Seattle Chamber Music Society Announces 2025-26 Signature Series
Series of Six Exceptional Chamber Music Concerts Featuring Top Artists Returns for a Second Season, Running September 2025–May 2026
James Ehnes with Seattle Chamber Music Society (credit: Jenna Poppe)
Seattle, July 14, 2025 — The Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS) today announced programming for its 2025-26 Signature series, running from September 21, 2025, through May 10, 2026. Across six concert programs, leading classical musicians will perform extraordinary chamber music by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Clarke, Chausson, Fauré, Hindemith, Sinding, and Shostakovich. Early-bird season subscriptions are on sale starting today, and single-program tickets will be available on August 18 at seattlechambermusic.org/signature-series-2026.
“The Signature Series features music that continues to thrill artists and audiences. It’s one of the most profound of shared experiences: witnessing exceptional musicians perform some of the most beautiful music ever composed,” said James Ehnes, who curates the six concerts in his role as the Gilbert Omenn and Martha Darling Artistic Director of SCMS.
Performers joining Ehnes on the series are Andrew Armstrong, Efe Baltacıgil, Inon Barnatan, Raphael Bell, Jeremy Denk, Noah Geller, Richard O’Neill, Jonathan Vinocour, and Orion Weiss, along with members of the Ehnes Quartet: Amy Schwartz Moretti, Che-Yen Chen, and Edward Arron. SCMS’s first-ever String Quartet in Residence, the Balourdet Quartet — Angela Bae, Justin DeFilippis, Benjamin Zannoni, and Russell Houston — will play on two Signature Series concerts. During its nine-month residency, the quartet will also connect with audiences in non-traditional spaces throughout King County.
“The Signature Series has proved to be a fantastic addition to Seattle Chamber Music Society’s season. The concerts build on our Summer and Winter Festivals and further our ultimate goal of deepening appreciation for this art form,” said John Holloway, Executive Director at SCMS. “As our organization has expanded to present performances year-round, we have seen chamber music increasingly recognized as a vibrant, central force in Seattle’s cultural life,” he adds.
Balourdet Quartet (credit: Stephen Barton)
The Signature Series opens September 21 with Ernest Chausson’s Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet in D Major, Op. 21, performed by Ehnes, Weiss, and the Balourdet Quartet. Composed in the manner of a concerto grosso, the piece casts the violin and piano as the soloists, with support from the string quartet. The concert will also feature Beethoven’s final String Quartet, No.16 in F Major, Op. 135 and Paul Novak’s impossible inventions, premiered last year by the Balourdet Quartet.
On October 12, Barnatan, Bell, Ehnes, and Vinocour will perform Fauré’s Piano Quartets No. 1 and 2. These, his most well-known chamber pieces are “among his most inventive and passionate works” (BBC Music Magazine). The bright, expressive Piano Quartet No. 1 is considered one of the most important French chamber music works of the 19th century; his Piano Quartet No. 2 “bristles with energy” (Kai Christiansen).
November 23 brings together famed pianist Jeremy Denk and Richard O’Neill, violist of the Takács Quartet. On the program is Hindemith’s Viola Sonata Op. 11, No. 4. The concert also includes Beethoven’s last Piano Sonata, Op. 111, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G minor, BWV 1029, as well as British composer Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata, considered one of the most important works in the viola repertoire.
On March 8, the Balourdet Quartet joins Noah Geller and Efe Baltacıgil to perform Brahms’s Sextet No. 1, a piece that has remained one of the composer’s most popular early chamber works since its initial performances. The program also features Brahms’s cheerful String Quartet No. 3, and Bartók’s String Quartet No. 3, inspired by the folk music of the composer’s native Hungary.
On March 22, Weiss and the Ehnes Quartet collaborate on the Brahms Piano Quintet, one of the crown jewels of the chamber music repertoire, alongside the enduring Shostakovich Piano Quintet, premiered in 1940 by the Beethoven Quartet with the composer himself at the piano.
The series concludes on May 10 at Town Hall, when James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong present a joyful program celebrating Ehnes’s 50th birthday, with some surprises in store. The concert features Christian Sinding’s virtuosic Suite in the Old Style, Op. 10, Brahms’s Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, the Rhapsody No. 1 by Bartók, and virtuoso works to be announced from the stage.
Seattle Chamber Music Society — 2025-26 Signature Series
Concert I
Sunday, September 21, 2025, 2 pm
James Ehnes, Orion Weiss, and Balourdet Quartet
Chausson: Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet in D Major, Op. 21
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135
Paul Novak: impossible inventions
Nordstrom Recital Hall
Concert II
Sunday, October 12, 2025, 2 pm
Inon Barnatan, James Ehnes, Jonathan Vinocour, and Raphael Bell
Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 1
Fauré: Piano Quartet No. 2
Nordstrom Recital Hall
Concert III
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 2 pm
Jeremy Denk and Richard O’Neill
Bach: Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G minor, BWV 1029
Hindemith’s Viola Sonata Op. 11, No. 4
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
Clarke: Viola Sonata
Nordstrom Recital Hall
Concert IV
Sunday, March 8, 2026, 2 pm
Balourdet Quartet, Noah Geller, and Efe Baltacıgil
Brahms: String Quartet No. 3
Bartók: String Quartet No. 3
Brahms: Sextet No. 1
Nordstrom Recital Hall
Concert V
Sunday, March 22, 2026, 2 pm
Ehnes Quartet and Orion Weiss
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet
Brahms: Piano Quintet
Nordstrom Recital Hall
Concert VI
Sunday, May 10, 2026, 2 pm
James Ehnes and Andy Armstrong
Sinding: Suite in the Old Style, Op. 10
Brahms: Sonata No. 3
Bartók: Rhapsody No. 1
Virtuoso works to be announced from the stage
Town Hall
About Seattle Chamber Music Society
The mission of the Seattle Chamber Music Society is to cultivate a deep appreciation for chamber music by presenting exceptional performances in welcoming and accessible formats. Through education, community engagement, and a commitment to excellence, SCMS seeks to position chamber music as a central cultural force, both locally and globally, while ensuring its enduring relevance and sustainability.
Each year, SCMS presents a Winter Festival in January and a Summer Festival in July at the Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, bringing the world’s finest classical musicians to the stage. These intimate chamber music performances captivate both seasoned enthusiasts and newcomers alike. In addition to its renowned festivals, SCMS offers an expanded year-round lineup, including the new Signature Series, Crescendo Concerts in Seattle’s most stunning homes, and Concerts at the Center for Chamber Music, providing unparalleled access to extraordinary musical experiences.
SCMS also enriches the community through dynamic engagement programs designed for audiences of all ages. From inspiring young learners in elementary schools to enriching lives in retirement communities, and from performances in hospitals and parks to concerts on wheels, SCMS remains steadfast in its mission to bring world-class chamber music to every corner of our community.
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Media contact:
Matt Herman, Managing Director
8VA Music Consultancy
matt@8vamusicconsultancy.com
