Buffalo Chamber Music Society

03/30/2026

[… even when you go through difficult things, you can find strength in music]

Taken from Jacob Bernhardt’s, pianist of the BKW piano trio, moment with students during their outreach event. The trio performed excerpts from their Sunday’s Gift Concert (Beethoven’s Ghost Trio, Jennifer Higdon’s piano trio, and Dvorak’s Piano Trio No.3 in f minor) for the students while also sharing tidbits of each piece’s historical and emotional map: a wonderful way of enriching everyone’s listening experiences. Thoughts of music bringing a sense of calm, feeling like they’re in a movie, and even reminders of what mosquitos sound like were felt everywhere in the gym. All of this wouldn’t have been possible without being our bridge - thank you!! 🎶 ❤️

📸 Brett Deneve (Mary Seaton Room photos)

02/28/2026

We are still reeling from ‘s musical gift to us earlier this week, here in Buffalo. The conversation we heard onstage was full of thought, singular beauty, and valiant poise. The performance was a palpable display of where their name originated: Leonkoro from Esperanto, meaning “lionheart”. It is no accidental reference to Astrid Lindgren’s children’s book about two brothers, a story that sets a heartfelt sense of comfort against the weighty reality of death.

Our ears were awakened with a Haydn quartet from his set of “Sun Quartets” - his String Quartet in D Major, Op. 20 No. 4. Then, Leonkoro brought us a first performance on our series of a string quartet by the noteworthy Dutch composer-pianist Henriëtte Bosmans, in which scholars have detected the influence of Debussy and Ravel. In the second half, the selected quartets were coloured with the theme of love and rich emotion - Webern’s Langsamer Satz and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13. After the well-deserved standing ovation, Leonkoro capped the night with a dazzling Schulhoff from one his Five Pieces for String Quartet. In fact, they recently debuted an album which includes all of the Schulhoff. Give it a listen in our story, while it lasts!

Leonkoro also just gave their debut a few days ago and will be in Massachusetts sharing a program of the Bosmans, Mendelssohn, and Schubert’s Death and the Maiden. Don’t let your ears miss out on their phenomenal presence, if you’re nearby!

12/23/2025

As we near the end of 2025, let’s reminisce about the time our audience was treated to another spectacular program celebrating opera, the breath, and the voice. This time joined by two fabulous artists: and !

The program opened with a piece written by Japanese composer, Yuko Uébayashi, titled Misericordia. This piece was written specifically for Carol Wincenc back in 2013 to celebrate her absolutely loving and joyful personality! 🥰 When spending time together, here’s what Uébayashi said about Carol-

“Once, when I was traveling in Italy, I happened to come across a work of art. The title of the work was ‘Madonna della Misericordia’ and the Madonna’s arms were spread wide open, enfolding the many people following her in a protective embrace. In my mind’s eye, Carol and the painting joined together, and music and the angels just came to me!”

While we are in Italy, the followed the Uébayashi with Giuseppe Verdi’s only surviving chamber music work in his catalogue - his string quartet in e minor. Written when he was 60 years old, the piece was filled with youthful energy and even with no human voice, his writing had the quartet’s voice soar brilliantly throughout the hall.

In the second half, we began with Barber’s profound Adagio for the Strings which then led us to Mozart’s mischievous first flute quartet, written on Christmas 🎄 almost 250 years ago (!) - which also features a haunting adagio. To end the program, Ginastera’s Impresiones de la Puna, overflowing with indigenous Indian music and images of the remote mountainous landscape of the northern Andes, was celebrated in the performance.

Experiencing this program was already quite filling for the ears and yet, we were treated to an encore! The perfect cherry on top.

It has been a marvelous season so far and we are so looking forward to our next lineup of cherished artists: , , , , , and the BKW trio!

We wish you a joyful holiday season and we will see you in the new year!

11/26/2025

Our time with the and composer/pianist Amy Williams started with a reimagined work from the fourteenth century written by one of JACK’s violinists, Christopher Otto, to a piece by Amy which was inspired by Mike Figgis’ 2000 film “Time Code”, then segued into a composition written five years ago by Christopher - which pays homage to a timeless play of proportions - followed by a delightfully whimsical listening of Bells and Whistles, and ended with the Tangled Madrigal, both also written by Amy.

The title of the last piece is taken from the last line of Robert Morgan’s “History’s Madrigal”:

[… the memory and wisdom of wood delighting air as century speaks to century and history dissolves history across the long and tangled madrigal of time.]

The day before, Amy visited her alma mater to share her connection with how music came to be in her life, the colorful relationship between text and music and the sounds that one can hear and feel through that union.

Their visit gave us the chance to hear sounds that may have been neglected - it was a moment of discovery and a way to invoke different feelings. As Jay Campbell, ‘s cellist, shared in the pre-recital talk: 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰.

This Friday, will be in Siena, Italy to perform on the 103rd edition of La Stagione di Siena with works by , John Zorn, and Catherine Lamb! If you’re on that side of the world, go and discover!

11/07/2025

A program of wonderful music for a Friday evening out in Buffalo tonight. There will also be tickets to the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and to our concerts as raffle prizes. Come together to support classical music in your local community and we hope to see you at these concerts!

Join us tonight for this concert in Buffalo!

11/05/2025

Long-standing and influential voice of contemporary music, the JACK Quartet, will be joined by internationally renowned composer and pianist Amy Williams (who was born in Buffalo!) next Tuesday (Nov. 11) at 7:30pm for our third season concert. Works inspired by the medieval era, Mike Figgis’ Timecode, and even pieces composed by our guest artists, will be heard that evening. Undoubtedly, there will be something fresh for the ears to enjoy. Get your tix at the link, if you haven’t already done so!

10/24/2025

“What is pertinent is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint. It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it.” - from Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day

Who knew that a night of brass music could thread a connection to a current read? Septura’s remarkable performance earlier this week showed us that greatness through their impeccable blend of sound. Their program shared the story of a great transatlantic relationship: two artists from different continents - Gershwin and Ravel - and inhabiting the vastly contrasting musical worlds of American Jazz and French Impressionism, bound together by immense mutual respect. We were also joined by the musical spirits of Debussy and Scott Joplin!

Throughout the evening, Septura interwove illuminating bits on the colorful life of the brass instruments and also basked in the post-concert high with our audience right outside the hall. Thank you Septura, for taking care of our audiences with your music and camaraderie - on and off the stage.

As Septura continues with their ‘American in Paris’ US tour, please find your way to one of their upcoming concerts down south! Tonight, they will be performing and then will be featured in the Fine Arts Series on Sunday (10/26). Their is one of a kind!

10/16/2025

to our first pre-recital given by ‘s Mia Sorgi , Dominic Townsend .townsend.18 , and Buffalo-based musician Michael McNeill at our Gift concert back in September 🎶

For all of our concerts, we invite local musicians to begin our afternoon of music together and for this gathering, we were treated to a varied program of songs by Ravel, Donizetti, Florence Price, Dominic Argento, Lori Laitman, and Mozart (as heard above).

To experience more of their artistry, scroll through to see where they are performing next!

Michael McNeill will be performing with the Griff Kaz Quartet on Oct. 17 - head on over to be embraced by lyrical melodies alongside a selection of reinterpreted jazz standards curated to conjure images of the autumn season 🍂

In about a month, Mia and Dominic will be featured in a production of the opera, The Consul. The production will feature an outstanding cast and orchestra of students and promises to be a powerful and unforgettable experience! Go ahead and give a follow for more information 🎵