The Brandenburg Concertos
Sun, Dec 13 - Fri, Dec 18, 2026
Alice Tully Hall
2 hours 15 minutes, including intermission
Uplifting, inspiring, hopeful, energizing, innovative, spiritual: all of these adjectives apply to Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. To say that the world needs them now more than ever is an understatement. They represent what humankind at its finest can achieve, and because of that, we gather around them faithfully every season.
Program
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051
(1720)Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
(1720)Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049
(1720)Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046
(1720)Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047
(1720)Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
(1720)
Paolo Bordignon
Stella Chen
Julian Rhee
Aaron Boyd
Arnaud Sussmann
Paul Neubauer
Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt
Edward Arron
Mihai Marica
Jonathan Swensen
Anthony Manzo
Demarre McGill
Tara Helen O'Connor
Randall Ellis
Stephen Taylor
Juri Vallentin
Jake Thonis
Eric Reed
Caleb Hudson
Paolo Bordignon is harpsichordist of the New York Philharmonic and organist and choirmaster of St. Bartholomew’s Church, Park Avenue. Recent appearances include concertos with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra, and performances with Camerata Pacifica, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Mark Morris Dance Company, and The Knights. He has also recently performed with the MET Orchestra Musicians, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, All-Star Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, and ECCO. Born in Toronto of Italian heritage, Bordignon attended St. Michael’s Cathedral Choir School before attending the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He is an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and he earned master’s and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School.
Praised for her “silken grace” and “brilliant command” (The Strad), American violinist Stella Chen captured international attention as the winner of the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant. Her debut album, Stella x Schubert, was released in 2023 on Apple Music’s Platoon label to critical acclaim, garnering her the title of Young Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards. Stella has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia, appearing as soloist with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. A recently appointed faculty member of the Juilliard School, she holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Juilliard, and is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program. Chen performs on the 1720 “General Kyd” Stradivarius, generously loaned by Dr. Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.
Winner of the prestigious 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Korean-American violinist Julian Rhee came to international prominence following his prize-winning performances at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and Silver Medal finish at the 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. He has appeared with orchestras including the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Oregon Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and San Diego Symphony. Julian is a member of CMS’s Bowers Program and has performed at festivals including Marlboro Music, Ravinia Steans Institute, and North Shore Chamber Music Festival. He studied at the New England Conservatory with Miriam Fried, and currently works with Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy. Julian is the recipient of the 1699 “Lady Tennant” Antonio Stradivari violin and a Jean Pierre Marie Persoit bow on extended loan through the generosity of the Mary B. Galvin Foundation and the Stradivari Society.
Violinist Aaron Boyd enjoys a versatile career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral leader, recording artist, lecturer, and teacher. Since making his New York recital debut in 1998, he has concertized throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Formerly a member of the Escher String Quartet, he was a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Martin E. Segal prize from Lincoln Center, and was also awarded a Proclamation by the City of Pittsburgh for his musical accomplishments. A passionate advocate for new music, he has been involved in numerous commissions and premieres, and has worked directly with such legendary composers as Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, and Charles Wuorinen. He is also founder of the Zukofsky Quartet (quartet-in-residence at Bargemusic); the only ensemble to have played all of Milton Babbitt's notoriously difficult string quartets. As a recording artist, he can be heard on the BIS, Music@Menlo Live, Naxos, Tzadik, North/South and Innova labels. He has been broadcast in concert by NPR, WQXR, and WQED, and was profiled by Arizona Public Television. Born in Pittsburgh, Mr. Boyd began his studies with Samuel LaRocca and Eugene Phillips and graduated from The Juilliard School where he studied with Sally Thomas and coached extensively with Paul Zukofsky and cellist Harvey Shapiro. He now serves as Director of Chamber Music and Professor of Practice in Violin at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University and lives in Dallas with his wife Yuko, daughter Ayu, and son Yuki.
Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has recently appeared as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony and the New World Symphony. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Tel Aviv Museum, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Dresden Music Festival, and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. He has also given concerts at the Moritzburg, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Mainly Mozart, Seattle Chamber Music, Chamber Music Northwest, and Moab Music festivals. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, Sussmann is Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach and Co-Director of Music@Menlo’s International Program, and teaches at Stony Brook University. In September 2022, he was named Founding Artistic Director of the Boscobel Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Sussmann plays a 1731 Stradivarius violin on loan from a private owner.
