The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) will be hosting its annual Winter Festival: Violin Celebration event with four concerts and three complementary lectures between February 19 and March 8, 2026.
CMS’s Winter Festival will be exploring the indispensable role the violin has played for centuries in the evolution of chamber music, becoming the focal point of the organization’s theme this season: “The Magnificent Violin.”
Beginning with Bach and moving through the chamber works of the 19th century, including those by Schubert, Brahms, and Mendelssohn, the festival’s four concert programs will feature 14 of CMS’s violinists, who have been invited to propose their own concert programs.
Among the musicians will include VC Artist Stella Chen playing Romance by Amy Beach and Schubert’s “Grand Duo” Sonata; Danbi Um, the Second Violin Sonata of Bloch; and James Thompson playing the only violin sonata by Respighi.
“My deep and unwavering love affair with Schubert began unexpectedly during my college years; no composer, to me, writes more beautiful melodies, thanks to his unmatched ability to translate vulnerability into music — exposed, fragile, and profoundly human,” Stella shared.
“The ‘Grand Duo’ is no exception, transporting us into that unmistakably Schubertian world,” she added. “This is the only violin-piano duo by Schubert that did not appear on my debut all-Schubert album, so I’m especially delighted to share this gem with Gilles [Vonsattel]. It is also Schubert’s sole work for violin and piano to have been warmly received at its premiere (the Fantasie and Rondo were slandered). It is as rewarding on a first listen as on the hundredth.”
More guests will include violinist Aaron Boyd in a lecture on Feb 19, 2026, plus violinists Chad Hoopes, Ani Kavafian, Sean Lee, and Cho-Liang Lin; and pianists Sahun Sam Hong and Evren Ozel in a concert on Feb 20.
On Feb 24, pianists Gloria Chien and Gilles Vonsattel, will join Stella Chen, Julian Rhee, and Arnaud Sussman in “The Age of Romance” program. On Feb 28, pianists Alessio Bax, Vonsattel, and Juho Pohjonen, will join Danbi Um and VC Artists Francisco Fullana and Bella Hristova in a program of 20th-century works.
On March 4, the festival will present Fred Child as a moderator for a panel discussion featuring Bella Hristova, Sean Lee, Richard Lin and Aaron Boyd, as well as composer David Serkin Ludwig and contemporary Brooklyn-based violin maker Samuel Zygmuntowicz.
The final day of the festival on March 8, dedicated to Fritz Kreisler, will see Aaron Boyd present a lecture alongside Danbi Um, Benjamin Beilman, Paul Huang, and Amy Biancolli, the author of Love’s Joy, Love’s Sorrow, the contemporary biography of Kreisler. Director and Head of Sales at Tarisio Auctions, New York, Carlos Tome, will also make a special appearance to show a violin played by Kreisler himself.
“It’s nearly impossible to overstate the importance of the violin in chamber music over the past five centuries,” said CMS Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han. “Our Winter Festival, part of a season-long celebration of the violin, provides a showcase for CMS’s deep roster of fantastic violinists, many of whom are playing on legendary instruments. Those less familiar with the violin will discover its signature singing tone, while violin veterans can enrich their knowledge through initiatives like our violin lecture series. Everyone will surely walk away with a newfound appreciation for the versatility of the violin.”
The CMS also recently announced its new 2026/27 season programming here.