang Enders and Alexander Sitkovetsky both perform on fine instruments generously loaned by the J. & A. Beare’s Violin Society in London. The Antonio Stradivarius violin, known as the “Parera,” dates from 1679, and the cello was crafted by Carlo Tononi in Venice in 1720.
