Orchestral concerts can offer you a glimpse of greatness when the world’s great soloists come to town to perform a concerto. But the Schubert Club gives you the chance to go deep with masterful musicians over the course of an entire concert or two — or five.
For more than 140 years, the Twin Cities’ foremost recital and chamber music presenter has been enriching concertgoers’ understanding of what makes the great ones great. Here’s who’s coming for the 2024-25 incarnation of its International Artist Series of recitals at St. Paul’s Ordway Concert Hall (except where noted) and chamber music-oriented Music in the Park Series on Sunday afternoons at St. Paul’s St. Anthony Park United Church of Christ.
International Artist Series
Jeremy Denk: The season begins with the return of a local favorite, an American pianist who had the longest tenure of any St. Paul Chamber Orchestra artistic partner (eight years), his 2021 recording of Mozart concertos with them a chart-topper. His two solo recitals feature mostly music by women composers. (Oct. 13 and 15)
Leonidas Kavakos: Let this brilliant Greek violinist immerse you in the genius of J.S. Bach as he takes the stage alone for all of that composer’s solo sonatas and partitas over the course of two concerts. (Nov. 12-13)
Emmanuel Pahud: With James Galway easing up on live performance, Pahud can now be called the world’s most prominent flute virtuoso. Like Galway, he’s a major-label soloist who’s also been principal flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic. (Jan. 22)
Leif Ove Andsnes: Norway’s most renowned pianist will play works by two of his composer countrymen, Edvard Grieg and Geirr Tveitt, and Frédéric Chopin’s complete Preludes at the only International Artist Series concert in the Ordway’s larger Music Theater. (March 28, 2025)
Jess Gillam: At long last, the saxophone is earning some overdue admiration in the classical biz, and this English virtuoso is one of the chief reasons. The youngest soloist ever at London’s “Last Night of the Proms,” she’ll mix some baroque with such modernists as Philip Glass, Meredith Monk and Astor Piazzolla. (April 16-17, 2025)
Music in the Park Series
Celebrated soloists all, the Chiaroscuro Quartet will present historically informed performances of string quartets by Mozart and Franz Schubert (Oct. 27) before a visit from the exciting new piano quartet Espressivo, which features violist Jaime Laredo and pianist Anna Polonsky (Nov. 24). If you’ve caught the Sphinx Virtuosi on past visits, you may have experienced cellist Tommy Mesa, who will perform a recital with pianist Michelle Cann (Jan. 26). And next season’s best opportunity to dive deeply into a composer’s creations comes when the Jerusalem Quartet performs all 15 of Dmitri Shostakovich’s powerful string quartets over the course of five concerts (March 23, 24 and 26, April 25 and 27, 2025).
