2025-2026 SEASON
THE JOY OF SINGING
August 1, 2025
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the 18th Season of Parlance Chamber Concerts!
This season, Parlance Chamber Concerts celebrates the art of singing — the most universal form of musical expression, and the wellspring from which all music flows. From the soaring drama of opera to the intimate storytelling of Lieder to the luminous harmonies of the Renaissance chamber choir, vocal artistry will be a central thread running through our 18th season.
Even our instrumental programs will highlight music shaped by the influence of the voice — works that sing without words, inspired by the human breath and vocal phrasing that are the foundation of musical expression.
Please explore our 2025-2026 Season below. I look forward to seeing you again soon at Parlance Chamber Concerts!
Michael Parloff
Artistic Director
CONCERTS 2025 – 2026
The members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra spend their careers listening to and collaborating with the world’s greatest singers. As a result, a vocal sensibility — lyrical, expressive, and flexible — deeply informs their approach to phrasing and musical line.
PCC's Opening Concert will feature three of the Met’s principal instrumental "singers,” hornist Brad Gemeinhardt, bassoonist William Short, and clarinetist Anton Rist, performing some of Mozart’s greatest wind concertos with colleagues from the Met Orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director Michael Parloff.
The program will also include Haydn’s Symphony No. 6, "Le Matin," designed to showcase the artistry of the virtuoso musicians in his handpicked orchestra at the court of Prince Paul Anton Esterházy.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2025 AT 4 PM
“SINGERS” FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA
BRAD GEMEINHARDT, HORN
WILLIAM SHORT, BASSOON
ANTON RIST, CLARINET
with
MUSICIANS FROM THE MET ORCHESTRA
MICHAEL PARLOFF, CONDUCTOR
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat, K. 495
Haydn: Symphony No. 6, in D, Hob. 1/6 (The Morning)
Intermission
Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat, K. 191
Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2025 AT 4 PM
THE BEL CANTO TENOR
LAWRENCE BROWNLEE, TENOR
KEVIN J. MILLER, PIANO
Tenor Lawrence Brownlee has been hailed by The New York Times as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory,” and described by The Boston Classical Review as “perhaps the most agile bel canto tenor on the scene today.” Brownlee is celebrated worldwide for the dazzling technique, expressive warmth, and vocal agility that he brings to the high-flying arias of this virtuosic repertoire.
In this special recital appearance, he will perform a signature selection of beloved bel canto arias and songs — the very works that have made him one of the most sought-after opera singers of our time.
“The singing is everything we’ve come to expect from the tenor. His instrument is glorious, his diction exemplary, and his delivery consistently vibrant and impassioned. Every note is voiced fearlessly.” — San Francisco Classical Voice
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2025 AT 4 PM
THE LIEDER BARITONE
For Dieter: The Past and The Future
BENJAMIN APPL, BARITONE
JAMES BAILLIEU, PIANO
PETER FRANCIS JAMES, NARRATOR
BBC Music Magazine has called baritone Benjamin Appl “not only a singer of boundless promise, but already a great artist.” Appl will bring his warmly expressive voice and deeply personal artistry to a heartfelt tribute honoring his mentor, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, in the year of the legendary baritone’s centennial.
Entitled “To Dieter: The Past and The Future,” this richly varied program will feature songs by Schubert, Brahms, Clara Schumann, Wolf, Tchaikovsky, Britten, Barber, and others — composers who shaped Fischer-Dieskau’s legacy and continue to inspire Appl’s own musical journey. He will be joined by his superb recital partner, pianist James Baillieu.
This event will include narration by acclaimed actor Peter Francis James.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2025 AT 4 PM
THE RENAISSANCE CHOIR
Mother and Child
THE TALLIS SCHOLARS
For over five decades, The Tallis Scholars, led by founder and director Peter Phillips, have reigned as the world’s leading interpreters of Renaissance sacred music. Renowned for their purity of tone, exquisite blend, and deep musical insight, the ensemble has brought the glories of early choral music to audiences across the globe.
Their program, Mother and Child, offers a profoundly moving meditation on motherhood, mystery, and the divine. Spanning five centuries, the all-English program features Thomas Tallis’s magnificent Missa Puer natus, William Byrd’s tender Votive Mass of the Virgin, John Taverner and John Nesbett’s intricate Renaissance gems, and Benjamin Britten’s radiant Hymn to the Virgin. Together, these works form a luminous arc that connects England’s sacred choral tradition from the Tudor era to the modern age.
“It may surely be said that the Tallis Scholars are the consummate vocal ensemble.” — The Guardian, March 2025
“The chamber choir’s ethereal beauty of sound and control of long phrases came to the fore.” — Chicago Classical Review, December 10, 2024
"The Tallis Scholars were welcomed the minute they stepped onto the stage with tumultuous applause. The Tallis Scholars, led by director and founder Peter Phillips, immediately proceeded to justify that tumultuous applause." — Vancouver Presents, April 23, 2024
SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2026 AT 4 PM
THE VIRTUOSO OPERA FANTASY
BENJAMIN BEILMAN, VIOLIN
JONATHAN SWENSON, CELLO
ORION WEISS, PIANO
This thrilling program showcases three of today’s most exciting young artists — violinist Benjamin Beilman, cellist Jonathan Swensen, and pianist Orion Weiss — in a dazzling celebration of operatic fantasies. Drawing on melodies from such beloved operas as Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Bizet’s Carmen, the program features instrumental works that transform iconic operatic themes into virtuosic showpieces. The concert promises to be an electrifying homage to opera’s enduring influence on instrumental brilliance.
