SPAC chamber music series to be at Saratoga farm this summer

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a resident company at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center since 2014 that has performed its past seasons in the Little Theatre on the SPAC grounds, this summer will perform in an open-side greenhouse at Pitney Meadows Community Farm  in the Spa City.

Led by the husband-and-wife team of David Finckel and Wu Han, the chamber series will consist of concerts on six Sundays, two each in June, July and August, with 3 and 6 p.m. performances each day. They will be held in Pitney Meadows' High Tunnel, which serves as both an event space and a greenhouse for growing vegetables, flowers and herbs. SPAC announced details of the chamber series Thursday.

Under current state capacity restrictions, covered seating will be limited to 112, in two-seat pods with mandated distancing between them. Additional seats may be added on the sides of the High Tunnel, as dictated by demand and permitted by weather, SPAC said.

Called CMS at the Meadows, the season will include Beethoven string quartets, Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major, the U.S. premiere of "Twelve Blocks" by pianist Michael Brown and the SPAC debut of the Calidore String Quartet. All attendees will be required to complete a health screening questionnaire upon entry, wear a face mask at all times, regardless of proof of vaccination, and bring only factory-sealed water bottles and essential personal items, SPAC said.

Tickets are priced at $100 to $120 per pod for each performance. They go on sale as six-performance subscriptions at spac.org April 1 for SPAC members and April 6 for the general public. Single-performance tickets will be available starting April 12 for members, April 16 for others. Tickets will not be available at the door.

“Though the acoustics of the High Tunnel will be very different from those of the Spa Little Theatre, the aesthetics of being outdoors at Pitney Meadows will be breathtaking," SPAC President and CEO Elizabeth Sobol said in a statement. She said, "During COVID-19 we have tried to take every challenge and turn it into an opportunity. This one allows us to bring great music into the great outdoors for a very unique experience.”

Located about a mile from SPAC on West Avenue, Pitney Meadows is a 166-acre farm that was owned by the same family from 1862 to 2016, when it became a not-for profit with a mission to "celebrate and explore agricultural education, healthy food production and recreation on this preserved working farm," according to the organization's website.

As part of SPAC's 2019 Saratoga Wine and Food Festival, Pitney Meadows hosted a series of agriculture- and food-related readings and workshops.

Pitney Meadow's executive director, Lynn Trizna, said in a statement, "We are excited to provide a space where individuals can safely gather to enjoy the arts once again and celebrate our pastoral landscape and agricultural mission."

The CMS at the Meadows schedule is below, with two performances of each program:

Sunday, June 13 @ 3PM & 6PM: From Prague to Vienna:

STELLA CHEN, violin

BELLA HRISTOVA, violin

MISHA AMORY, viola

SIHAO HE, cello

ANTHONY MCGILL, clarinet

Dvořák: Terzetto in C major for Two Violins and Viola, Op. 74 (1887)

Mozart: Quintet in A major for Clarinet, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, K. 581 (1789)

Sunday, June 20 @ 3PM & 6PM: The German Tradition:

WU HAN, piano

ARNAUD SUSSMANN, violin

PAUL NEUBAUER, viola

DAVID FINCKEL, cello

Beethoven: Trio in G major for Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 9, No. 1 (1797-98)

Schumann: Quartet in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, Viola, and Cello, Op. 47 (1842)

Sunday, July 11 @ 3PM & 6PM: Delectable Discoveries:

DANBI UM, violin

HSIN-YUN HUANG, viola

NICHOLAS CANELLAKIS, cello

INBAL SEGEV, cello

Martinů: Duo No. 1 for Violin and Viola, “Three Madrigals” (1947)

Glière: Selected Duos for Two Cellos, Op. 53 (1911)

Arensky: Quartet No. 2 in A minor for Violin, Viola, and Two Cellos, Op. 35 (1894)

Sunday, July 18 @ 3PM & 6PM: U.S. Premiere:

MICHAEL BROWN, piano

GILLES VONSATTEL, piano

ORION WEISS, piano

Barber: Souvenirs for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 28 (1951-52)

Mendelssohn: Nocturne and Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 61 (1843)

Debussy: “Clair de lune” from Suite Bergamasque for Piano, Six Hands (arr. Anderson) (c. 1890, rev. 1905)

Brown: Twelve Blocks for Piano, Four Hands (2020-21)*

Ravel: La Valse for Piano, Four Hands (1920)

Sunday, August 8 @ 3PM & 6PM: The Calidore Plays Beethoven:

CALIDORE STRING QUARTET

JEFFREY MYERS, violin

RYAN MEEHAN, violin

JEREMY BERRY, viola

ESTELLE CHOI, cello

Beethoven: Quartet in F minor for Strings, Op. 95, “Serioso” (1810-11)

Beethoven: Quartet in C major for Strings, Op. 59, No. 3, “Razumovsky” (1806)

Sunday, August 29 @ 3PM & 6PM: All Schubert

WU HAN, piano

BENJAMIN BEILMAN, violin

DAVID FINCKEL, cello

Schubert: Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano, D. 574, Op. 162 (1817)

Schubert: Trio No. 2 in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, D. 929, Op. 100 (1827)