Valley Classical Concerts will present a full season of six concerts in 2024-25, beginning October 20. All performances are at Sweeney Concert Hall at Smith College. Here are the details:
Sunday, October 20, 3:00 pm. The Israeli Chamber Project
Violinist Carmit Zori and pianist Assaff Weisman are joined by guest cellist Raman Ramakrishnan in an eclectic program that includes selections from Duos for Violin and Cello by the contemporary German master Jörg Widmann, Robert Schumann’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in D minor, Op. 121, and Maurice Ravel’s gorgeous Piano Trio.
Sponsored in part by a generous grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
Meet the Israeli Chamber Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw6re_5mmgk
Saturday, November 2, 7:30 pm. The Ciompi String Quartet with pianist Ieva Jokūbavičiūte
The Ciompi, long-time quartet-in-residence at Duke University, were last with us in 2012, when they premiered a Quartet by local composer Don Wheelock. This time they’re joined by Ieva Jokūbavičiūte (who performed here with Itamar Zorman last year) to present Polish composer Mieczysław Weinberg’s 1944 Piano Quintet, a work of tremendous range and depth, plus music by Mozart, William Grant Still, and John Dowland.
A brief video introduction to the Ciompi Quartet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FFcI5tkxKc
Saturday, December 14, 7:30 pm. The Lysander Trio
Violinist Itamar Zorman is back as well, with pianist Liza Stepanova and cellist Michael Katz. The Lysanders were last here in 2022. This year their program includes Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio, op. 70/1 in D major, Rebecca Clarke’s rarely heard masterwork, her Piano Trio of 1921, and Schumann’s ultra-romantic Piano Trio in D minor, op. 63.
The Lysander Trio have got a little Liszt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUOE3A3FBys
Sunday, February 9, 3:00 pm. The Lydian String Quartet with pianist Jiayan Sun
A Boston institution, the Lydians were last here in 2020. They return to join Smith College faculty pianist Jiayan Sun to play César Franck’s magnificent F minor Quintet, Haydn’s quirky “Bird” Quartet, op. 33/3 in C, and a new quartet composed for them and premiered just last April, Kurt Rohde’s “seeking all that’s still unsung.”
Ravel, from the Lydian Quartet:
https://youtu.be/CJW7qyH0L6M
Sunday, March 9, 3:00 pm. Espressivo! Piano Quartet
Piano quartets are rare enough; ensembles formed specifically to play them even rarer. Espressivo! – Jaime Laredo, violin, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola, Anna Polonsky, piano, and Sharon Robinson, cello – return to us after last season’s brilliant concert, this time to play Mozart’s 1st Piano Quartet in G Minor, K. 478, Brahms’ 3rd in C Minor, op. 60, and Dvořák’s 2nd, in E-Flat, op. 87.
Espressivo! plays Fauré:
https://youtu.be/mHn3achc_IM
Sunday, March 30, 3:00 pm, The Ulysses String Quartet
Sponsored by John and Pamela Hanold in honor of musical institutions everywhere.
Each season VCC tries to introduce a young ensemble that represents the very best the current generation has to offer. This year the Ulysses Quartet will close our season with Haydn’s “Emperor” Quartet, op. 76/3 in C; the String Quartet No. 3, “Cetera desunt,” by a major voice in contemporary music, Lera Auerbach; and Dvořák’s String Quartet in A-flat Major, Op. 105.
Mendelssohn, from the Ulysses Quartet:
https://youtu.be/1zIbNA2zK1w