Celebrating 30+ Years of Wild and Scenic Music

Praise for the Taos Chamber Music Group!

“One of the great treasures of Taos” -The Taos News 
“Big magic…silken ensemble playing” -Albuquerque Journal
“A remarkable concert of juxtaposed styles” -Horse Fly 
“Depth, vitality and inventiveness” -Spencer Beckwith, KUNM

Taos Chamber Music Group 2026-2027 Season Press Release

Continuing in our commitment to offering a “wild and scenic” range of chamber music,
the Taos Chamber Music Group’s (TCMG) 34th season is bookended with two emerging
and unique ensembles. We have also added an 8th program to our diverse chamber
music offerings. Our performance home is the Arthur Bell Auditorium in the Harwood
Museum.

This will truly be an exceptional year!

Our series begins on October 10-11 and features the Nois Quartet. Their “Renewal: A
New Classical” features classic and newer works remixed for saxophone quartet. As
their website describes, “they are harnessing chamber music’s capacity for beauty, with
one foot in the past and the other in the present.” Works by young masters Caroline
Shaw and Jessie Montgomery are featured along with an arrangement by William
Bolcom of the Robert Schumann work “A Schumann Bouquet.” Commissioned works by
Washington, Okpebholo, Ge, and Muhly “create new classical music that is vibrant,
inclusive, and focused on the future.”

The program on November 7-8 turns to the Baroque Era, where J.S. Bach’s “A Musical
Offering” comes to the Harwood stage, performed on period instruments. This work is
based on a long and complex theme given to Bach by Frederick the Great on which to
improvise. Bach then went on to compose this impressive collection of canons, fugues,
ricercars, and his masterful trio sonata.

Pianist Gleb Ivanov returns on December 11 for the first of two programs celebrating our
Holiday Season Festival Weekend with a recital featuring an arrangement of
Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” by Mikhail Pletnev along with works by Brahms,
Debussy, Liszt, and Poulenc. Ivanov’s extraordinary performances have become a
yearly tradition.

On December 12-13 Ivanov joins TCMG core artists in an all-Franck program. Franck’s
Violin Sonata and Piano Quintet are both masterpieces of the French Romantic
repertoire. They are considered some of the most emotional works of the period. This
program will be a true immersion into the realm of deep expression.

In the first program of 2027, TCMG celebrates Valentine’s Day on February 13-14 with
“A Romantic Valentine.” Brahms’s Violin Sonata in G Major and his F Minor Clarinet
Sonata are performed by TCMG core artists. The program concludes with Stravinsky’s
arrangement of his “L’Histoire du Soldat” for violin, clarinet, and piano. The Suite
focuses on various parts of the story: the Soldier marching towards home on a leave,
playing his beloved violin by a stream as he rests, playing his violin after getting it back
from the Devil, three dances by a Princess after she is healed by the Soldier playing his
violin for her, and the dance played by the Soldier that drives the Devil to exhaustion.

The March 13-14 concerts feature a “Cello Extravaganza” with works for five cellos by
Bach, Dvorak, and Villa-Lobos, and special arrangements by Gershwin, Kreisler, and
film composer John Williams. Long-time TCMG core artist, Sally Guenther, has curated
this program and assembled many of the finest cellist from New Mexico and beyond.
April 10-11 begins our Spring Festival showcasing the fourth appearance of the Taos
School of Music Alumni. Coached by Brentano Quartet cellist, Nina Lee, these young
talented artists on the brink of major careers are hand-picked to present a program of
string quartets from the classical repertoire.

The May 22-23 program concludes our season with the introduction of “Rising Stars”, a
focus on emerging ensembles that are on their way to becoming sought after worldwide.
TCMG brings to the Harwood stage, Trio D.N.A. They will perform the Horn Trio and
Cello Sonata by Brahms, Debussy’s Violin Sonata, and Nico Muhly’s Common Ground
for Piano Trio. This ensemble reimagines the Piano Trio in a unique way.

Saturday performances are at 5:30 pm. Sunday performances are at 3:30 pm. Gleb
Ivanov’s recital on Friday, December 11 will be at 5:30 pm. All performances will be at
the Arthur Bell Auditorium at the Harwood Museum in Taos, New Mexico.

For tickets and more information on our season, program details, artists and
performances, visit taoschambermusicgroup.org.
Do you want to help bring wild and scenic music to Taos? Email
info@taoschambermusicgroup.org for more information on volunteer opportunities.