Cleveland CMS to Celebrate 75th Anniversary With Performances in April

The Cleveland Chamber Music Society will celebrate 75 years of concerts. Jerusalem Quartet will perform all 15 string quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich over five nights, April 21-30 at Cleveland Museum of Art.

This is the first time this historic cycle by Shostakovich will be performed in Cleveland. The quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich span nearly a half century of Soviet history, from Stalin to Khrushchev to Brezhnev. A performance of all 15 quartets together is rare. Also rare: A chamber music series that's endured for three-quarters of a century.

These two extraordinary occurrences come together April 21-30 when the Cleveland Chamber Music Society celebrates its 75th anniversary with a presentation of the complete Shostakovich string quartets, in chronological order over five evenings, performed by the Jerusalem Quartet. It's the first time the cycle has ever been performed in Cleveland.

The performances are April 21, 22, 23, 29 & 30 at 7:30 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art (11150 East Blvd, Cleveland, OH). Each concert features three quartets, and a pre-concert lecture by James Wilding will be available for ticket holders at 6:30 pm each evening.

This historic cycle has never before been performed in Cleveland. "We're honored to present such an incredible body of work for the first time in the region," said CCMS board president Fern Jennings. "We're excited for audiences to hear these fifteen fantastic string quartets, performed by the world-class Jerusalem Quartet, and we're delighted to collaborate with the Cleveland Museum of Art for these performances."

Praised by BBC Magazine as "an absolute triumph," the Jerusalem Quartet is a regular and beloved guest on the world's great concert stages. Recent appearances include a Beethoven quartet cycle at Wigmore Hall in London; a Bartok cycle at the Salzburg Festival; their annual String Quartet seminar in Crans Montana Switzerland, and a residency at the Jerusalem Academy of Music.