Shriver Hall Concert Series

We're excited to announce our 2024-25 and 59th concert season. The institution’s mission since its founding almost 60 years ago has been to craft performances at the highest level of excellence. Hundreds of world-renowned and emerging international artists have appeared on the Shriver Hall stage and at respected partner venues throughout the region, establishing SHCS’s legacy of presenting prominent debuts and premieres to the Baltimore community and beyond.

The Subscription Series features performances at Shriver Hall by: pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason in her solo Baltimore Recital Debut; Escher String Quartet with violist Jordan Bak; ACRONYM in its Baltimore Debut; cellist Pablo Ferrández in his Baltimore Recital Debut with pianist Julio Elizalde; Dover Quartet with pianist Michelle Cann; the return of tenor Ian Bostridge with pianist Julius Drake; the return of pianist Leif Ove Andsnes in his first Baltimore performance in 25 years; and pianist Richard Goode performing the Diabelli Variations.

SHCS’s free Discovery Series, which spotlights emerging artists on the classical music scene, includes recitals by: guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre – 2018 winner of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Concert Artist Competition – in his Baltimore Debut; the winner of the 2024 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition; and protégés of the Takács Quartet, Ivalas Quartet.

Catherine Cochran, Executive Director, remarks, “We are thrilled to share our 2024-25 concert season which features so many of today’s finest artists. Spotlighting luminaries and important voices from the U.S. and across the world, it is a season of transformative live music that we hope will inspire and resonate with our community.”

On Sunday, October 6, 2024, at 5:30pm, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason – “A profound and greatly gifted artist who radiates warmth, joy, and much-needed musical sunshine” (Gramophone) – makes her solo Baltimore Recital Debut at Shriver Hall. This is Kanneh-Mason’s third time performing at Shriver Hall as she has appeared twice before with her brother, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, in 2019 and 2022. Isata Kanneh-Mason is in great demand internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, offering eclectic and interesting repertoire with recital programs encompassing music from Haydn, Schumann, Chopin, and beyond. Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 serves as the anchor of her October 6 program, a treat for Baltimore audiences as the composition makes a powerful return after 20 years.

The New York City-based Escher String Quartet and violist Jordan Bak – who made his Baltimore Debut on the SHCS Discovery Series on February 26, 2022 – bring a rare program of viola quintets to the stage on Sunday, October 27, 2024, at 5:30pm. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. Bak is an award-winning Jamaican-American violist who has achieved international acclaim as a trailblazing artist, praised for his radiant stage presence, dynamic interpretations, and fearless power. Critics have described him as “an exciting new voice in Classical performance” (I Care If You Listen). Show-stopping works on the program include music by Mozart, Dvořák, and Brahms.

Making its Baltimore Debut on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at 5:30pm is Baroque band ACRONYM. Described as an "outstanding young early-music string ensemble" (The New Yorker), ACRONYM presents a selection of music from 17th-century Vienna, a city in thrall to stylus phantasticus, a genre combining Italian drama and Northern European formal complexity. ACRONYM’s 11 members perform on strings, violas da gamba, theorbo, and keyboards bringing “gutsy, fresh explorations” (Early Music America) to these rare treasures.

Cellist Pablo Ferrández, hailed for his “superb technique and exhilarating musicality” (Los Angeles Times), makes his Baltimore Recital Debut with pianist Julio Elizalde, an artist with “compelling artistry and power” (Seattle Times) on Sunday, January 19, 2025, at 5:30pm. A prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition and SONY Classical exclusive artist, Ferrández has been hailed as a “new cello genius” (Le Figaro) and is championed by Anne-Sophie Mutter with whom he plays regularly. Praised as a musician of “compelling artistry and power” by the Seattle Times, Elizalde is a multifaceted artist who enjoys a versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, artistic administrator, educator, and curator. The duo’s program features works by Bruch, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, and Brahms.

