FIFTH SEASON, 2022–23

Dear Friends,

Greetings! I hope this message finds you well and healthy. I am writing to announce the 2022–23 season of Glissando. Our series has managed to navigate through the difficult years of the pandemic by switching to virtual concerts; in fact, doing so allowed us to design exciting online projects and find possibilities of reaching a wider audience. Last season, Glissando combined live and virtual events, which turned out to be an effective mode of presentation. We will continue in this fashion for the years to come, giving the audiences in and outside Boston a convenient possibility of following our events. Needless to say, Glissando wouldn’t have been able to keep afloat without your generous support, so I would like to express my most profound gratitude to all of you.

This season, Glissando will present five live and four virtual concerts (more virtual concerts may be scheduled, we’ll keep you updated). The live concerts will take place at the First Church in Boston, our home since the series was founded in 2018. I will list the live and virtual events immediately below, complete with the links to our Eventbrite listings, where tickets are available for purchase. Please join us!

LIVE CONCERTS (all Friday nights at 7:30 at First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough Street, Back Bay)

Friday, October 21, 7:30pm: I will open the season with a piano recital featuring two Beethoven sonatas—the scintillating No. 16 in G (Op. 31 No. 1) and the beloved No. 14 in C-sharp minor (Op. 27 No. 2, “Moonlight”)—as well as twelve Preludes and Fugues from Book I of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, in celebration of that work’s tercentenary. For tickets, please click here.

Friday, January 27, 7:30pm: the second concert will include chamber works by Mozart and Schubert, celebrating the composers’ birthdays (on January 27 and January 31, respectively). The program features Schubert’s intimate “Quartettsatz” in C minor and the two brilliant Mozart quartets for piano and strings, performed by Nick Hammel, violin; Haekyung Ju, violin; Nathan Emans, viola; Isaac Berglind, cello; and Sergey Schepkin, piano. For tickets, please click here.

Friday, February 17, 7:30pm: the third concert will feature one- and two-piano works by Brahms, performed by Erin Lindsey, Ian Lindsey, and myself. The program includes the haunting Three Intermezzi, Op. 117; the dashing Sonata No. 1 in C, Op. 1, the composer’s début piece; a selection of elegant Waltzes for Piano Four Hands, Op. 39; and the monumental Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, Op. 34b. For tickets, please click here.

Friday, March 17, 7:30pm: the fourth concert is a program of duos and trios for clarinet, cello, and piano, with Gary Gorczyca, clarinet; Rafael Popper-Keizer, cello; and Sergey Schepkin, piano. The program includes Schumann’s poetic Three Fantasy Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 73; the elegiac Brahms Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114; the mystical Quodlibet with Variations for Cello and Piano by Christopher Trapani; and the sparkling Beethoven Clarinet Trio in B-flat, Op. 11. For tickets, please click here.

Friday, April 21, 7:30pm: the season will close with a piano recital by Vivian Choi, a brilliant virtuoso player familiar to the Boston audiences from her numerous appearances with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players and the Chameleon Arts Ensemble. Vivian is now living in Australia, so we are really fortunate to have her play a recital for us. She will also appear with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players on April 16. You don’t want to miss either of her concerts. The program will feature works by Chopin, Lysenko, Liszt, and Messiaen. For tickets, please click here.

Important details: First Church is back to its full seating (300+). Per the church’s health protocol, masks are required at all times. Proof of vaccination against Covid-19 (two shots and any number of boosters) will be checked at the entrance (this requirement may be waived if the Covid situation dramatically improves). If you feel sick, please stay home; your ticket will be refunded. Our performers are fully vaccinated and boosted, and will be wearing masks. Wind players, who won’t be masked, will maintain a safe distance from the audience.

Please note that all the ticket sales are electronic; there will be no door sales. Your names will appear on our audience list; please mention your name to the person greeting you at the entrance. Tickets are available from Eventbrite; please click on the above links to purchase tickets. If you prefer not to purchase tickets electronically, we accept personal checks made out to Glissando. Ticket prices, inclusive of the Massachusetts 6.25% sales tax, are: $37.19 general admission; $31.88 seniors; and $15.94 students.

VIRTUAL EVENTS

As before, all the virtual events will be streamed on the Eventbrite platform. This season, we will stream each event for two weeks. Purchasing a ticket allows an unlimited number of plays. The ticket price that includes the MA sales tax is $15.94.

Sunday, November 13, 2pm, through Monday, November 28, 11:30pm: a new video of the second program of my cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas, featuring the works in A and A-flat: No. 2 (Op. 2 No. 2); No. 12 (Op. 26); No. 31 (Op. 110); and No. 28 (Op. 101). For tickets and access, please click here.

Sunday, December 11, 2pm, through Monday, December 26, 11:30pm: a new video of the first program of my cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas, featuring the works in F and F minor: No. 1 (Op. 2 No. 1); No. 6 (Op. 10 No. 2); Op. 54; and Op. 57 (“Appassionata”). This will conclude the cycle of my virtual performances of the thirty-two Beethoven piano sonatas. For tickets and access, please click here.

Sunday, February 5, 2pm, through Monday, February 20, 11:30pm: this will be the video recording of the live January 27 Mozart and Schubert concert. For tickets and access, please click here.

Sunday, March 26, 2pm, through Monday, April 10, 11:30pm: this will be the video recording of the March 17 live chamber concert of music for clarinet, cello, and piano (works by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Trapani). For tickets and access, please click here.

Thank you for your interest and support. I very much look forward to welcoming you at our concerts, whether in person or virtually, and I hope you will enjoy the concerts!

Musically yours,

Sergey Schepkin
Founder and Artistic Director, Glissando Concert Series, Boston

Photo of Sergey Schepkin by Michael Lutch