This captivating program spans Classical elegance and Romantic intensity. Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 23 is heard in a rare chamber arrangement that highlights its lyrical beauty and crystalline textures. Dvořák’s vibrant Terzetto brings a burst of Bohemian spirit and melodic warmth. Schumann’s deeply expressive Adagio and Allegro offers an intimate moment of romantic introspection, before Arensky’s dramatic Quartet No. 2 closes the program with rich harmonies and soulful depth, scored uniquely for violin, viola, and two cellos.
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Concerto for Piano and String Quintet No. 12 in A major, K. 414
(1782)Antonín Dvořák
(1841–1904)Terzetto in C major for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74
(1887)Robert Schumann
(1810–1856)Adagio and Allegro in A-flat major for Cello and Piano, Op. 70
(1849)Anton Arensky
(1861–1906)Quartet No. 2 in A minor for Violin, Viola, and Two Cellos, Op. 35
(1894)
Michael Stephen Brown
Stella Chen
Julian Rhee
Paul Neubauer
Dmitri Atapine
Inbal Segev
Michael Stephen Brown is a composer and pianist hailed by the New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers.” He has appeared as soloist with the Seattle Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra Now, Phoenix Symphony, and Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum, and performs at major festivals worldwide. The recipient of the 2026 Andrew Wolf Award, Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant, he was recently in residence at MacDowell and Yaddo. Recent highlights include a recital at Alice Tully Hall with CMS and collaborations with longtime artistic partner Nicholas Canellakis, as well as Pinchas Zukerman, Kristin Lee, and Arnaud Sussmann. His first album devoted entirely to his own music, Twelve Blocks, was released in 2026 to critical acclaim. Current projects include The Carnival of Endangered Wonders and the score for Angeline Gragasin’s film Look But Don’t Touch. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, Brown lives in New York City with his two 19th-century Steinways, Octavia and Daria.
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 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.
Last summer, violist Paul Neubauer premiered a new viola concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich with conductor JoAnn Falletta at the Brevard Music Center. This season, he will record and perform the work with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2025, he released two albums 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. 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.
Cellist Dmitri Atapine has been praised for his “brilliant technical chops” (Gramophone) and performances that are “highly impressive throughout” (The Strad). He has appeared at leading venues, including Carnegie Hall’s Zankel and Weill halls, the National Auditorium of Spain, and Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall. He performs frequently with CMS, where he is an alum of the Bowers Program. He has been featured at festivals including Music@Menlo, La Musica Sarasota, Aldeburgh, and Aix-en-Provence. His many recordings include a world-premiere release of Lowell Liebermann’s cello sonatas. He has received multiple performance and teaching awards, including first prize at the Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition. He holds a doctorate from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Aldo Parisot. Atapine is Professor of Cello at the University of Nevada, Reno. Together with pianist Hyeyeon Park, he serves as Artistic Co-Director of Music@Menlo, Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, and Apex Concerts (Nevada).
Inbal Segev has appeared with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, and Pittsburgh Symphony, led by Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, Lorin Maazel, Cristian Macelaru, Zubin Mehta, and others. She has commissioned and premiered new concertos from Timo Andres, Anna Clyne, Avner Dorman, and Victoria Poleva. Recorded with Alsop and the London Philharmonic, her premiere recording of Clyne’s concerto topped the Amazon Classical Concertos chart, its opening movement receiving more than 13 million listens on Spotify. During the early pandemic lockdowns, she launched 20 for 2020, a commissioning, recording, and video project for 20 composers, including John Luther Adams, Viet Cuong, Angélica Negrón, and the cellist herself. A dedicated chamber musician, she co-founded the Amerigo Trio with Glenn Dicterow and Karen Dreyfus, and her acclaimed discography includes a collaboration with Juho Pohjonen. Her cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673.