Seattle Chamber Music Society to Launch Expanded 2026-27 Signature Series

Seattle Chamber Music Society has revealed programming for its 2026-27 Signature Series, running from September 23, 2026 through May 23, 2027 at Nordstrom Recital Hall. Across seven concert programs, leading classical musicians will perform music by Billy Childs, Hannah Ishizaki, and Kelly-Marie Murphy, as well as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Puccini, Ravel, and Shostakovich. Discounted season subscriptions are on sale starting today, and single-program tickets will be available on August 25.

James Ehnes curates the concerts in his role as the Gilbert Omenn and Martha Darling Artistic Director of SCMS. Performers joining Ehnes on the series are Edward Arron, Yulianna Avdeeva, Marc-André Hamelin, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Jonathan Vinocour, and Orion Weiss, as well as the Ehnes Quartet, Balourdet Quartet, Isidore String Quartet, and New Orford String Quartet.

Last week, SCMS announced plans to build a new Center for Chamber Music in downtown Seattle-the city's first permanent venue designed exclusively for chamber music performance, education, recording, and community engagement-within the newly renovated U.S. Bank Building on 6th & Union. This past Spring, SCMS launched SCMS Records, a new record label showcasing celebrated artists and performances. Last season, SCMS named The Balourdet Quartet as its first ever String Quartet in Residence and acquired The Concert Truck, a traveling music venue that presents concerts across the country and redefines how people experience live music.

SCMS's 2026-27 Signature Series opens September 23 with Yulianna Avdeeva tracing the evolution of keyboard repertoire over two centuries. Her program traverses Bach's Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971, Beethoven's imaginative Fantasy in G minor, Op. 77 and monumental Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 'Appassionata,' and Ravel works inspired by dance, including Valses nobles et sentimentales and Pavane pour une infante défunte.

On October 25, the Isidore String Quartet reunites with American composer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Billy Childs for his String Quartet No. 4, 'American Mosaic,' written for the Quartet. The piece explores the past and present state of race relations in the United States and presents Childs's hope for the future. Also on the program is Mozart's 'Prussian' String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575, allegedly written as a royal commission for King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, who was an amateur cellist.

November 15 brings together the Ehnes Quartet with violist Jonathan Vinocour. The program marks a unique opportunity to hear both of Brahms's delightful and challenging String Quintets, performed by longtime collaborators. The Ehnes Quartet was founded at SCMS and its musicians have played chamber music together in various formations for more than two decades.

On December 6, Marc-André Hamelin joins the Balourdet Quartet for Dvořák's sublime Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, one of the most magnificent and beloved works in chamber music. The concert features/premieres a new work by composer Hannah Ishizaki, the current Composer-in-Residence of Young Concert Artists.

For February 28, Orion Weiss, Amy Schwartz Moretti, and Edward Arron embark on an all-piano-trio program. They'll play Dvořák's Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65, widely considered one of Dvořák's major achievements in chamber music, and a landmark work of the piano trio genre. In addition, they'll perform Mozart's Piano Trio in E Major, K.542, the composer's only completed multi-movement work in E Major, and Schumann's Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80.

On March 21, James Ehnes joins the New Orford String Quartet for Beethoven's String Quintet in C Major, Op. 29 ("Storm"), the composer's only original composition for string quintet. The concert also features Kelly-Marie Murphy's Dark Energy, a quartet inspired by the antigravity force affecting the evolution of the cosmos, and Mendelssohn's String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80.

Rounding out the series on May 23, James Ehnes and Orion Weiss present a program that explores pivotal moments of the lives of three great composers. Schubert's lyrical Rondo in B minor D. 895, written near the end of his life, remains one of most beloved of his chamber works and is the only work for violin and piano published during his lifetime. Strauss's Sonata in Eb Major Op. 18, composed around the time when he met his future wife, soprano Pauline de Ahna, brims with romance. Ehnes and Weiss will also play Prokofiev's brooding and profound Sonata in F minor Op. 80, a haunting masterpiece shaped by the turmoil of World War II.

Seattle Chamber Music Society – 2026–27 Signature Series

Concert I

Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Yulianna Avdeeva, piano

Program

• J.S. Bach: Italian Concerto in F Major, BWV 971
• Beethoven: Fantasy in G minor, Op. 77
• Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57, "Appassionata"
• Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte
• Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
• Ravel: La valse

Concert II

Sunday, October 25, 2026, 2 p.m.
Isidore String Quartet

Program

• Mozart: String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575
• Billy Childs: String Quartet No. 4, "American Mosaic"
• Second half: To be announced

Concert III

Sunday, November 15, 2026, 2 p.m.
Ehnes Quartet with Jonathan Vinocour, viola

Program

• Brahms: String Quintet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 88
• Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111

Concert IV

Sunday, December 6, 2026, 2 p.m.
Balourdet Quartet with Marc-André Hamelin, piano

Program

• Puccini: Crisantemi
• Hannah Ishizaki: New Commission
• Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 3
• Dvořák: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major

Concert V

Sunday, February 28, 2027, 2 p.m.
Orion Weiss, piano; Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin; and Edward Arron, cello

Program

• Mozart: Piano Trio in E Major, K. 542
• Schumann: Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80
• Dvořák: Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65

Concert VI

Sunday, March 21, 2027, 2 p.m.
New Orford String Quartet with James Ehnes, viola

Program

• Kelly-Marie Murphy: Dark Energy
• Mendelssohn: String Quartet, Op. 80
• Beethoven: "Storm" Quintet

Concert VII

Sunday, May 23, 2027, 2 p.m.
James Ehnes & Orion Weiss

Program

• Schubert: Rondo in B minor, D. 895
• Prokofiev: Sonata in F minor, Op. 80
• Strauss: Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 18

Need more Seattle Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...