The Montrose Trio's program on Sunday, October 25 brings the first of three works newly co-commissioned by Shriver Hall Concert Series: the Piano Trio No. 2, "Temple Visions," by James Lee III, a highly regarded young composer who is also Associate Professor of Composition and Theory at Morgan State University. Previously commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony - his Chupshah! Harriet's Drive to Canaan was heard there in 2011 and his Thurgood's Rhapsody is scheduled for this season - Lee has also written works for the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra (Alas! Babylon's Final Sunset premiered in March 2014). However, Lee's music has also been performed by chamber and symphonic ensembles throughout America, including the Detroit, National, and Cincinnati symphonies and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

"Shriver Hall Concert Series has good reason to celebrate these days -- 50 years of  presenting the city with a sterling assortment of soloists and ensembles. The roster from those first five decades reads like a who's-who of classical stars. " 

SHCS is excited to announce the appointment of Catherine Cochran as our new Executive Director! Catherine worked previously at New York City's 92nd Street Y and brings her experience, enthusiasm, and innovation as she begins her leadership of the Series. We're thrilled to welcome her to Baltimore ahead of our 50th Anniversary Season. For more information about Catherine's appointment, read our Press Release below:

"Goode delved into the eight pieces of Brahms' Op. 76 and extracted their poetry and drama to vivid effect, and did the same in Schumann's bipolar "Humoreske." The latter inspired some of the most gripping pianism of the evening, filled with wonderful nuances of dynamics and compelling turns of phrase."

"Just for the record, last Sunday's program by Les Violons du Roy, the excellent Quebec-based chamber orchestra, and another notable French-Canadian, pianist Marc-André Hamelin, for the Shriver Hall Concert Series was a thorough charmer."

"The burnished sound of the ensemble proved as impressive as the incisive phrasing, nowhere more so than in the waltzing second theme of the opening movement, which could not have been more subtly inflected."

"The frigid cold may have kept some listeners home, but it did not deter the Jerusalem Quartet from playing at Shriver Hall on Sunday evening. The ensemble arrived in Baltimore only a short time before the concert was scheduled to begin, because of weather-related flight troubles, and the cellist, whose suitcase was lost, wore jeans — but when they played, all such cares were forgotten."

"Audiences are accustomed to stellar musicians and inspired music-making on the Shriver Hall Concert Series, so, in one sense, Sunday evening's event was business as usual. But, of course, it was a heck of a lot more."

"The music-making by Isserlis and Canadian pianist Connie Shih was consistently rewarding…"