I'm delighted to host Sunmi Han (piano) and Coleman Itzkoff (cello) for a performance of Beethoven's dynamic Cello Sonata No. 5!

Sunmi will also present Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 110.

Doors open at 7 pm, music starts around 7:30 pm.

What's the music?

Sunmi Han

Coleman ItzkoffCello

Drawing near to the world of late Beethoven—where the music sighs “Ermattet klagend” (growing faint in lament) and slowly stirs “Nach und nach wider auflebend” (gradually coming back to life)—Sunmi Han and Coleman Itzkoff, invite you to join us in a journey through some of his most intimate and transcendent works.

The concert will begin with the Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, a bold and spiritual gateway into Beethoven’s late period—where silence speaks, and the soul reaches beyond sound. From there, we move to the Piano Sonata Op. 110, where fragility, humour, and struggle, all come together with such complex emotions.

After the two sonatas, we’ll share a small surprise to end your December Friday evening on a gentle musical note.

We hope you’ll feel not only the fire of Beethoven’s passion but also the quiet vulnerability of his final struggle—a glimpse into the heart of a genius at the edge of silence.

Bach Double Concerto

Brandenburg Concerto No. 3

Vivaldi Four Seasons

A composer of “uncompromising brilliance” (The Washington Post) whose work has been described by The New York Times as “viscerally gripping and emotionally transformative music … claustrophobic and exhilarating at once, with moments of sublime beauty nestled inside thickets of dark virtuosity,” Michael Hersch appears as both composer and pianist in NYC for the first time in over seven years along with two of his closest collaborators, violinist Miranda Cuckson and cellist Coleman Itzkoff. The program includes the world premiere of “Es beginnt” after poetry of another close Hersch collaborator, poet Anja Utler.

When Hersch last performed his own music in New York alongside Cuckson, the event was named among the “Top Ten Performances of 2018” by New York Classical Review, writing that “both players tested the limits of tonal range and virtuosity on their instruments, while exploring mostly the darker side of human experience.”

7 PM Doors & Pre-Reception
8 PM Recital
9:30 PM Post-Reception

What's the music?

Audrey VardanegaPiano

Coleman ItzkoffCello

BEETHOVEN Cello Sonata No. 5 in D Major, Op. 102 No. 2
FAURÉ Cello Sonata No. 2 in g minor, Op. 117

What if you took Bach out of the museum and infused it with equal parts tradition, funk, whimsy, and fun? In Fly the Coop! Emi Ferguson and Ruckus join forces to take audiences on a wild technicolor romp through some of J.S. Bach’s most playful and transcendent works reimagined and realized for 21st century fans of 18th century performance practice. Bach’s three flute and continuo sonatas, BWV 1033, 1034, and 1035, distill his most wonderful musical qualities down to just a two-line texture: treble (flute) and bass, and in Fly the Coop! audiences will experience these works transformed into a rainbow of possibilities with “the world’s only period-instrument rock band” (San Francisco Classical Voice), Ruckus, a shape-shifting, collaborative baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music. The ensemble aims to fuse the early-music movement’s creative spirit with the grit and groove of American roots music. And in collaboration with the “dazzling” (The New York Times) flutist Emi Ferguson, a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant (2023), the result is magical! Experience a unique sound that is “achingly delicate one moment, incisive and punchy the next” (The New York Times).

About the Event Experience the music of J.S. Bach like never before as flutist Emi Ferguson and Ruckus break free from tradition, taking the composer’s timeless music into a vibrant new realm. Blending tradition with funk, whimsy, and fun, they invite you on a kaleidoscopic journey through some of Bach’s most playful and transcendent works with ever-evolving arrangements for baroque flute and the dynamic forces of Ruckus—featuring baroque bassoon, cello, guitars, harpsichord, theorbo, and bass. Interwoven throughout the program are Ruckus’ imaginative arrangements of Bach’s iconic and lesser-known keyboard works. Movements from The Well-Tempered Clavier, selections from his French Suites, and early drafts from the Anna Magdalena and Wilhelm Friedrich notebooks all make appearances. Bach’s deep love of family and friends resonates through these pieces, and as Ferguson explains, “These arrangements are our love letter and homage to the sense of community imbued in his work.” Embrace that sense of connection and join this wild musical adventure—where the stage itself becomes part of the performance, and you become part of the Bach-inspired community. 

A landmark moment in dance, the world premiere of Procession brings two of the world’s most inventive, sought-after choreographers to The National Ballet of Canada for the first time: Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. This debut partnership will deliver uncompromising creativity as the company immerses itself in an influential choreographic lineage it has not yet explored. Procession fuses bold contemporary movement with a Baroque-inspired score to explore procession as a universal human ritual.

Coleman Itzkoff is the soloist, music coordinator and arranger

The Adams Theater presents The Cello Player on Friday, September 19, 2025 at 7:30pm at 27 Park St, Adams, MA, 01220. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online here.

