Curtis At 92Y Kicks Off In January 2022 With Events Dedicated To Franz Schubert

In the final weeks of Franz Schubert's tragically short life, he wrote one of the great masterworks in all of chamber music - his Quintet in C Major. In this new five-part course, Jonathan Coopersmith, Chair of Musical Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, explores the work in depth, as well as the creative burst that spawned it.

Benjamin Britten called Schubert's last year and a half "the richest and most productive 18 months in our music history," producing not only the Quintet, but Winterreise, the C-Major Symphony, the B-Flat and E-Flat Piano Trios, the Mass in E-Flat, and the final three piano sonatas. Coopersmith looks at the genius of the Quintet, what made Schubert a musical groundbreaker, and his unique place in bridging the Classical and Romantic eras.

Two days after the course's final class, a Curtis on Tour ensemble performs the Quintet on the stage of Kaufmann Concert Hall, in a program also including the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour's A Shattered Vessel. We explore this work composed 190 years later for the same instrumentation of two violins, viola and two cellos, analyzing it as a standalone composition, and informed by the insights of a living composer.

All patrons registering for this course will receive a special discount code for Curtis on Tour appearances on 92Y's concert series. This discount code will be provided in a separate email upon registration. Register for the class here.

In this first concert in a new alliance between 92Y and the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music, an ensemble comprising esteemed faculty - including Ida Kavafian on violin and Peter Wiley on cello - and recent alumni of Curtis perform one of the greatest masterworks in chamber music, Schubert's sublimely beautiful C-Major Quintet.

The quintet is followed by the New York premiere of a new work by another member of Curtis' faculty, with Grammy Award-winning composer Richard Danielpour's A Shattered Vessel. Written 190 years after the Schubert work for the same instrumentation of two violins, viola and two cellos, A Shattered Vessel contemplates crisis and struggle, loss and healing, renewal and gratitude. A splendid and soulful program from some of the finest chamber musicians performing today.

Lun Li, violin

Ida Kavafian, violin

Cara Pogossian, viola

Francis Carr, cello

Peter Wiley, cello

Danielpour, A Shattered Vessel (NY premiere)

Schubert, String Quintet in C Major, D. 956