SHCS welcomes the Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet back to Shriver Hall along with pianist Michelle Cann on Sunday, February 2, 2025, at 5:30 pm, who bring a program dedicated to America. Hailed as “the next Guarneri Quartet” by the Chicago Tribune, the acclaimed Dover Quartet – which last appeared on the Subscription Series in 2023 – is one of the most in-demand ensembles in the world. Lauded as "technically fearless with...an enormous, rich sound" (La Scena Musicale), Michelle Cann made her orchestral debut at age 14 and has since performed as a soloist with prominent orchestras such as the Atlanta and Cincinnati symphony orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and The Philadelphia Orchestra. From pieces inspired by folk idioms to works by Native Americans, this program relishes in Americanness.

Tenor Ian Bostridge, renowned for his lyric gifts and “instinct for conveying meaning and emotion with disarming clarity” (The Guardian), makes a triumphant return to Shriver Hall – last appearing in 2009 – with pianist Julius Drake on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at 5:30pm. Ian Bostridge’s extraordinary international career has taken him to the foremost concert halls, orchestras, and opera houses in the world and Julius Drake enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. The two will perform a program featuring Shakespeare and Donne texts.

Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes gives his first Baltimore performance in 20 years on Sunday, March 23, 2025, at 5:30pm. The program features Scandinavian works and a rare performance of Chopin's Twenty-Four Preludes. The New York Times calls him “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power, and insight,” and the Wall Street Journal names him “one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.” The inductee of the Gramophone Hall of Fame is an avid chamber musician. He is the founding director of the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival, was co-artistic director of the Risør Festival of Chamber Music for nearly two decades, and served as music director of California’s Ojai Music Festival in 2012.

Pianist Richard Goode, who has set an international standard of musicianship for decades with his “unfailingly beautiful tone, effortless technical command, interpretive insight and total emotional commitment to the music” (The Washington Post), concludes the Subscription Series lineup on Sunday, June 1, 2025, at 5:30pm. This will be Goode's 8th appearance on the series, having previously performed in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1986, 1993, 2012, 2015, and 2019. Goode will play the Diabelli Variations, which the master musician, renowned for his Beethoven sonata cycles, added to his repertoire in recent years. The famed keyboardist has been hailed for music-making of tremendous emotional power, depth, and expressiveness, and has been acknowledged worldwide as one of today’s leading interpreters of Classical and Romantic music. In regular performances with major orchestras, recitals in the world’s music capitals, and through his extensive and acclaimed Nonesuch recordings, Richard Goode has won a large and devoted following.

Shriver Hall Concert Series’ free Discovery Series kicks off on Saturday, November 16, 2024, at 3:00pm at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre takes the stage with a program that features a Baroque-inspired first half and a Spanish/South American second half. Feuillâtre, originally from the northeastern coast of Africa and now based in Paris, made his international breakthrough in 2018 as the winner of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Concert Artist Competition. He had already been tipped as a rising star in Europe following his victory at the 2017 José Tomás Villa de Petrer International Guitar Competition in Valencia and earlier prize-winning competition performances elsewhere in Spain as well as in France, Portugal, and the Czech Republic.

Continuing the Discovery Series will be the winner of the 2024 Yale Gordon Concerto Competition. The performance will take place at the Baltimore Museum of Art on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at 3:00pm.  Many of the leading classical musicians of tomorrow are training at The Peabody Institute today. The extraordinary young string player who wins the conservatory’s Yale Gordon Concerto Competition this year will offer a preview of classical music’s bright future in an intimate recital at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Closing out the free Discovery Series is the Ivalas Quartet on Saturday, March 29, 2025, at 3:00pm at UMBC’s Linehan Concert Hall. The protégés of the Takács Quartet – who recently performed on SHCS current 2023-24 season – bring a program that is inspired by new images from the James Webb Telescope. Hailed by The Strad for playing with “tremendous heart and beauty,” the Ivalas Quartet has been changing the face of classical music since its inception at the University of Michigan in 2017. Dedicated to the celebration of BIPOC voices, the ensemble seeks to enhance the classical music world by consistently spotlighting past and present BIPOC composers.

Shriver Hall Concert Series’ season is made possible through generous support from the Maryland State Arts Council, Baltimore County Commission for Arts & Sciences, and Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.