This season's artists:

These are the names and biographies of the artists for the Fall season.

ALL BRAHMS THREE CONCERT SERIES
To celebrate the beginning of his second decade as Performers of Westchester Artistic Director, Andy Simionescu has organized our first-ever all-Brahms concert series, with eight of his friends and colleagues – world-class musicians and Performers favorites – presenting the complete Violin Sonatas, Piano Trios, and Piano Quartets of Johannes Brahms in the first three concerts of our fall season.

Friday Evening, September 24 at 7:30 PM:
Our inaugural all-Brahms concert features internationally acclaimed pianist/conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn, who has appeared as soloist with the leading orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Israel; violinist Andy Simionescu; violist Paul Neubauer, a quintessential artist of our time; and cellist Matt Haimovitz, one of the most innovative and influential voices in music today.

Sunday Afternoon, October 3 at 4:00 PM:
Our second all-Brahms concert offers another ensemble to remember, with rising piano star Benjamin Hochman, who recently made his debut as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony; violinist Andy Simionescu; violist Chauncey Patterson, formerly with the Miami String Quartet; and cellist Sophie Shao, Tchaikovsky and Rostropovich Competition winner and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient.

Sunday Afternoon, October 17 at 4:00 PM:
The all-Brahms series ends on a resounding major chord! Pianist Joyce Yang, Van Cliburn Competition Silver Medalist and 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient joins Andy Simionescu on violin; New York Philharmonic principal violist, Cynthia Phelps; and our friend from Montreal Matt Haimovitz on cello.

Sunday Afternoon, October 24 at 4:00 PM:
We welcome back violin superstar Pamela Frank with her husband Andy Simionescu; and four other stellar artists: former Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree, former Cleveland Quartet violist Atar Arad, Matt Haimovitz in his unprecedented third appearance in one season, and DaXun Zhang, the only double-bassist ever to win an Avery Fisher Career Grant. Their unusual program includes the Westchester premiere of "Tiituri", a work based on Romanian folk dances, and two great string quintets: Dvorák’s all-too-seldom performed masterpiece which adds a double bass to a string quartet, and Mendelssohn’s beautiful creation which adds a second viola, in the tradition of Mozart and Brahms.

Sunday Afternoon, October 31 at 4:00 PM:
A major Performers of Westchester debut! The Weilerstein Trio is a uniquely family affair with Alisa Weilerstein, one of the most sought-after cellists of her generation, her father, violinist Donald Weilerstein, formerly first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet, and her mother, pianist Vivian Hornick-Weilerstein. Their dynamic program contrasts Schumann’s brilliant and diverse inventiveness with 20th century Russian composer Alfred Schnittke’s elegiac intensity, and Dvorak’s atypically tempestuous Op. 65, which is considered his most Brahmsian composition.

Sunday Afternoon, November 14 at 4:00 PM:
Since their Performers of Westchester debut nearly two decades ago, our audiences have enjoyed the Brentano Quartet’s exceptional artistry many times, and this concert will be no exception. It opens with Haydn’s last completed string quartet, widely considered to be his finest in the medium, followed by the first of Mozart’s six quartets dedicated to his beloved "Papa." Joined by former Borromeo violist Hsin-Yun Huang, they close with Mendelssohn’s prodigious first quintet, composed at age 18 under the radical influence of Beethoven’s late quartets.