The program will include works by Beethoven-Mozart, Wagner-Liszt, Massenet, Bizet-Waxman, Fauré, and Mendelssohn
Violinist Benjamin Beilman is “a prodigious artist, who combines the gift of utmost sound perfection and a deep, delicate, intense, simmering sensitivity” — Le Monde (Paris)
“Cellist Jonathan Swensen proves to be a mature artist with a bold, rounded sound and the chops to back it up.” — Clive Paget, Musical America
"The gods of music must be smiling upon pianist Orion Weiss. Here was playing of inspired virtuosity, but with bountiful thought behind the technical strength.” — The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2026 AT 4 PM
THE VIRTUOSO ACCORDION
RADU RATOI, ACCORDION
Parlance Chamber Concerts is proud to present its first-ever accordion recital, featuring the charismatic young Moldovan virtuoso Radu Ratoi. A rising star on the international stage, Ratoi has been lauded for his “breathtaking precision and profound musicality” (Neue Musikzeitung) and is widely recognized as one of the most innovative accordionists of his generation. With equal command of classical masterworks and bold contemporary repertoire, he is transforming perceptions of what the accordion can be.
In this captivating program, Ratoi will perform his own dazzling transcriptions of works by Bach, Rameau, Liszt, and Saint-Saëns, alongside striking modern works that reveal the instrument’s full expressive and technical range. A trailblazer and a poet of the accordion, Ratoi promises an unforgettable musical experience.
SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2026 AT 4 PM
JONATHAN BISS PIANO
MUSIC BY MOZART, JANÁĊEK, AND SCHUMANN
Pianist Jonathan Biss is internationally acclaimed for his impeccable taste, formidable technique, and profound musical insight. He has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and, since 2018, has served as Co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival alongside Mitsuko Uchida.
In his thoughtfully curated program, Jonathan Biss charts an expressive journey through three centuries of piano masterpieces — from Mozart’s stormy Sonata in C minor, K. 457, to Janáček’s early 20th-century nostalgia in On an Overgrown Path, and the sweeping Romantic passion of Schumann’s Fantasy in C, envisioned as a coded love letter to his beloved wife-to-be, Clara Wieck.
“impeccable taste and a formidable technique” — The New Yorker
Mozart: Sonata in C minor, K. 457
Janáček: On an Overgrown Path (selections)
Intermission
Mozart: Sonata in F, K. 533/494
Schumann:Fantasy in C, Op. 17
SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2026 AT 4 PM
THE JERUSALEM STRING QUARTET
MUSIC BY HAYDN, SHULAMIT RAN, AND BEETHOVEN
Renowned for their “amazing technical finesse and overwhelming musical insight” (BBC Music Magazine), the Jerusalem String Quartet returns to Parlance Chamber Concerts for an expressively far-ranging program featuring works by Haydn, Beethoven, and Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Shulamit Ran. Celebrated for their warm, balanced sound and eloquent ensemble unity, the Quartet brings a rare blend of tradition, individuality, and emotional depth to both classical masterworks and contemporary voices.
“Consummately brilliant playing throughout, combining amazing technical finesse with overwhelming musical insight….” — BBC Music Magazine
Joseph Haydn: Quartet in B-flat, Op. 76, No. 4 (“Sunrise”)
Shulamit Ran: New Work composed for the Jerusalem Quartet
Intermission
Ludwig van Beethoven:Quartet in B-flat, Op. 130
SUNDAY, May 17, 2026 AT 4 PM
A BRAHMSIAN FINALE
CHEE-YUN, VIOLIN
STERLING ELLIOTT, CELLO
HENRY KRAMER, PIANO
Violinist Chee-Yun returns to Parlance Chamber Concerts following her unforgettable 2024 performance of Brahms’s Horn Trio — an interpretation so compelling that Artistic Director Michael Parloff invited her back for an afternoon devoted entirely to Brahms’s chamber music. She will be joined by two extraordinary young artists: Sterling Elliott, a cellist of “astonishing maturity” (The Millbrook Independent), and Henry Kramer, a pianist whose Brahms playing has been called “thrilling and nearly flawless” (Cleveland Classical Review).
Their program will open with Brahms’s dramatic D-minor Violin Sonata, followed by the lyrical F-major Cello Sonata. The concert will culminate in a performance of Brahms’s towering B-minor Piano Trio, uniting all three artists in a powerful and expressive finale to Parlance Chamber Concert’s 18th season.
Violinist Chee-Yun has “the kind of high-gloss tone that pulls sensuously at the listener's ear.” — The New York Times
Sterling Elliott is a star cellist who has risen beyond hopeful promise to astonishing maturity. — The Millbrook Independent
“Henry Kramer’s pianism is as technically flawless and precise as a faceted diamond…” — Portland Press Herald
ABOUT PARLANCE CHAMBER CONCERTS
VIDEO INTRO TO PARLANCE CHAMBER CONCERTS
Michael Parloff introduces the mission
and history of PCC. Audience members
share their experiences.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM PCC’S 17TH SEASON
Enjoy this 5-minute video recap of memorable moments from 2024-25, including performances by pianist Paul Lewis, cellist Steven Isserlis, flutist Denis Bouriakov, and others.
