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Cleveland Chamber Music Society

CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER

Wednesday, May 12, 2027
7:30 p.m.
Cleveland Museum of Art, Gartner Auditorium

Preconcert talk with Christa Cole, 6:30 p.m.

MASTERS OF THE PIANO QUARTET
Wu Han, piano
Arnaud Sussman, violin
Matthew Lipman, viola
David Finckel, cello

MAHLER: Quartet in A minor for Piano and Strings

BRAHMS: : Quartet in C minor for Piano and Strings, Op. 60

SCHUMANN: Quartet in E-flat major for Piano and Strings, Op. 47

The piano quartet occupies a special place in chamber music, combining the intimacy of a string ensemble with the richness and power of the piano. This program celebrates the genre at its finest, pairing Schumann’s groundbreaking Piano Quartet with Brahms’s sweeping and deeply expressive masterpiece. Completing the program is a rare early work by Gustav Mahler—his only surviving chamber composition—a compelling single movement that hints at the greatness of an unfinished quartet.



Bringing these remarkable works to life is an all-star ensemble featuring CMS’s longest-serving artistic directors, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, joined by violinist Arnaud Sussmann and violist Matthew Lipman. Together, these acclaimed artists promise an unforgettable evening of chamber music at its most passionate, lyrical, and profound.

"Though every musician on the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center roster is superb, the sum of the parts is even greater...a potent evening of first class music making."
-The Strad 

The evidence seemed clear: what the cellist David Finckel and the pianist Wu Han, the society’s artistic directors since 2004, have achieved with their hands-on approach to blending standard, unusual and new repertory, played by a mix of familiar and emerging performers, has connected with a large, enthusiastic constituency.
—The New York Times 

About the Artists

Co-Artistic Director of CMS since 2004, cellist David Finckel has performed on the world’s stages in the roles of recitalist, chamber artist, and orchestral soloist. The first American student of Mstislav Rostropovich, he joined the Emerson String Quartet in 1979, and during 34 seasons garnered nine Grammy Awards and the Avery Fisher Prize. In 1997, he and pianist Wu Han founded ArtistLed, the first internet-based, artist-controlled classical recording label. In 2022, Music@Menlo, a summer chamber music festival in Silicon Valley founded and directed by David and Wu Han, celebrated its 20th season. He is a professor at both the Juilliard School and Stony Brook University, and oversees both CMS’s Bowers Program and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute. Along with Wu Han, he received Musical America’s 2012 Musicians of the Year Award.

Pianist Wu Han, recipient of Musical America’s Musician of the Year Award, enjoys a multi-faceted musical life that encompasses artistic direction, performing, and recording. Co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2004 as well as Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Silicon Valley’s Music@Menlo since 2002, she also serves as Artistic Advisor for Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music at the Barns series and Palm Beach’s Society of the Four Arts, and as Artistic Director for La Musica in Sarasota, Florida. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of ArtistLed, classical music’s first artist-directed, internet-based recording label. A recipient of the Andrew Wolf Award, she was mentored by some of the greatest pianists of our time, including Lilian Kallir, Rudolf Serkin, and Menahem Pressler. Married to cellist David Finckel since 1985, Wu Han divides her time between concert touring and residences in New York City and Westchester County.

American violist Matthew Lipman has made recent appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, American Symphony Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. He has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall and the Zürich Tonhalle, and has recorded on the Sony, Deutsche Grammophon, Cedille, and Avie labels. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, he performs regularly on tour and at Alice Tully Hall with CMS. An Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and major prize winner at the Primrose and Tertis International Viola Competitions, Lipman is on faculty at Stony Brook University. He performs on a 2021 Samuel Zygmuntowicz viola.

Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has recently appeared as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony and the New World Symphony. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Tel Aviv Museum, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Dresden Music Festival, and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. He has also given concerts at the Moritzburg, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Mainly Mozart, Seattle Chamber Music, Chamber Music Northwest, and Moab Music festivals. An alum of CMS’s Bowers Program, Sussmann is Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach and Co-Director of Music@Menlo’s International Program, and teaches at Stony Brook University. In September 2022, he was named Founding Artistic Director of the Boscobel Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Sussmann plays a 1731 Stradivarius violin on loan from a private owner.

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