World-Class Wind Players Featured in Troy Chromatic Concert Series

TROY, NEW YORK:     The Troy Chromatic Concert Series continues its 128 season on March 10 at 7:30 p.m. with an extraordinary evening of chamber music as the internationally acclaimed Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) takes the stage for a program titled Century of Winds.

Featuring six of today’s most distinguished wind players alongside pianist and composer Michael Stephen Brown, the program traces a rich and colorful journey through more than 150 years of music written for winds — from Romantic lyricism to 20th-century modernism.

The evening opens with Maurice Emmanuel’s luminous Sonata for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano, performed by flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, clarinetist David Shifrin, and Brown at the piano. The trio sets the tone for a program that highlights the expressive warmth and virtuosic brilliance of wind instruments.

Horn takes center stage next, as David Byrd-Marrow performs Richard Strauss’s Andante for Horn and Piano and Carl Czerny’s Andante e polacca in E major, both paired with Brown. Byrd-Marrow, known for his dynamic contemporary work as solo hornist of the International Contemporary Ensemble and member of The Knights, brings both power and lyricism to these Romantic-era works.

The first half concludes with August Klughardt’s expansive Quintet in C major for winds, featuring O’Connor, oboist Juri Vallentin, Shifrin, bassoonist Peter Kolkay, and Byrd-Marrow — a richly textured work that showcases the full palette of wind color and interplay.

After intermission, André Jolivet’s rhythmically charged Sonatine for Oboe and Bassoon highlights Vallentin and Kolkay in an engaging dialogue. The program culminates in Louise Farrenc’s masterful Sextet in C minor, a sweeping and dramatic work that unites all six musicians for a brilliant finale.

The performers represent the very top tier of international artistry. Pianist Michael Stephen Brown, hailed by The New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers,” is a 2025 MacDowell Fellow and recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. A dynamic presence both as composer and performer, Brown has appeared at Alice Tully Hall and major venues worldwide.

He is joined by an extraordinary roster of CMS artists: two-time Grammy nominee Tara Helen O’Connor; Avery Fisher Prize winner David Shifrin; Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and bassoon virtuoso Peter Kolkay; internationally acclaimed German oboist Juri Vallentin; and hornist David Byrd-Marrow, a leading voice in both classical and contemporary repertoire.

Founded in 1969, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is widely regarded as one of the world’s premier chamber music organizations, known for bringing together the finest performers for innovative and compelling programs. Their appearance in Troy offers local audiences a rare opportunity to experience musicians of this caliber in an intimate concert setting.

The Century of Winds program promises an evening of elegance, brilliance, and expressive depth — a celebration of the artistry and versatility of wind instruments across generations.

The concert takes place March 10 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Troy Chromatic Concert Series. Tickets and additional information are available through the via phone, (518) 273-0038, in person, or online at  TroyMusicHall.org.  More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is also available on the website at www.troymusichall.org.