Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center celebrates Mozart's birthday at Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts | Press Releases

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will mark the 250th birthday year of one of the world's greatest composers with its All-Mozart Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, April 8, at 8 p.m. at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. 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 program features three timeless Mozart compositions: "Piano Concerto No. 14 in E-flat major," "Violin Sonata in B-flat major" and "Piano Quartet in G minor."

The Chamber Music Society, 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."

Though the Chamber Music Society includes many members, concerts can feature smaller ensembles, allowing for many musical possibilities. The musicians who will perform in the April 8 concert are: Ani Kavafian and Carmit Zori, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Fred Sherry, cello; and Andre-Michel Schub, piano.

Kavafian is celebrating her 31 ^st season as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. This year, she has been touring the United States and Europe, performing with the Chamber Music Society, with the Europe-based daSalo String Trio, and in recital with her sister, fellow violinist Ida Kavafian, and with the Kavafian-Schub-Shifrin Trio.

This past summer, Kavafian played her 1736 Stradivarius at eight festivals, including the Virginia Arts Festival, Seattle Chamber Music Festival and Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico. She is also on the faculties of both Yale University and SUNY Stony Brook.

Zori has appeared with the Chamber Music Society at the 92 ^nd Street Y, the Festival Casals in Puerto Rico, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Marlboro Music Festival. She has performed as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra, among others, and in recital at Lincoln Center. Now artistic director of the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, the Israel native has performed throughout Latin America, Europe, Israel and Japan.

She is a past recipient of the Levintritt Foundation Award, a Pro Mosicis International Award and a major prize in the Walter W. Maumburg International Violin Competition.

A Society member since 1989, Neubauer was the youngest principal string player in the New York Philharmonic's history. He has appeared with more than 100 orchestras throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, including the Los Angeles, Helsinki, and Royal Liverpool philharmonics and the St. Louis, Detroit and Dallas symphonies. The winner of several prestigious competitions, he also teaches at Juilliard and the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

A prolific recording artist who favors living composers, Sherry added to his vast discography with "Fast Fantasy," featuring the music of Charles Wuorinen, and "Necronomicon," with the music of John Zorn. Sherry has had several pieces written for him by such composers as Wuorinen, Mario Davidovsky and Lukas Foss, some of which he has debuted with the San Francisco Symphony, Municipal Orchestra of Buenos Aires and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, among other notable orchestras. A founding member of Tashi and Speculum Musicae, Sherry also created and directed "A Great Day in New York," the groundbreaking festival featuring the music of 52 living composers.

Described by the New York Times as "pianistically flawless," Schub has appeared with the Miró Quartet and on national tours with Kavafian and clarinetist David Shifrin. He often performs with the world's best orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the Boston and Chicago symphonies, the Royal Concertgebouw and the Bournemouth Symphony. He was the 1981 grand prize winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions and has received both the Avery Fisher Recital Award and first prize at the Naumberg International Piano Competition.

Tickets 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.