Join us for an intimate evening of chamber music showcasing the artistry and individual voices of New York Philharmonic musicians. This thoughtfully curated program offers a journey through three unique sound worlds—each highlighting the expressive potential of the string trio. From the youthful lyricism of Schubert to the effervescent charm of Françaix and the structural brilliance of Dohnányi, tonight’s concert celebrates the conversational beauty and rich variety of the chamber music tradition.
Musicians from the New York Philharmonic
Quan Ge, violin
Cong Wu, viola
Ru-pei Ye, cello
PROGRAM
Franz Schubert
String Trio in B-flat Major, D. 471 (1816)
Written when Schubert was nineteen, the String Trio in B-flat Major, D. 471 offers a glimpse into the composer’s evolving chamber music style. Originally intended to be a multi-movement work, only the first movement and an unfinished Andante survive. The single completed movement truly represents the bridge of Schubert’s growing compositional voice, both foreshadowing longer lines and greater lyricism while nodding to his predecessors and classical ancestry.
The movement unfolds with singing grace, opening with a warm melody in the violin that exemplifies Schubert’s gift for unforgettable themes. Throughout, he demonstrates remarkable facility in handling the trio texture, with each instrument given moments to shine. The writing balances classical proportion with touches of harmonic adventure that hint at Schubert’s more exploratory later works. Despite its smaller scale, D. 471 embraces the intimate expressivity and melodic richness that would become hallmarks of Schubert’s chamber masterpieces later on, inviting listeners into a world of sunlit, conversational music-making.
Jean Françaix
String Trio (1933)
Jean Françaix’s String Trio cleverly blends the composer’s neoclassical structure with irresistible wit. Composed in 1933 when Françaix was just 21, this sparkling work demonstrates the craftsmanship and charm that would define his career. The work balances technical brilliance with an effortless grace, featuring crystalline textures that shines a light on each musician’s virtuosity.
A student of Nadia Boulanger, Françaix embraced clarity and precision while maintaining a distinctly French sensibility. His musical language—rooted in tradition yet infused with playful irreverence—creates a work that is sophisticated without being severe. The String Trio’s dancing rhythms, unexpected harmonic shifts, and vivacious dialogue between violin, viola, and cello perfectly capture Françaix’s desire to make his music enjoyable, wanting the listener to arrive at that joy on their own, or in his words: “They should remember they are free human beings, not obedient automata. I want them to crush snobbery, fashion, and envy with the power of common sense and to enjoy my music if it gives them pleasure, which of course I hope it does.”
INTERMISSION
Ernst von Dohnányi
Serenade for String Trio in C Major, Op. 10 (1902)
Dohnányi’s Serenade for String Trio stands as one of the composer’s most beloved chamber works, elegantly bridging late Romanticism with twentieth-century sensibilities. Composed in 1902, this work showcases Dohnányi’s gift for writing music of both substance and charm, balancing both sophistication with broader appeal.
Almost serving as an ode to “forms”, the five-movement work demonstrates Dohnanyi’s ability to produce imaginative ideas within various constructs. The work opens with a spirited march that returns as a finale with a sorrowful Romanza, a virtuosic Scherzo featuring folk-like elements, and a theme and variations, displaying Dohnányi’s masterful contrapuntal skill. Throughout, the composer produces full textures from just three instruments, exploiting their distinctive colors while maintaining perfect balance.
The Serenade brilliantly demonstrates why Dohnányi was considered a leading figure in early twentieth-century Hungarian music, alongside his contemporaries Bartók and Kodály.
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NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
Founded in 1842, the New York Philharmonic plays a leading cultural role in New York City, the United States, and the world. Each season the Orchestra connects with millions of music lovers through live concerts in New York and beyond, as well as broadcasts, recordings, and education programs. Gustavo Dudamel becomes the NY Phil’s Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Music and Artistic Director Designate in September 2025, before beginning his tenure as Music and Artistic Director in the autumn of 2026.
The 2025–26 season offers a preview of the era to come, with Dudamel conducting works that reflect on the United States in the nation’s 250th anniversary year, including three World Premieres: a work by Leilehua Lanzilotti, David Lang’s The Wealth of Nations (the result of his being named a 2024 winner of the Orchestra’s Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music), and new orchestrations of Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated by more than a dozen of today’s leading composers. Dudamel also leads the New York Premiere of Ellen Reid’s work for chorus and orchestra, co-commissioned in partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; collaborates with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra; and conducts the Spring Gala concert. The Philharmonic also welcomes cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason as The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, appearing on two subscription programs and an Artist Spotlight recital with pianist Isata Kanneh- Mason, his sister. The NY Phil honors former Music Director Pierre Boulez’s centennial through consecutive programs featuring selections from Boulez’s Notations, performed by pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and a staged performance of Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna, commissioned in partnership with the LA Phil and Opéra de Paris. Other highlights include the return of composer-conductor Thomas Adès, who leads a work he composed for the NY Phil in 1999, and the World Premiere of an NY Phil commission by George Lewis — one of the season’s 19 World, US, and New York Premieres.