Violist Paul Neubauer, hailed by the New York Times as a “master musician,” released two new albums in 2025 on First Hand Records, featuring the final works of two great composers: an all-Bartók album including the revised version of the Viola Concerto, and a Shostakovich recording that includes the monumental Viola Sonata. Appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at the age of 21, Neubauer has appeared as soloist with the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki Philharmonics; the Chicago, National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth Symphonies; and the Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle Orchestras. He has premiered viola concertos by Bartók (revised version), Friedman, Glière, Jacob, Kernis, Lazarof, Müller-Siemens, Ott, Penderecki, Picker, Suter, and Tower. A two-time Grammy nominee, Neubauer is artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey and serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School and Mannes College.
Violist Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt has appeared as soloist with the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, and has performed in recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, including an acclaimed 2011 debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall. She was the founding violist of the Dover Quartet, and played in the group from 2008 to 2022. In 2013 the Dover Quartet was the first-prize winner and recipient of every special award at the Banff International String Quartet Competition, and won the gold medal and grand prize in the 2010 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Her numerous awards also include first prize of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and Tokyo International Viola Competition. Pájaro-van de Stadt has degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.
Cellist Edward Arron has garnered recognition worldwide for his elegant musicianship, impassioned performances, and creative programming. The 2025–26 season marks his 13th year as the co-artistic director with his wife, pianist Jeewon Park, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He tours and records as a member of the Ehnes Quartet, and appears regularly at the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, Bargemusic, Caramoor, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, Music in the Vineyards Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Arron studied in New York with Peter Wiley. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Harvey Shapiro. He has served on the faculty at University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2016.
Romanian-born cellist Mihai Marica is a first-prize winner of the Dr. Luis Sigall International Competition in Viña del Mar, Chile, as well as the Irving M. Klein International Competition, and is a recipient of Charlotte White’s Salon de Virtuosi Fellowship Grant. He has performed with orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of Chile, Xalapa Symphony in Mexico, the Hermitage State Orchestra of St. Petersburg in Russia, the Jardins Musicaux Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Santa Cruz Symphony in the US. He has also appeared in recital performances in Austria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Holland, South Korea, Japan, Chile, the United States, and Canada. A dedicated chamber musician, he has performed at the Chamber Music Northwest, Norfolk, and Aspen music festivals where he has collaborated with such artists as Ani Kavafian, Ida Kavafian, David Shifrin, André Watts, and Edgar Meyer. He is a founding member of the award-winning Amphion String Quartet. A recent collaboration with dancer Lil Buck brought forth new pieces for solo cello written by Yevgeniy Sharlat and Patrick Castillo. He recently joined the acclaimed Apollo Trio. Marica studied with Gabriela Todor in his native Romania and with Aldo Parisot at the Yale School of Music, where he was awarded master's and artist diploma degrees. He is an alum of CMS's Bowers Program.
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.
Anthony Manzo’s vibrantly interactive music-making has made him a ubiquitous figure in the chamber music world. He appears regularly with CMS and at festivals including Spoleto USA, La Jolla SummerFest, Santa Fe Chamber Music, and the Bowdoin Festival. Currently a core member of ECCO (the East Coast Chamber Orchestra), he was previously the solo bassist of the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the New Century Chamber Orchestra. He has also been guest principal with Camerata Salzburg, where collaborations included a summer residency at the Salzburg Festival and two tours as soloist alongside bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff, performing Mozart’s “Per questa bella mano.” Mr. Manzo also appears regularly with the Handel & Haydn Society and the Philharmonia Baroque, and is on the double bass and chamber music faculty at the University of Maryland. His instrument was made in Paris around 1890—and has been fitted with a removable neck for all his traveling!
Flutist Demarre McGill has gained international recognition as a soloist, recitalist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, he has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grant Park, San Diego, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. Now principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, he previously served as principal flute of the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has also served as acting principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. McGill is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program and has participated in the Santa Fe, Marlboro, Seattle, and Stellenbosch chamber music festivals, among others.
Tara Helen O’Connor, recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a two-time Grammy nominee, was the first wind player to participate in CMS’s Bowers Program. A regular performer at major music festivals around the country, she is also the Co-Artistic Director of the Music from Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico, the Artistic Director of the Essex Winter Series, a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape, and a founding member of the Naumburg Award–winning New Millennium Ensemble. She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings, and Bridge Records, and can be heard on numerous film and television soundtracks. She has premiered hundreds of new works and has collaborated with the Orion, St. Lawrence, and Emerson String Quartets. A Wm. S. Haynes flute artist, O’Connor is on faculty at Yale School of Music. Additionally, she teaches at Bard College and the Manhattan School of Music.
