Buffalo Chamber Music Society

The Aizuri Quartet has established a unique position within today’s musical landscape, infusing all of their music-making with infectious energy, joy and warmth, cultivating curiosity in listeners, and inviting audiences into the concert experience through their innovative programming, and the depth and fire of their performances.

Among today’s many exceptional chamber music groups, the Grammy-nominated Danish String Quartet continuously asserts its preeminence. The Quartet’s playing reflects impeccable musicianship, sophisticated artistry, exquisite clarity of ensemble, and above all an expressivity inextricably bound to the music.

Manhattan Chamber Players is a chamber music collective of New York-based musicians who share the common aim of performing the greatest works in the chamber repertoire at the highest level. Formed in 2015 by Artistic Director and violist Luke Fleming, MCP is comprised of an impressive roster of musicians who all come from the tradition of great music making at the Marlboro Music Festival, Steans Institute at Ravinia, Music@Menlo, Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival and Perlman Music Program, and are former students of The Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School, Colburn School, and New England Conservatory.

Violinist Jennifer Frautschi joins forces with the Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo for a devilish program of thrilling virtuosity and expressive freedom. They will perform for us in a variety of combinations: Two-time GRAMMY nominee Frautschi opens the program with Ysaÿe’s Sonata for solo Violin in d minor, a sonata originally dedicated to George Enescu. Pianist Jon Nakamatsu, gold medalist in both the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition as well as the United States National Chopin Piano Competition, delivers Chopin’s transformative Fantaisie in F Minor; Jon Manasse, one of this generation’s most celebrated clarinetists, joins him for Weber’s Grand Duo Concertante for clarinet and piano. Frautschi and Nakamatsu will dance through Ravel’s Tzigane, an exhilarating work tinged with exoticized melodies and harmonies, and all three musicians apply their impeccable skill to Bartok’s Contrasts.

With unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor, the Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) continues to inspire audiences around the world. Founded in 1946 and hailed by The Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history,” the ensemble draws on a deep and vital engagement to the classics, while embracing the mission of championing new works, a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring. Each performance of the Juilliard String Quartet is a unique experience, bringing together the four members’ profound understanding, total commitment, and unceasing curiosity in sharing the wonders of the string quartet literature.

The Takács Quartet is renowned for the vitality of its interpretations. The only string quartet to be inducted into Gramophone’s Hall of Fame, and the first-ever string quartet to win the Wigmore Hall Medal, the Takács Quartet is widely recognized as one the world’s great ensembles.

Firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, the Doric String Quartet receives enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics across the globe. With repertoire ranging from Haydn through to Bartok, Ades and Brett Dean, the Quartet's schedule takes them to the leading concert halls around the world including Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Konzerthaus, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Louvre, Carnegie Hall and Kioi Hall Tokyo as well as regular performances at Wigmore Hall.