Spring is in full bloom, and music is in the air this month. Enjoy it all!
The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presents Musicians from Marlboro III
Premieres on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 7:30pm
In 2023, Marlboro Music welcomed Helmut Lachenmann as its Composer in Residence, a rare U.S. visit for this German composer who has shaped contemporary music worldwide. During his time in Vermont, Lachenmann worked closely with the musicians on Got Lost, a uniquely adventurous work for soprano and piano that challenges the physical and mental expectations of the performers. The program also features Elias Quartet cellist Marie Bitlloch and three magnificent emerging string players performing works by Haydn and Mozart.
Lucy Fitz Gibbon, soprano; Claire Bourg & Leonard Fu, violin; Cara Pogossian, viola; Marie Bitlloch, cello; Sahun Sam Hong, piano
Haydn: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 76, No. 2, Fifths
Lachenmann: Got Lost
Mozart: String Quartet in D Major, K. 575, Prussian
Watch “Musicians from the Marlboro” on the PCMS website
Jazz Forum Arts presents Purchase College Music Students Showcase
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Jazz Forum Arts, 1 Dixon Lane, Tarrytown, NY 10591
4pm Vocalists with Kate Baker
6pm Instrumentalists with Jon Faddis
The top students in Purchase College’s renowned jazz program will put their formidable talents on display in this special showcase. They’ll be joined by Katie Baker and Jon Faddis, who mentor them at Purchase.
Learn more on the Jazz Forum Arts website
The Westchester Philharmonic presents Everything Is Relative
Sunday, May 4, 2025, at 2pm
Crawford Mansion, 122 N Ridge St, Rye Brook, NY 10573
To musicians, E-flat Major and C Minor are harmonic “relatives,” sharing the same scale notes but with clearly different “major” or “minor” points of view. For its final chamber concert of the season, the Westchester Philharmonic presents piano and string works with special guest Benjamin Hochman.
Deborah Wong, violin
Kyle Armbrust, viola
Maureen Hynes, cello
Benjamin Hochman, piano
Mozart | Violin Sonata in E-Flat Major, K.481
Beethoven | Trio Op. 1 No. 1 in E-flat Major
Brahms | Piano Quartet No. 3 Op. 60 in C Minor
Get tickets for the Westchester Philharmonic at Crawford Mansion
You can also catch a version of this program at
Downtown Music
Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 12:10pm
Grace Church, 33 Church St, White Plains, NY 10601
This concert will feature the Mozart sonata and Brahms quartet.
Concerts at Grace Church are offered free of charge with a donation suggested at the door to support Downtown Music.
Visit westchesterphil.org for more information — and look for them at The PAC next season!
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents the 41st Annual Young Musicians Concert
Thursday, May 8, 2025, 11am
Alice Tully Hall, 1941 Broadway at, W 65th St, New York, NY 10023
Experience the thrilling conclusion of the 41st Annual Young Musicians Competition—an esteemed three-month program showcasing top-tier high school chamber ensembles from the tri-state area. Following two rounds of rigorous competition and mentorship by CMS artists, these outstanding talents earn the spotlight at Alice Tully Hall.
Learn more and get tickets on Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s website
Great Performances presents “Broadway’s Best”
Premieres Fridays, May 9-30, 2025, at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)
Great Performances returns to raise the curtain on its next “Broadway’s Best” lineup with four star-studded productions featuring drama, comedy, and music. The lineup is part of The WNET Group’s special Broadway and Beyond festival, celebrating theater productions and the people who bring them to life.
The lineup begins with the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Next to Normal (premiering Friday, May 9) starring Caissie Levy (Broadway’s Frozen) recorded during its West End transfer from London’s Donmar Warehouse, followed by Tony-winning playwright David Henry Hwang’s Broadway comedy Yellow Face (premiering Friday, May 16) from Roundabout Theater Company starring Daniel Dae Kim (“Lost,” “Hawaii Five-0”). The lineup continues with Tony-winning musical Girl from the North Country (premiering Friday, May 23) featuring 20 reimagined songs by Bob Dylan, and finishes with Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate (premiering Friday, May 30) starring Tony Award winner Stephanie J. Block.
Learn more on PBS.org
Walkabout Clearwater Coffeehouse presents Jay Ungar and Molly Mason
Saturday, May 17, 2025, 7:30-10pm
Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 468 Rosedale Ave, White Plains, NY 10605
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason are musicians of enormous talent who draw their repertoire and inspiration from a wide range of American musical styles — 19th-century classics, lively Appalachian, Cajun, and Celtic fiddle tunes, and favorites from the golden age of country and swing — along with their own compositions. Jay and Molly achieved international acclaim when their performance of Jay’s composition “Ashokan Farewell” became the musical hallmark of Ken Burns’ The Civil War on PBS. Jay and Molly’s Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camps in New York’s Catskill Mountains are still going strong today.
Listen to their music:
The Ashokan Farewell
The Lovers’ Waltz
Learn more about the Walkabout Clearwater Coffeehouse
PBS presents Great Performances at the Met: Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca
Premieres on Sunday, May 18, 2025, on PBS (check local listings)
Lise Davidsen takes on the role of the fiery diva Floria Tosca starring alongside Freddie De Tommaso in his company debut as her revolutionary lover Cavaradossi. Quinn Kelsey plays the sadistic chief of police Scarpia, and Patrick Carfizzi portrays Sacristan. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.
Great Performances at the Met: Tosca | About | Great Performances | PBS
Carnegie Hall presents the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA)
Each summer, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute (WMI) brings together the brightest young players from across the country to form the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), a free program for all participants. Following a comprehensive audition process and a multi-week training residency with leading professional orchestra musicians, these remarkable teenagers embark on a tour to some of the great music capitals of the world while serving as dynamic music ambassadors. In summer 2025, the ensemble gathers from July 5 to August 7 and will be joined by conductor Gianandrea Noseda and violinist Ray Chen on a tour of Asia, including NYO-USA’s debut in Japan.
Purchase College is looking forward to hosting NYO-USA, NYO2, and NYO Jazz this summer!
Hear the 2024 NYO-USA perform “Rhapsody in Blue” featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet (Excerpt)
Learn more about NYO-USA
Culture Picks celebrates the performing arts. In each post, PAC staff member Coni Guhl shines the spotlight on work by artists that you know and love from their appearances at The Purchase PAC, and offers recommendations about other performing arts events that you really should not miss. Experience them all!
All times are EDT unless otherwise noted.
Pictured: NYO-USA perform in The Purchase PAC Concert Hall. Photo (c) Chris Lee
