Boston Chamber Symphony to Open Season with Violinist Joshua Brown

Boston Chamber Symphony (BCS), led by Music Director Avlana Eisenberg, opens its 2026–27 season on Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m. at First Church in Cambridge. Acclaimed violinist Joshua Brown returns to BCS for a fourth consecutive season to perform Brahms's Violin Concerto, alongside Mozart's Overture to Così fan tutte and Beethoven's Symphony No. 8.

Brown, a recipient of the 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant, won Second Prize and both Audience Awards at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, where he performed the Brahms concerto in the final round with the Belgian National Orchestra. The October 17 concert marks Brown's first Boston-area performance of the concerto since the competition.

This appearance continues a close artistic collaboration between Brown and BCS. Over the past three seasons, he has joined the orchestra as soloist in the violin concertos of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Bruch.

“Joshua has become an extraordinary artistic partner for BCS, and it has been a privilege to see this collaboration deepen over the past several seasons,” said Eisenberg. “The Brahms concerto feels like a particularly meaningful next chapter in that collaboration—a work of tremendous sweep and intensity, and one with which Joshua has a special connection.”

Titled “Legacy and Innovation,” the program traces a musical lineage across three generations of composers. Mozart's spirited Overture to Così fan tutte opens the evening, followed by Beethoven's exuberant Eighth Symphony. After intermission, Brown joins BCS for Brahms's expansive Violin Concerto, a work that combines symphonic scale with formidable virtuosity and lyricism.

The concert takes place Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. at First Church in Cambridge, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA. Tickets are $35 general admission, $30 for seniors, and $15 for students, with a $5 discount for advance online purchases.

Concert Details

Boston Chamber Symphony: Legacy and Innovation
Avlana Eisenberg, conductor
Joshua Brown, violin

Saturday, October 17, 2026 | 7:30 p.m.
First Church in Cambridge
11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Mozart: Overture to Così fan tutte
Beethoven: Symphony No. 8
Brahms: Violin Concerto

Tickets & Information: https://www.bostonchambersymphony.org/upcoming-concerts

About Joshua Brown

Violinist Joshua Brown gained international attention after winning Second Prize and both Audience Awards at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and was subsequently awarded a 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant. He has appeared with orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, Munich Radio Orchestra, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. A recipient of a 2025 Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Prize, Brown will join the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Bowers Program in 2027. He received his Artist Diploma, Bachelor of Music, and Master of Music from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Donald Weilerstein.

About Avlana Eisenberg

Avlana Eisenberg is Music Director of the Boston Chamber Symphony and has conducted orchestras throughout the United States and Europe. Her 2022 Naxos recording of world-premiere works by William Grant Still with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was praised as “stunning” by The New York Times and named Album of the Week by SiriusXM. A Fulbright Fellow and Yale graduate, Eisenberg holds graduate degrees in orchestral conducting from the University of Michigan and the Peabody Institute.

About Boston Chamber Symphony