The New York Philharmonic’s legacy of commissioning and/or premiering works by leading composers runs from Dvořák’s New World Symphony to two Pulitzer Prize winners: John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls and Tania León’s Stride, commissioned through Project 19, which is supporting the creation of works by 19 women composers. The Orchestra has released more than 2,000 recordings since 1917, including the live recording of Julia Wolfe’s Grammy-nominated Fire in My Mouth.
In 2023 the NY Phil announced a partnership with Apple Music Classical, the standalone music streaming app designed to deliver classical music lovers the optimal listening experience. The nationally syndicated radio program The New York Philharmonic This Week features the Philharmonic’s recent performances and commercial recordings complemented by interviews and archival highlights. The Orchestra’s extensive history is available free online through the New York Philharmonic Shelby White & Leon Levy Digital Archives.
A resource for its community and the world, the Orchestra complements the annual free Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, and the Free Concert at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, Presented by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, with the Phil for All: Ticket Access Program. The NY Phil’s impactful education projects include the Young People’s Concerts, Very Young People’s Concerts, and the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Program. The Orchestra has appeared in 436 cities in 63 countries, including Pyongyang, DPRK, in 2008 — the first visit there by an American orchestra — as well as, in 2024, the first visit to mainland China by a US orchestra since the COVID-19 pandemic, a tour that included education activities as part of the tenth anniversary of the NY Phil–Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Partnership.
The New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States and one of the oldest orchestras in the world. Notable figures who have conducted the Philharmonic include Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, and Copland. Distinguished conductors who have served as Music Director include Bernstein, Toscanini, and Mahler.
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Quan Ge
Violinist Quan Ge joined the New York Philharmonic in 2009. She is a top prize winner at the China National Violin Competition and Jeunesses International Music Competition in Romania, and has served as guest concertmaster with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, Ge is a regular performer at the New York Philharmonic Ensembles series at Merkin Hall, and has appeared at SubCulture, National Sawdust, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, Taos School of Music, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, New York String Orchestra Seminar, and Encore School for Strings. Born in Huainan, China, Ge went to Shanghai Conservatory of Music before coming to the United States. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School.
Photo: Chris Lee
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Cong Wu
Cong Wu joined the New York Philharmonic as Assistant Principal Viola in 2018 while pursuing his doctoral degree at Manhattan School of Music. Winner of the Third Prize and the Chamber Music Prize in the 14th Primrose International Viola Competition, and the Special Prize in the 12th Tertis International Viola Competition, he has performed as a soloist throughout North America and Asia. An avid chamber musician, Wu has collaborated with Christoph Eschenbach, David Finckel, Itzhak Perlman, Peter Wiley, Pinchas Zukerman, the American String Quartet, and many Philharmonic musicians. He has performed at festivals including Marlboro, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Encounters, Music@Menlo, Perlman Music Program, Lake Champlain Chamber Music, and Schleswig-Holstein Musik. He also regularly appears with the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and New York Classical Players. Born in Jinan, China, Cong Wu moved to New York in 2010 after graduating from the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music. He holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.
Photo: Chris Lee
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Ru-pei Ye
Cellist Ru-Pei Yeh, The Credit Suisse Chair in honor of Paul Calello, joined the New York Philharmonic in 2006. A founding member of the Formosa Quartet, she has served as acting principal cello of the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Opera, in addition to performing with a string quartet of principal players from the San Diego Symphony. She has made solo appearances with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, National Taiwan Symphony, Taiwan’s Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina School of the Arts’s International Music Program Orchestra, and Kuan-Jen School Orchestra. A winner of numerous competitions, she has performed regularly as a recitalist in her native Taiwan and the United States. Yeh, who has been performing professionally since the age of 10, moved to the US at age 13 to study at the Temple Preparatory School. She received her bachelor’s degree from New England Conservatory, under the tutelage of Laurence Lesser, and received her master’s degree and artist diploma from The Juilliard School, studying with Joel Krosnick.
Photo: Chris Lee
Sponsors
Performing Arts programming is supported in part by funding from Galia Meiri-Stawski and Axel Stawski, Henry and Peggy Schleiff, The Melville Straus Family Endowment, and Monica and Peter Tessler. Music Programming is supported in part by The Ellen and James S. Marcus Endowment for Musical Programming.
Additional support provided by Friends of the Theater: John and Joan D’Addario, Natascia Ayers and Jim Ciquera, Christine and Bill Campbell, Gabrielle and Gianpaolo de Felice, Lena Kaplan, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Michèle and Steve Pesner, The Schaffner Family Foundation, Lisa Schultz and Ezriel Kornel, Jayne Baron Sherman and Deborah Zum, Stacey and Oliver Stanton, Leila Straus, Susi and Peter Wunsch, and Andrew Yuder and Kyle Glaeser.