George Tsontakis Piano Quartet No. 3; Shawn Okpebholo Black Music (New York Premiere); John Musto Cello Sonata

These vivid, formidable works by outstanding American masters are a kind of disguised theater, with virtuoso instrumentalists engaged in dramatic yet wordless narratives – elusive, abstract, representational. Only in Black Music does composer Shawn Okpebholo explicitly convey “the physical manifestation of the color black as well as artistic elements associated with African American experience and musical culture.” These musical actors converse cooperatively or contentiously, swerving from ethereal to intense, reflective to impulsive, serene to volatile. Their sonic journeys are breathtaking!

Siwoo Kim and Yebin Yoo, violins; Tanner Menees, viola; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; Michael Boriskin, piano

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George Tsontakis Piano Quartet No. 3; Shawn Okpebholo Black Music (New York Premiere); John Musto Cello Sonata

These formidable works by three outstanding American masters are a kind of disguised theater. Virtuoso instrumentalists star in wordless roles – unspoken, often elusive characters ranging from abstract to referential, folklike to studied, raw to refined. Only in Black Music is Okpebholo directly “conveying the physical manifestation of the color black as well as artistic elements associated with African American experience and musical culture.” These musical actors occupy ever-changing roles, conversing cooperatively, combatively, or in shifting alliances, swerving from ethereal to intense, reflective to impulsive, serene to volatile. Their sonic journeys are breathtaking!

Siwoo Kim and Yebin Yoo, violins; Tanner Menees, viola; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; Michael Boriskin, piano

Followed by our lively, post-performance OFFBEAT / ONSTAGE talkback with the artists.

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Joan Tower Rain Waves; Chen Yi Happy Rain on a Spring Night; Mason Bates Red River; Shawn Okpebholo Fractured Water.

Strong yet fragile, nourishing yet destructive, mythological yet tangible – across centuries, water has been seen as a primal life-force, religious symbol, geographical marker, and natural resource. It has also been a fertile artistic prompt, and our program flows sonically through China’s 8th-century Tang Dynasty, the peaks and valleys of the Colorado River, rain in its many forms, and even an ecstatic riverside Baptism.

Followed by our lively, post-performance OFFBEAT / ONSTAGE talkback with the artists.

Alan R. Kay, clarinet; Siwoo Kim and Yebin Yoo, violins; Tanner Menees, viola, Caleb van der Swaagh, cello; Michael Boriskin, piano

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Joan Tower Rain Waves; Chen Yi Happy Rain on a Spring Night; Mason Bates Red River; Shawn Okpebholo Fractured Water.

Strong yet fragile, nourishing yet destructive, mythological yet tangible – across centuries, water has been seen as a primal life-force, religious symbol, geographical marker, and natural resource. It has also been a fertile artistic prompt, and our program flows sonically through China’s 8th-century Tang Dynasty, the peaks and valleys of the Colorado River, rain in its many forms, and even an ecstatic riverside Baptism.

Alan R. Kay, clarinet; Siwoo Kim and Yebin Yoo, violins; Tanner Menees, viola, Caleb van der Swaagh, cello; Michael Boriskin, piano

Reserve your pay-as-you-wish seats here

Hear the future here! Six World Premieres by our gifted 2026 Emerging Composer Fellows, commissioned by Copland House especially for this program.

Moran Katz, clarinet; Pala Garcia, violin; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; Margaret Kampmeier, piano

Reserve your pay-as-you-wish seats here

Hear the future here! Six World Premieres by our gifted 2026 Emerging Composer Fellows, commissioned by Copland House especially for this program.

Followed by our lively, post-performance OFFBEAT / ONSTAGE talkbacks with the artists.

Moran Katz, clarinet; Pala Garcia, violin; Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello; Margaret Kampmeier, piano

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NPR's popular Tiny Desk (at Home) Concerts come to Copland's beloved studio (with his not-so-tiny desk in view!) for a short program featuring the Copland House Ensemble performing selections from the Duo for Flute and Piano (composed in that very room!), Sonata for Violin and Piano, and Three Moods for Piano. The program is available for streaming beginning on November 13th, and then accessible indefinitely.

Music from Copland House artists: Carol Wincenc, flute; Curtis Macomber, violin; and Michael Boriskin, piano.

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