Randall Ellis was principal oboist of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra from 1988 until 2016. He is principal oboist of the Little Orchestra Society and solo English horn in the New York Pops Orchestra. He is a member of the Emmy-winning All-Star Orchestra and former member of Windscape Woodwind Quintet. He is principal oboist of the Eastern Music Festival and was also principal oboist of the New York Chamber Symphony, where he received two Grammy nominations. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, American Symphony, and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He has been a soloist with the New England Bach Festival, the International Bach Festival of Madeira, the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, and Chamber Music at 92Y. Ellis attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and Stony Brook University, where he was a student of Ronald Roseman. He teaches oboe and chamber music at Skidmore College.
Stephen Taylor is solo oboist with the New York Woodwind Quintet, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, the American Composers Orchestra, and the New England Bach Festival Orchestra, and is co-principal oboist of Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Among his more than 300 recordings are Bach arias with Kathleen Battle and Itzhak Perlman, and Elliott Carter’s Oboe Quartet, for which he received a Grammy nomination. He has performed and recorded many of Carter’s works, giving several world and US premieres. He was awarded a performer’s grant from the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University and has collaborated with the Vermeer, Shanghai, Orion, American, and Artis-Vienna String Quartets, among others. Taylor is on the faculties of the Manhattan, Juilliard and Yale schools of music. He plays rare James Caldwell model Lorée oboes, and spends as much time as possible with his old wooden boats in Maine.
German oboist Juri Vallentin has gained international attention as a prize winner of major competitions such as the International Tchaikovsky Competition as first oboist, the German Music Competition, and the International Oboe Competition of Japan. He has performed as soloist with the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Lower Saxony State Orchestra, the Brandenburg State Orchestra, and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, among others. His albums Bridges, featuring Italian concertos, Ebenbild, which combines music and literature, and Bridges, with music from five centuries, as well as numerous radio productions for BR, SWR, and Deutschlandfunk, document his artistic work. He co-founded the wind quintet BREEZE in 2021. Born in Mainz, he studied in Nuremberg and at the Conservatoire de Paris, where he graduated with highest honors. Vallentin is Professor of Oboe at the Karlsruhe University of Music and a member of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Jake Thonis made his solo debut with the Boston Symphony in 2013 and has gone on to perform as guest principal bassoon with the Charleston, Chicago, Houston, and Winnipeg Symphonies, as well as the Florida Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is currently the Acting Principal Bassoon of the Winnipeg Symphony, and was the Acting Principal Bassoon for the Florida Orchestra for the 2024–25 season, previously serving as Acting Associate Principal for three seasons. An avid chamber musician, Jake was an artist-participant at the Marlboro Music Festival. He made his debut in 2024 at Music@Menlo and Tippet Rise Art Center, and returned to Music@Menlo in summer 2025. Thonis began his studies with Janet Underhill in his hometown of Wellesley, Massachusetts, going on to study with Richard Beene, Benjamin Kamins, and Daniel Matsukawa at the Colburn School, Rice University, and the Curtis Institute of Music, respectively.
Eric Reed is the horn player of the American Brass Quintet, and co-principal horn of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Also a member of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Eric is a former member of the Canadian Brass, Ensemble Connect, and the New Jersey, Oregon, New World, and Harrisburg symphonies. He serves on the faculty of the Juilliard School, New York University, and Mannes School of Music. Eric is a member of Brassology, a genre-bending brass octet formed in 2023, and Ensemble Échappé, a sinfonietta dedicated to music of the 21st century. Recent world premieres include chamber works by Tyshawn Sorey, Jennifer Higdon, John Zorn, Nina C. Young, Anthony Barfield, William Bolcom, David Biedenbender, Philip Lasser, Kenneth Fuchs and Timo Andres. Recent festival appearances include Aspen, Bridgehampton, Bard, Emerald City, North Shore, Crescent City, Cape Cod, Steamboat Springs, and Mostly Mozart. Eric resides in the Bronx with his wife, violinist Sarah Zun, and their sons Oliver and Elliot.
Caleb Hudson has carved out a unique space in the world of classical trumpet. A member of the esteemed Canadian Brass for over a decade and a co-founder of the trio Triple Cortado, he has been hailed by the New York Times as “brilliantly stylish.” In March 2024 Hudson released his debut solo album, Nothing Less. He is acclaimed for his renditions of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, which he performs on both the modern piccolo trumpet and the historical baroque trumpet. This expertise has enabled solo engagements with renowned ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society, and Philharmonia Baroque. Beyond performance, Caleb is a prolific arranger and composer, and is deeply committed to expanding the brass repertoire. Currently, Caleb serves as the Associate Professor of Trumpet at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. A native of Lexington, Kentucky, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School.