The Cello Player is a dance-music piece produced by American Modern Opera Company (AMOC) and led by cellist Coleman Itzkoff and dancer/choreographer Or Schraiber. It excavates the complexity of ancient relationships: the tortured conception of friendship as a messy amalgam of love, hatred, insecurity, and neediness. Joined by dancer Jeremy Coachman, the three performers attempt to share their tales, the scarring curiosity of the unknown, and the haunting sensations that come as a consequence of their actions.

This performance is a part of a fundraising evening at The Adams Theater, preceded by a dinner at the nearby Revival House, and followed by at Q&A at The Adams Theater.

with pianist Janice Carissa

ARVO PÄRT — Fratres

CLAUDE DEBUSSY — Petite Suite, L 65

IANNIS XENAKIS — Paille in the Wind

THOMAS ADÈS — Lieux Retrouvés

ROBERT SCHUMANN — Adagio und Allegro, Op. 70

VALENTIN SILVESTROV — Stille Musik

FRANCIS POULENC — Cello Sonata, FP 143

FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY — Sonata for Cello and Piano in D major, Op. 58

OLIVIER MESSIAEN — Louange à l’éternité de Jésus

Fly the Coop – Emi Ferguson & Ruckus

Emi Ferguson and Ruckus’ Fly the Coop is a “wild romp through some of Bach’s most playful and transcendent works,” toying with tradition and whimsy. Ferguson is a rising star of the flute, performing alongside artists like Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Simon, and James Taylor, and has gained attention across the country. Her collaboration with Ruckus – “the world’s only period-instrument rock band” – is a fresh way to consume Bach. 

Fly the Coop features the relationship between ethereal sound of solo flute and the rich texture of an expansive rhythm section, made up of  theorbos, baroque guitars, baroque bassoon, cello, viola da gamba, harpsichord, organ, bass, and banjos. The music Ruckus and Ferguson create is grand and luxurious, with diversity in style and form. Worked throughout the program are arrangements of a selection of Bach’s keyboard works, featuring movements of the Well-Tempered Klavier, and drafts from the Anna Magdalena notebooks of solo piano works.

Matthew Aucoin is an American composer, conductor, and writer, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellow. He is a co-founder of the pathbreaking American Modern Opera Company (AMOC*), and was the Los Angeles Opera’s Artist in Residence from 2016 to 2020.

Here, he joins forces with a stellar team of chamber musicians—baritone John Brancy, violinists Miranda Cuckson and Keir GoGwilt, violist Carrie Frey, and cellist Coleman Itzkoff—for a program featuring two new works of Aucoin’s alongside music by Mozart and Cassandra Miller.

Bach Suite No. 2 in D Minor

Bernt Alois Zimmermann Vier Kurz Studien

Michael Hersch Solo Sonata No.1

Discover the enchanting realm of chamber music within the cozy confines of the Rose Studio, specially crafted for children aged 3–6. Every CMS Kids event offers a Relaxed Performance, fostering a concert experience free from judgment. This performance is less formal and more supportive of sensory, communication, movement, and learning needs.

All CMS Kids events take place in the Rose Studio at CMS and last approximately one hour.

Ruckus presents: By George! Music of Telemann and Ligeti

Grace’s St. Paul Episcopal Church in TUCSON, ARIZONA

Handel’s “Aminta e Fillide,” featuring soprano Nola Richardson and mezzo-soprano Xenia Puskarz Thomas

Rachell Ellen Wong and David Belkovski return to Tucson, this time with the full band of Twelfth Night and singers Nola Richardson and Xenia Puskarz Thomas, to perform Handel’s 1708 secular cantata Aminta e Fillide. Set in the hills and flower-spotted fields of mythical Arcadia, the cantata tells the story of Aminta, a brash, young shepherd, who is hopelessly in love with the nymph Fillide, whose extraordinary beauty is matched by the hardness of her heart.

“Thomas’s uncommonly dark, creamy mezzo was able to give her opulent voice free rein… projecting a thought behind each ornament…”—Opera News

“Nola Richardson was totally delightful, displaying nimble coloratura and a light voice of penetrating beauty.”—South Florida Classical Review

Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya in SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

TWELFTH NIGHT ENSEMBLE†

Handel’s Aminta e Fillide
Nola Richardson, soprano and Xenia Puskarz Thomas, mezzo-soprano
7:30pm / Mar 21

Twelfth Night, the refreshingly new ensemble of young stars directed by violinist Rachell Ellen Wong and keyboardist David Belkovski, offers a scintillating program featuring Handel’s Aminta e Fillide, a pastoral cantata. Aminta and Fillide, the cantata’s shepherd and nymph, pursue each other through a mythological Greek landscape in arias both virtuosic and poignant. To round out a captivating program, the group performs Vivaldi’s electric sinfonia from his opera, Il Giustino.

