Mendelssohn's B-minor Piano Quartet
Sun, Oct 18, 2026, 5:00 pm
Alice Tully Hall
2 hours, including intermission
In a program where music evolves from work to work, all roads lead to Mendelssohn, who assimilated and combined the best of his predecessors during the midst of the Romantic era. The wit of Haydn, the strength of Beethoven, and the lyricism of Schubert all found a home in Mendelssohn’s prolific pen. Join us for an exciting journey from the elegant Age of Reason into the turbulent 19th century.
Program
Joseph Haydn
(1732–1809)Trio in B-flat major for Violin, Cello and Piano, Hob. XV:20
(1794)Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770–1827)Allegretto in B-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, WoO 39
(1812)Franz Schubert
(1797–1828)Sonata in A minor for Viola and Piano, D. 821, "Arpeggione"
(1824)Felix Mendelssohn
(1809–1847)Quartet in B minor for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 3
(1825)
Orion Weiss
Julian Rhee
Timothy Ridout
Sterling Elliott
Orion Weiss has performed with the major orchestras of North America including the Chicago Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic and at major venues and festivals worldwide. Known for his affinity for chamber music, he performs regularly with violinists James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, and William Hagen, pianists Michael Stephen Brown and Roman Rabinovich, and the Ariel, Parker, Ehnes, Calidore, and Pacifica Quartets. Weiss can be heard on the Naxos, Telos, Bridge, First Hand, Yarlung, and Artek labels. He has been awarded the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist of the Year, Gilmore Young Artist Award, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. A native of Ohio and an alum of CMS’s Bower Program, Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, where he studied with Emanuel Ax.
Winner of the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Korean-American violinist Julian Rhee rose to international prominence following his prize-winning performances at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and Silver Medal at the 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. He has appeared with orchestras including the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Pacific Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, and San Diego Symphony. Highlights of the 2026–2027 season include debuts with the Gürzenich-Orchester and Andrés Orozco-Estrada, La Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia and Daniel Raiskin, and returns to the Richmond and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras. He is a member of CMS’s Bowers Program and has performed at festivals including Marlboro, Rockport, Bridgehampton, Music@Menlo, and North Shore Chamber Music Festivals. Rhee is the recipient of the 1699 “Lady Tennant” Antonio Stradivari violin and a Jean Pierre Marie Persoit bow on extended loan through the Mary B. Galvin Foundation and the Stradivari Society.
Violist Timothy Ridout has appeared with orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, and the Netherlands Philharmonic, working alongside conductors such as Sakari Oramo, Sir András Schiff, Sylvain Cambreling, and Sir Simon Rattle. A committed chamber musician, he performs regularly at Wigmore Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Musikverein, with partners including Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma. A champion of new music, Ridout premiered Mark Simpson's Viola Concerto Hold Your Heart in Your Teeth with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Robin Ticciati. He records with Harmonia Mundi, and has made appearances at the BBC Proms, Verbier Festival, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Ridout is a former BBC New Generation Artist, an alum of CMS’s Bowers program, and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellow. He performs on a viola by Peregrino di Zanetto, c.1565–75, on generous loan from a patron of Beare’s International Violin Society.
Acclaimed for his stellar stage presence and joyous musicianship, cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and winner of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition. He has appeared with major orchestras including the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras; the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics; and the Boston, Dallas, and Detroit Symphonies. In 2025–26 Sterling debuts with the Phoenix Symphony and the Buffalo Philharmonic, and at the BBC Proms. As featured soloist with the Sphinx Virtuosi, he will perform during a mutli-city tour at Carnegie Hall, Shriver Concert Series, and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. He also continues his residency in CMS’s Bowers Program, performing at Alice Tully Hall and on tour throughout the United States, as well as in trio performances with Anthony McGill and Gloria Chien. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization.
