February 13: Live From Lincoln Center

This past Sunday, Wu Han and artists from The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performed as part of the PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center.  The performance was part of CMS’s Brahms/Beethoven Manifest Legacy festival and featured the Brahms B Major Sextet as well as Beethoven’s “Archduke” Trio.

______________________________________________________________
in Wu Han’s words…
______________________________________________________________

This past Sunday, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center participated in their second Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of the season.  I was thrilled to be participating in this nationally televised event with several of my dear CMS colleagues.  This was a remarkable occasion for the Chamber Music Society and a testament to the prominent role great chamber music plays in the artistic fabric of America.

On the program was Beethoven’s seminal “Archduke” Trio as well the utterly Romantic and lyrical B Major Sextet by Johannes Brahms.  The concert was part of the Chamber Music Society’s Manifest Legacy, a winter festival that is exploring how courageously Brahms received the mantle of Beethoven, pairing striking parallels in their repertoire.  All the musicians performing on the concert were palpably thrilled to be part of such an event, and each one performed with a kind of energy and enthusiasm that was infectious.  The PBS crew and the Live From Lincoln Center staff did an incredible job transforming the stage of Alice Tully Hall into a beautiful ‘set’, so to speak.

This Live From Lincoln Center broadcast is just one of many ways in which CMS is making strides and becoming an industry leader in using new media.  This coming Thursday, CMS will be hosting a Late Night Rose Studio concert that will be streamed live through CMS’s website and mobile apps.  The last time CMS did a live stream, people from over twelve countries tuned in through the internet or their mobile phones to watch and listen to the performance.  The fact that this technology can be used to reach such a broad constituency confirms to us the importance of embracing these new ways to reach new audiences.  I am excited about the prospect of bringing great chamber music to more and more people throughout the world using these technologies and am so proud of CMS for being visionary leaders in this mission.

Be sure to check your local PBS listings for further rebroadcasts of Sunday’s Live From Lincoln Center program and check out the CMS website for more information on all of their exciting activities.