SCMS 2027 Winter Festival - Jan. 22-31
SEATTLE, Sept. 23, 2026 – The Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS) announces the programming for its 2027 Winter Festival, running January 22-31 at Nordstrom Recital Hall. Over the course of six concerts, a stellar lineup of internationally renowned musicians will perform six works by Robert Schumann, including his three string quartets in one weekend, alongside magnificent chamber music by composers including Bach, Borodin, Grieg, Kodály, Mozart, Schubert, Suk, and Tchaikovsky. The Festival is programmed by violinist James Ehnes, SCMS’s Gilbert Omenn and Martha Darling Artistic Director.
Musicians joining Ehnes at the 2027 SCMS Winter Festival include pianists Charles Richard-Hamelin and Tom Borrow, and violinists Erin Keefe and Josef Špaček. A full list of artists follows.
“Through our Winter Festival each year, we are able to gather with esteemed colleagues from around the world and explore fascinating musical themes. This January, we have a particular focus on Schumann. At the heart of this is his gift for creating musical characters and scenes. Even in his works without a specific narrative, there is often a sense of portraiture – people, places and personalities coming vividly to life. We carry that idea throughout the Festival, from Schumann and Grieg to Kodály, Debussy and Ravel. Older works by Bach and Mozart are part of this line. They give us a language that continues to inspire composers and performers to create music that is deeply human and evocative.” says Ehnes.
Two programmed works, Joseph Suk’s Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 8 (January 23) and Alexander Borodin’s String Quintet in F minor (January 31), honor the legacy of SCMS founder Toby Saks. Saks was a passionate champion of lesser-known music of the Romantic era, and for Ehnes both pieces hold a special association with her.
Each concert features a free pre-concert program an hour before the concert; on the January 23 pre-concert show, musicians of SCMS Academy for Chamber Music will perform. Through SCMS Virtual Concert Hall, fans of chamber music worldwide may watch the concert live, stream it in the 24-hour period following the performance, or access the concerts within a 30-day period beginning two weeks after the concert date. Produced by Simon Kiln, the Virtual Concert Hall captures concerts from high-definition camera angles and takes audiences behind the scenes with introductions from the artists and live intermission interviews.
Through its Winter Festival, five-week Summer Festival, and seven-concert Signature Series, SCMS makes chamber music a vital part of Seattle’s cultural life while helping establish the city as a premier destination for the art form. SCMS is also extending its reach beyond the concert hall through The Concert Truck®, a traveling music venue acquired last season that brings chamber music to communities across the country, and the Balourdet Quartet, SCMS’s first String Quartet in Residence, which has returned for a second season of performances and community engagement across King County.
This past spring, SCMS launched the SCMS Record label, further expanding the audience for performances with digital, streaming and physical format releases. The label’s third release, Franck Quintet and Enescu Octet, arrives October 2, following Brahms Violin Sonatas and Dvořák String Quintets earlier this year. SCMS also recently announced plans for a new Center for Chamber Music in downtown Seattle. The first permanent Seattle venue purpose-built specifically for chamber music, the Center will create a new home for performance, education, recording, and community engagement.
SCMS Winter Festival program details follow. Discounted season subscriptions are on sale now https://www.seattlechambermusic.org/concert_series/winter-festival-2027/; single tickets go on sale October 27.
Seattle Chamber Music Society: 2027 Winter Festival
January 22–31 | Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
Musicians: Julie Albers, Edward Arron, Ani Aznavoorian, Efe Baltacıgil, Luka Coetzee, and Bion Tsang (cello); Jeffrey Fair (horn); Tom Borrow, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Jeewon Park, and Orion Weiss (piano); James Ehnes, Erin Keefe, Amy Schwartz Moretti, Grace Park, Simone Porter, Josef Špaček, and Andrew Wan (violin), Che-Yen Chen, Blythe Teh Engstroem, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, and Jonathan Vinocour (viola).
The 2027 Winter Festival marks SCMS debuts for pianist Tom Borrow, violist Blythe Teh Engstroem, and violinist Josef Špaček.
