This program explores emotional depth and contrasts in chamber music, balancing drama with lyrical beauty. It opens with Kodály’s Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 12, a delicate work that showcases the warmth of string trio textures by the Hungarian composer known for blending folk influences with classical traditions. Next is Shostakovich’s Trio No. 2 in E minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 67, a powerful piece that moves from somber to fiercely energetic. Shostakovich’s Elegy and Polka for String Quartet follows, blending haunting lyricism with gripping rhythms, characteristic of his emotionally charged style. The program concludes with Dohnányi’s Quintet No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 1, a dramatic work by the Hungarian composer, whose passionate intensity and lyrical moments reflect both late-Romanticism and early 20th-century innovation.
Program
Zoltán Kodály
(1882–1967)Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 12
(1919–20)Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906–1975)Trio No. 2 in E minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 67
(1944)Dmitri Shostakovich
(1906–1975)Two Pieces for String Quartet
(1931)Ernő Dohnányi
(1877–1960)Quintet No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, Op. 1
(1895)Quick Note
Dohnányi's Quintet No. 1 serves as the composer's debut opus, written during his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.
Pay attention to the thematic development throughout the piece, as Dohnányi navigates through various emotions and moods, from dramatic intensity in the first movement to lyrical tenderness or introspection in the second movement.
Anna Geniushene
Sean Lee
Danbi Um
Paul Neubauer
David Finckel
Anna Geniushene won the silver medal at the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and is a current member of CMS’s Bowers Program. Born in Moscow in 1991, she made her recital debut just seven years later in the small hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. She has since developed a versatile career, with performances in major venues such as the Town Hall in Leeds, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Museum of Arts in Tel Aviv, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and Sala Greppi in Bergamo. A dedicated chamber musician, she has performed piano duo repertoire with her husband, Lukas Geniušas, and has collaborated with the Quartetto di Cremona. Recent and upcoming engagements include debuts with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, Kristiansand Symfonieorkester, and Osaka Philharmonic. She also returns to the Taipei Symphony Orchestra and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra.
With performances described by the New York Times as “breathtakingly beautiful,” violinist Sean Lee has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for over a decade, following his participation in CMS’s Bowers Program. A recipient of Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant, Lee has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, and Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice. Originally from Los Angeles, Lee studied with Robert Lipsett of the Colburn Conservatory and legendary violinist Ruggiero Ricci before studying at the Juilliard School with his longtime mentor, violinist Itzhak Perlman. Lee performs on violins made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 1995 and David Bague in 1999, and a bow made circa 1890 by Joseph Arthur Vigneron.
Violinist Danbi Um is a Menuhin International Violin Competition Silver Medalist, a winner of the prestigious 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and a recent top prizewinner of the Naumburg International Violin Competition. Recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Cleveland Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music San Francisco, and the Rockport, Moab, Saratoga Performing Arts (SPAC), Santa Fe, and North Shore Music Festivals. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ms. Um moved to the United States to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she earned a bachelor’s degree. She also holds an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. She is an alum of CMS’s Bowers Program and plays a 1683 “ex-Petschek” Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from a private collection.
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.
Co-Artistic Director of CMS since 2004, cellist David Finckel’s dynamic musical career has included performances on the world’s stages in the roles of recitalist, chamber artist, and orchestral soloist. The first American student of Mstislav Rostropovich, he joined the Emerson String Quartet in 1979, and during 34 seasons garnered nine Grammy Awards and the Avery Fisher Prize. His quartet performances and recordings include quartet cycles of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Dvorák, Brahms, Bartók, and Shostakovich, as well as collaborative masterpieces and commissioned works. In 1997, he and pianist Wu Han founded ArtistLed, the first internet-based, artist-controlled classical recording label. ArtistLed’s catalog of more than 20 releases includes the standard literature for cello and piano, plus works composed for the duo by George Tsontakis, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bruce Adolphe, Lera Auerbach, Edwin Finckel, Augusta Read Thomas, and Pierre Jalbert. In 2022, Music@Menlo, an innovative summer chamber music festival in Silicon Valley founded and directed by David and Wu Han, celebrated its 20th season. As a young student, David was winner of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s junior and senior divisions, resulting in two performances with the orchestra. Having taught extensively with the late Isaac Stern in America, Israel, and Japan, he is currently a professor at both the Juilliard School and Stony Brook University, and oversees both CMS’s Bowers Program and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute. David’s 100 online Cello Talks, lessons on cello technique, are viewed by an international audience of musicians. Along with Wu Han, he was the recipient of Musical America’s 2012 Musicians of the Year Award.