2025-2026 Season at a Glance

It is our pleasure to introduce Chameleon Arts Ensemble’s 28th season and invite you to join us for sublime music and dazzling artistry, in seven captivating programs that continue our unmatched legacy of the most adventurous concerts in Boston.

Among the highlights of this year’s chamber music series are Brahms’ exquisite Clarinet Quintet, Ravel’s suave Piano Trio, and life-affirming quintets by Beethoven and Dvorak; new and neglected works by Satie, Herbert Howells, Stacy Garrop, and Reena Esmail; and two very special rarities: Louis Vierne’s 1917 quintet for piano and strings, and Stephen Albert’s moving adaptation of Finnegans Wake. Our popular Up Close recital series returns with earth-shattering piano trios by Beethoven, Auerbach, and Shostakovich, and violin and piano sonatas of legacy and memory.

We hope you agree that we have an exciting year ahead, and we look forward to seeing you at the concerts!

When & Where

Saturday concerts begin at 7:30 PM.
Sunday concerts begin at 4 PM.

Chamber Music Series performances are at First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough Street.

Up Close recitals take place at Goethe-Institut, Boston, 170 Beacon Street.

Chamber Series 1: Beneath the setting sun

  • Saturday, October 11, 2025, 7:30 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Sunday, October 12, 2025, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
  • William Grant Still, Summerland for flute & piano
  • John Adams, Road Movies for violin & piano
  • Gabriel Fauré, Sonata No. 2 in g minor for cello & piano, Op. 117
  • Eleanor Alberga, No-Man’s-Land Lullaby for violin & piano
  • Johannes Brahms, Quintet in b minor for clarinet & strings, Op. 115

Chamber Series 2: Homeward Bound

  • Saturday, November 22, 2025, 7:30 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Sunday, November 23, 2025, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Franz Schubert, Auf dem Strom (On the River) for soprano, French horn & piano, D. 943, Op. 119
  • Stacy Garrop, Postcards from Wyoming for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano & percussion
  • Charles Ives, The Housatonic at Stockbridge and other songs for soprano & piano
  • Ernest John Moeran, Fantasy Quartet for oboe & strings (1946)
  • Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quintet in C Major, Op. 29, “Storm”

Chamber Series 3: Bards & Ballads

  • Saturday, February 21, 2026, 7:30 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Sunday, February 22, 2026, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Rebecca Clarke, Dumka: Duo Concertante for violin, viola & piano (1940)
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara, Ballad for harp & string quintet
  • Carl Nielsen, Wind Quintet, Op. 43, FS 100
  • Antonín Dvořák, Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81

Up Close 1: Through the Looking-Glass

  • Sunday, March 22, 2026, 4 PM, Goethe-Institut, Boston
  • Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1, “Ghost”
  • Lera Auerbach, Piano Trio No. 2, This Mirror Has Three Faces
  • Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Trio No. 2 in e minor, Op. 67

Chamber Series 4: To Wake the Dead

  • Saturday, April 11, 2026, 7:30 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Sunday, April 12, 2026, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Souvenir d’un lieu cher for violin & piano, Op. 42
  • Herbert Howells, Rhapsodic Quintet for clarinet & strings, Op. 31 (1919)
  • Stephen Albert, To Wake the Dead: Six Sentimental Songs and an Interlude after Finnegans Wake for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello & piano
  • Louis Vierne, Piano Quintet in c minor, Op. 42 (1917)

Up Close 2: Behind Me — dips Eternity —

  • Sunday, April 26, 2026, 4 PM, Goethe-Institut, Boston
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata No. 21 in e minor for piano & violin, K. 304
  • Toru Takemitsu, Hika (Elegy) for violin & piano
  • Claude Debussy, Sonate in g minor for violin & piano, L. 140
  • Sergei Prokofiev, Violin Sonata No. 1 in f minor, Op. 80

Chamber Series 5: Things Seen Right-to-Left

  • Saturday, May 16, 2026, 7:30 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Sunday, May 17, 2026, 4 PM, First Church in Boston
  • Erik Satie, Choses vues à droite et à gauche (sans lunettes) for violin & piano
  • Michael Stephen Brown, The Lotos-Eaters for flute, cello, piano & percussion
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams, Phantasy Quintet
  • Reena Esmail, Jhula Jhule (Back and Forth) for clarinet & piano
  • Maurice Ravel, Piano Trio in a minor

Free Family Concerts:

  • Saturday, May 30, 2026, 11 AM, Hyde Park Branch Library

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