The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will play an all-Schubert program in its final concert of the 2004-05 season at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts on Saturday, April 2, at 8 p.m. Journalist Robert Sherman, a classical music writer for The New York Times, will lead a pre-concert Art-to-Heart discussion from 7 to 7:40 p.m.

The Chamber Music Society (CMS), the resident company of Lincoln Center and one of the world's premier chamber ensembles, is known for its extraordinary repertoire of classics and commitment to the commission of new works. Its reputation precedes it wherever it goes. One critic dubbed the ensemble "the jewel in this nation's musical crown."

The Quick Center program features Schubert's "Piano Trio No. 1 in b-flat major" and "Piano Trio No. 2 in e-flat major." CMS musicians performing are: Cho-Liang Lin, violin; Gary Hoffman, cello; and Andre-Michel Schub at the piano.

Though the Chamber Music Society includes many members, concerts can feature smaller ensembles, allowing for many musical possibilities. The three musicians who will perform at the Quick Center often play together in duo and trio form, showing a strong understanding of each other's styles.

Born in France, Schub came to New York as a child. His talent was quickly recognized and he was soon a student of the great Rudolf Serkin. By 1981, Schub had won the Naumburg International Piano Competition, the Avery Fisher Recital Award and the grand prize at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Schub tours annually in duo recital with Lin and has appeared as a guest artist at the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Casals festivals and at Tanglewood and the Mann Music Center. He has also performed with the Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit, St. Louis and Milwaukee symphonies and toured the United States and Europe.

Though Lin has fantasized about a career in baseball, he has been playing violin since he was a child in Taiwan. He moved to Australia by himself at the age of 12 and studied with Robert Pikler in Sydney and then Dorothy DeLay at Juilliard School in New York City, where he now teaches.

Lin's recordings have earned a Grammy nomination and Record of the Year recognition from both Gramophone and Stereo Review. A member of the Chamber Music Society since 1995, Lin has played at major festivals and with most prominent symphonies in the United States, as well as those in Europe and the Far East.

While he enjoys solo work, Lin said he loves playing in an ensemble.

"I love the challenge to match the ideas of five, eight, whatever number of musicians and make it cohesive," he said. "I like rising to the occasion."

Hoffman will be commuting the farthest to perform at the Quick Center concert: The Canadian-born cellist now lives in Paris. The son, nephew and brother of professional musicians, Hoffman felt a life in the arts was quite natural and he has pursued it since he was a child. He made his London recital debut at 15 and, in 1986, was the first American to win the Rostropovich International Competition.

Hoffman has performed in trio with Lin and pianist Yefim Bronfman and worked with major orchestras and festivals around the world. A guest artist with the Emerson and Tokyo quartets, he is a 1995 recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and has been a CMS member since 1993, a job he says he loves.

"Music at its best can accentuate, magnify and bring about the best things we are as human beings, and these are directly connected to our Creator," he said. "In playing and listening to music, I've actually felt a kind of connection to something greater than me and greater than the music - a part of something divine."

Tickets to the all-Schubert program are $30. For tickets, call the Quick Center box office at (203) 254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit www.quickcenter.com.

Posted On: 03-02-2005 10:03 AM

Volume: 37 Number: 180