First Monday at Jordan Hall

NEC faculty have always enjoyed playing chamber music together, but it was cellist Laurence Lesser—at the time Conservatory President— who transformed these occasional musical evenings into a stellar, regularly occurring series. Twenty-seven years later, chamber music buffs eagerly anticipate the six free concerts held on the first Mondays of October, November, December, March, April, and May. They know they can count on fascinating repertory that ranges from Bach and Brahms to Bartók and beyond. They know they can hear the concerts in one of the great halls of the world. And they know they can expect illuminating performances by some of the world's greatest artists—NEC faculty, alumni, students and friends, who donate their services in exchange for the opportunity to experience together music that is among the most transcendent expressions of human culture. This year, the series features Brahms and Birthdays. And tonight, the musicians pay a belated birthday tribute to Charles Martin Loeffler, the German-born American violinist and composer.

Soprano Dina Kuznetsova, the soloist in tonight's Shostakovich songs, has had to cancel due to illness. The program will now include the Mozart, Loeffler, and Schubert works.

Mozart Andante mit Variationen, K. 501
Leslie Amper, Randall Hodgkinson, piano duet

Loeffler Two Rhapsodies
Keisuke Wakao, oboe; Roger Tapping, viola, Randall Hodgkinson, piano

Schubert Introduction and Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 82, No. 2
Randall Hodgkinson, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, piano duet

CANCELLED: Shostakovich Seven Romances on Verses by Alexander Blok, with Dina Kuznetsova, soprano; Donald Weilerstein, violin, Laurence Lesser, cello; Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, piano

NEC joins with Chamber Music America in celebrating Chamber Music Month.