Philadelphia is home to a multitude of astonishingly gifted musicians and ensembles, five of whom (the Jasper Quartet and Musical Fund Society Career Advancement Winner Yang) are highlighted in this creative program dedicated to works by living female composers.

We are delighted to welcome back to our series a pianist well known for his consummate musicianship and brilliant technique. Marcantonio Barone’s recital features the world premiere of George Crumb’s Metamorphoses (Book II), a work written specifically for him that offers a broad palette of coloristic effects along with Crumb’s unmistakable musical gestures, and an inherent sense of drama coupled with a magical, suspenseful atmosphere.

Our annual concert collaboration with the esteemed Curtis Institute of Music spotlights the Curtis Chamber Orchestra with beloved Curtis alumna and violin faculty member Pamela Frank and acclaimed violist Tabea Zimmermann. This conductor-less program opens with Mozart’s magnificent Sinfonia Concertante, followed by Britten’s moving Lachrymae (based on John Dowland’s song Flow my tears) and Tchaikovsky’s beloved Serenade for Strings.

Making his eighth appearance on the PCMS stage, Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux has been lauded as “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation” (NPR). For his return to Benjamin Franklin Hall, he teams up with Clancy Newman, a cellist whose musical acumen and superb technique have been praised time and again. “Newman’s exceptional technique seeks not to scintillate but integrate” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

In its PCMS debut, the Formosa Quartet offers a concert of beloved masterworks and new musical arrangements. Dvořák’s famed “American” quartet opens the program, and Philadelphia favorite Cynthia Raim joins the ensemble to conclude the afternoon with Schumann’s fiery Piano Quintet. The “Formosa Quartet Set” includes a spontaneous combination of pieces in the spirit of world, folk, and jazz music that the musicians themselves have curated for the concert.

After her highly successful PCMS recital debut, Francesca dePasquale returns to our series with a newly-created program that combines works by Mozart, Szymanowski, and Fauré with a suite of three world premieres. Based on Pablo Neruda’s book of poetry On the Blue Shore of Silence/Poems of the Sea, all three works in the suite will be paired with visual art by Johanna Andruchovici.

Join us in celebrating the bicentennial of a Philadelphia musical treasure with a concert of world-premiere chamber works by four of America’s finest living composers. Performed by four leading Philadelphia ensembles, the newly-commissioned works are all rooted in the history of our city, connecting audiences with the rich musical life of past and present Philadelphia.