Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Tuesday at 10:00 pm

David Finckel and Wu Han, artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Chamber music performances from the world’s most famous performing arts complex

Recorded live in New York's Alice Tully Hall, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center series features stellar performances. The artists of CMS, a multi-generational selection of expert chamber musicians, constitute an evolving repertory company capable of presenting chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period. Performing repertoire from over three centuries, and numerous premieres by living composers, CMS offers programs curated to provide listeners a comprehensive perspective on the art of chamber music.

Upcoming Episodes
Latest Episodes

Italian Evolution

September 15, 2026, 10:00 pm

Schubert: from Song to Instrumental Lyricism

September 22, 2026, 10:00 pm

Dvořák, Antonin in black and white photo

Play!

September 29, 2026, 10:00 pm

a young man looks over his let shoulder, his right arm holding a mandolin that rests on his knee

Worlds Apart

December 2, 2025

Two works that come from completely different soundscapes, yet share connecting threads of innovation. Mandolinist Avi Avital is the soloist in Vivaldi’s D Major Concerto for lute; pianist Wu Han joins a string quartet for Sergei Taneyev’s Quintet in G minor.

For Three

November 25, 2025

These aren’t your usual string trios. Instead of a configuration involving violin, viola, and cello, each of these chamber works is arranged in a slightly unconventional style. Beethoven’s serenade calls for flute, violin, and viola, while Niccolò Paganini features the other instrument he was well known for: the classical guitar.

Quatre Mains

November 18, 2025

Music for four hands (or “quatre mains” as the French say). We begin with a piece for two pianos from French composer Claude Debussy. Then, we hear how Debussy and Stravinsky got together to work on one of the 20th century’s most iconic pieces: The Rite of Spring.

Prelude to Modernism

November 11, 2025

At the dawn of the 20th century, radical changes were happening across the musical landscape. One of those was the slow development of an aesthetic movement called Modernism: a shift away from traditional composition methods. But before experiments of atonality and complex rhythms were popularized by artists like Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók, composers were veering from traditional forms in ...

Friends and Rivals

November 4, 2025

Friends or rivals? The interpersonal relationships between composers throughout history has been fraught with moments of tension as well as brotherhood. From the initially frigid relationship between Brahms and Tchaikovsky, to Joan Tower’s admiration of George Crumb, learn more about these friends (and rivals) through some of their beautiful, intimate chamber works.

Musically Inspired

October 28, 2025

Music inspired by other eras is the common thread linking these next two pieces of music. Maurice Ravel looked to Baroque music dance suites when constructing his famous Le tombeau de Couperin, and dedicated each movement to someone whose life was lost during World War I. Franz Schubert borrowed slightly from literature, slightly from Beethoven, but most of all from ...

The British Are Coming

October 21, 2025

It’s a British invasion of the best sort! Two wonderful pieces of music by composers from the isle are paired together: first a song of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and later a sextet by Frank Bridge.

American Winds

October 14, 2025

Instruments from the wind family play a particularly important role in tonight’s playlist. We’re shining a spotlight on a select handful of works, written by American composers, for this subset of musical instruments.

Night at the Theater

October 7, 2025

A selection of music inspired by (or created for) various plays, arranged for solo instrument and piano. Musicians include Danbi Um, Orion Wess, Matthew Lipman, and more.

Total Mozart

September 30, 2025

A double dose of Mozart! First, pianists Gloria Chien and Michael Brown perform the Andante and Five Variations in G Major. Then later, Mozart’s Divertimento in E-flat Major for Violin, Viola and Cello interpreted by Arnaud Sussmann, Paul Neubauer and David Finckel.

Intimate and Infinite

September 23, 2025

The Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, David Finckel and Wu Han, take center stage to perform Debussy’s gorgeous, plaintive Sonata for Cello and Piano. Then later, Ernest Chuasson’s Concerto in D Major for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet.

Color portrait of nathan Gunn wearing dark suit, white shirt, no tie, in front of brick wall painted blue.

The Romantic Voice

September 16, 2025

It is of little surprise that some of the most beautiful works for small chamber group and voice come from the Romantic Era. Two such works are paired together on this program. First, Gabriel Fauré’s La Bonne Chanson for Mezzo-Soprano, Two Violins, Viola, Cello, Bass, and Piano, Op. 61, showcases mezzo-soprano Meigui Zhang soaring above a wandering, winding instrumental underscore. ...

Poignant Works for Strings and Piano

September 9, 2025

Intimate works for piano and strings make up tonight’s program. First, enjoy the Aria Fantasy for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello, composed by David Ludwig – Dean of Music at the Juilliard School. Then later, it’s the Trio No. 1 in D minor by Russian composer Anton Stepanovich Arensky.