ESSEX, CT—The 48th season of Essex Winter Series begins with its first concert on Sunday, Jan. 26, at Valley Regional High School and featuring one of the world’s finest string quartets. The Brentano String Quartet is comprised of Mark Steinberg (violin), Serena Canin (violin), Misha Amory (viola), and Nina Lee (cello). They will perform the String Quartet in D major, Op. 33, No. 6 by Haydn and String Quartet No. 2 in C major, Op. 36 by Britten. For the finale, they will blend their talents with pianist Mihae Lee for Dvořák’s Quintet for Piano and Strings in A Major, Op. 81.
This concert will be followed by the annual Stu Ingersoll Jazz Concert on Sunday, Feb. 23, at Old Saybrook High School. Hot music of the 1920s and 1930s will be played by the internationally celebrated musicians that comprise Jeff Barnhart’s Essex Eight. While this octet has never appeared anywhere prior to playing on the EWS stage, the group’s synergy is remarkable.
On Sunday, March 9, the award-winning Terra String Quartet will take the stage at Congregation Beth Shalom in Chester, CT for the third concert in this series. This group of young artists – Harriet Langley (violin), Amelia Dietrich (violin), Chih-Ta Cheng (viola) and Audrey Chen (cello) – have chosen to perform selections from Haydn, Ravel and Beethoven.
The season closes on Sunday, April 6, with a gathering of EWS Emerging Artist alumni, who will join incoming Artistic Director and flutist Tara Helen O’Connor to celebrate retiring Artistic Director Mihae Lee’s 15 years of music and community outreach with EWS. This performance takes place at Valley Regional High School.
Concerts begin at 3 p.m. and are general admission. For tickets visit www.essexwinterseries.com or call 860-272-4572. For all our venues, parking, entry and seating accessibility is available.
The EWS 2025 season is generously sponsored by ASP Trust. Concerts are sponsored by BrandTech Scientific, Clark Group, Essex Financial Services, Essex Meadows, Essex Savings Bank, Jeffrey N. Mehler CFP LLC, and Tower Laboratories. Masonicare at Chester Village is a piano sponsor and WSHU is the media sponsor.
The EWS also gratefully acknowledges the support for their mission of concerts and community outreach received in part through grant funding by the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD, Essex Community Fund, Essex Savings Bank CIP, and The Kitchings Family Foundation.
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