† Twelfth Night Ensemble is the EMS 24-25 Ensemble-in-Residence

RUCKUS EARLY MUSIC

Emi Ferguson, baroque flute

Clay Zeller-Townson, bassoon

Caitlyn Koester, keyboards

Doug Balliett, baroque bass

Coleman Itzkoff, baroque cello

Paul Holmes Morton, baroque guitars

Adam Cockerham, baroque guitars

Tessa Lark, violin

Works by:

Johann Sebastian Bach, from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 1033, 1034, 1035, and others

G.P. Telemann, from Fantasias

Gyorgy Ligeti, from Musica Ricercata

Realized and reimagined by Emi Ferguson, Ruckus, and Tessa Lark.

RUCKUS EARLY MUSIC

Emi Ferguson, baroque flute

Clay Zeller-Townson, bassoon

Caitlyn Koester, keyboards

Doug Balliett, baroque bass

Coleman Itzkoff, baroque cello

Paul Holmes Morton, baroque guitars

Adam Cockerham, baroque guitars

Tessa Lark, violin

Works by:

Johann Sebastian Bach, from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 1033, 1034, 1035, and others

G.P. Telemann, from Fantasias

Gyorgy Ligeti, from Musica Ricercata

Realized and reimagined by Emi Ferguson, Ruckus, and Tessa Lark.

and we, each

a new opera in two acts

presented by Mind on Fire

composed by Michael Hersch
after texts by Shane McCrae

directed by James Matthew Daniel
conducted by Tito Muñoz

featuring Ah Young Hong and Jesse Blumberg
with musicians Emi Ferguson, Gleb Kanasevich, Adda Kridler, Leah Asher, and Coleman Itzkoff

February 6

Mind on Fire is proud to present the upcoming world premiere of Michael Hersch’s new opera, and we, each. The opera, built around the poetry of Shane McCrae, is an exploration of the treacherous territories of relationships – between individuals, within societies and, ultimately, the collapse of both.

AMOC* celebrates Latin American poets and the voices of women with its production of John Adams’s El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered, featuring a libretto by Peter Sellars and production conceived by AMOC* soprano Julia Bullock, with a return to The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine for a second year, capping off a tour of cities across the US.

El Niño: Nativity Reconsidered will be conducted by Christian Reif, who created the new arrangement and premiered the initial, distilled arrangement as part of Julia Bullock’s residency at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where The New York Times called it “intimate, affecting and quietly rich with activism.” A rarely performed work, El Niño “explores the central themes of the nativity – miracles, the unique relationship between birthparent and child, and gift giving,” said Bullock, whocurated the selections being performed.and whose ”voice and vision are forces to be reckoned with” (Opera News).

In collaboration with The Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center Psychiatry and the Arts Program, the music of Michael Hersch and words of Kay Redfield Jamison are paired with repertoire from the Renaissance to the 21st century.

On Tuesday, December 10 at 7:30 pm, in a program titled Night Falls Fast, close collaborators composer Michael Hersch and author/psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison join world-renowned performers including Ah Young Hong (soprano), Kevin Payne (lute and theorbo), Coleman Itzkoff (cello), and Conrad Harris (violin) in a program featuring music of Hersch, Gyorgy Kurtág, Rebecca Saunders, Claudio Monteverdi, John Dowland, and more. Woven into the performance are the words of acclaimed clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison who reads from her book "Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide," a text in which Jamison illuminates historical, religious, and cultural responses to mental illness and suicide.

An Afternoon with Cellist Coleman Itzkoff

Holiday special concert featuring critically acclaimed cellist Coleman Itzkoff

“FLAWLESS TECHNIQUE AND KEEN MUSICALITY” -Alex Ross, The New Yorker

Vibe: Minimalist
Suggested dress code: Black & White

December 8th (Sun)
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
St Joseph Co-Cathedral
856 Pacific St. Brooklyn NY 11238

Their program, titled “Strawberry Fields” is described by Ruckus as “A joyous feast of rustic dances from the 18th century”, featuring Ignatius Sancho’s 12 Country Dances for the year 1779 alongside G.F. Handel’s trio sonatas.

“STRAWBERRY FIELDS”

Sancho: Lady Mary Montagu’s Reel – Culford Heath Camp -Ruffs and Rhees, From The 12 Country Dances for the Year 1779
Handel: Trio in G, op. 5 # 4
Sancho: Air – Bushy Park – Lord Dalkeith’s Reel
Handel: Trio in E Minor, op. 5
~ intermission ~
Sancho: Royal Bishop –  Lindrindod Lasses –  Strawberries and Cream
Handel: Trio in D major, op. 5
Sancho: Duchess of Devonshire’s Reel – Trip to Dillington
All of One Mind – Mungo’s Delight – Lady Mary Montagu’s Reel

details TBA

Time & Location

Nov 11, 2024, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Rice University / Houston, TX, 6100 Main St, Houston, TX 77005, USA