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Arts writing by Thomas May

July 13, 2026 • 2:34 pm 0

Four Hands, 32 Strings, and Shared Fire at Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Opener

James Ehnes leads Mendelssohn’s Octet; photo: Jenna Poppe

My review of Seattle Chamber Music Society’s opening concert of the 2026 Summer Festival for Bachtrack:

Seattle Chamber Music Society’s month-long summer ritual began in the familiar place – the intimate, 536-seat Nordstrom Recital Hall inside downtown Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. Also familiar was the air of anticipation in the packed room, filled with listeners eager for the kind of high-level chamber music-making that violinist and artistic director James Ehnes continues to assemble in Seattle.

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Filed under: George Gershwin, James Ehnes, Mendelssohn, review, Seattle Chamber Music Society

November 26, 2025 • 3:32 pm Comments Off on Richard O’Neill and Jeremy Denk in Recital

Richard O’Neill and Jeremy Denk in Recital

Jeremy Denk and Richard O’Neill; photo: Jorge Gustavo Elias

Seattle Chamber Music Society presented Richard O’Neill and Jeremy Denk in a sold-out recital Sunday. Here’s my review for The Strad:

Seattle Chamber Music Society brought the inaugural season of its new Signature Series to a compelling close with this sold-out recital by violist Richard O’Neill – best known as a member of the Takács Quartet – and pianist Jeremy Denk.

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Filed under: Beethoven, review, Seattle Chamber Music Society, The Strad, viola

July 21, 2025 • 10:07 pm Comments Off on Yes, Chef – With Strings Attached

Yes, Chef – With Strings Attached

Violinist James Ehnes, Seattle Chamber Music Society artistic director, with cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt have cooked up another music-and-food evening called Tasting Notes II on July 25. (Chona Kasinger)

My story on Seattle Chamber Music Society’s upcoming second edition of the Tasting Notes program:

Before they ever shared a stage, James Beard media award-winning cookbook author J. Kenji López-Alt and violinist James Ehnes had already discovered a mutual obsession with the art of cooking and Beethoven string quartets. ..

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Filed under: James Ehnes, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Seattle Times

July 17, 2025 • 10:27 pm Comments Off on Another Evening at Seattle Chamber Music Society’s 2025 Summer Festival

Another Evening at Seattle Chamber Music Society’s 2025 Summer Festival

l to r: Yulianna Avdeeva, James Ehnes, Efe Baltacıgil and Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt; photo: Jenna Poppe

From my review for The Strad:

With the other major classical institutions largely on summer hiatus, the Seattle Chamber Music Society takes centre stage in July, commanding the city’s musical life with a month-long festival that has been packing Benaroya Hall’s chamber music venue. Its varied slate of mainstage concerts, related events and guest artists has become a cultural fixture. Indeed, SCMS is expanding its presence with the recent announcement of an extended year-round season of offerings….

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Filed under: James Ehnes, Mozart, review, Schumann, Seattle Chamber Music Society

July 8, 2025 • 8:38 am Comments Off on Smolder and Spark: Seattle Chamber Music Society Launches Its 2025 Summer Festival

Smolder and Spark: Seattle Chamber Music Society Launches Its 2025 Summer Festival

Ehnes Quartet with Beth Guterman Chu; image (c) Jorge Gustavo Elias

I covered Sunday’s opening concert for Bachtrack:

The Seattle Chamber Music Society has not only emerged from the pandemic slump stronger than ever but seems to have hit on a golden formula. The opening concert of its month-long 2025 Summer Festival attracted a devoted audience to fill downtown’s 536-seat Nordstrom Recital Hall to near capacity – even before the concert officially began…

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Filed under: Fanny Mendelssohn, James Ehnes, Mendelssohn, review, Seattle Chamber Music Society

May 27, 2025 • 7:26 pm Comments Off on Dover Quartet in Seattle

Dover Quartet in Seattle

Dover Quartet: Joel Link, Bryan Lee, Camden Shaw, Julianne Lee; photo: Jorge Gustavo Elias

My review for The Strad of this past weekend’s Dover Quartet performance, presented by Seattle Chamber Music Society:

On a glorious spring Sunday in Seattle, the Dover Quartet drew a full house to the 536-seat Nordstrom Recital Hall for a splendid afternoon concert – no small feat given the lure of sunshine and blue skies on a holiday weekend. Notably, the audience included a sizable contingent of younger listeners – a testament to the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s outreach efforts and to the appeal of this Signature Series concert, which closed the organisation’s inter-season extension between its winter and summer festivals.
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Filed under: review, Seattle Chamber Music Society, string quartet

March 20, 2025 • 12:34 am Comments Off on James Ehnes in The Strad

James Ehnes in The Strad

James Ehnes; photo courtesy Seattle Chamber Music Society

Along with my feature on Abel Selaocoe in Strings, my other cover story this month is a profile of the fabulous violinist and music director James Ehnes for The Strad:

Over a weekend in early December 2024, James Ehnes was in Seattle to perform all ten violin sonatas of Beethoven, partnering with pianist Orion Weiss. Presented in two concerts, each met with rapt attention, the performances were part of a new initiative of Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS) to engage audiences during the long interval between its flagship summer festival and the winter festival starting in late January. 

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Filed under: James Ehnes, profile, Seattle Chamber Music Society, The Strad

January 23, 2025 • 5:14 pm Comments Off on Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Winter Festival 2025

Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Winter Festival 2025

Friday night is the opening concert of Seattle Chamber Music Society‘s Winter Festival 2025 (over this weekend and next). Some wonderful programs to look forward to: Brahms Op. 34; a fecund piano quintet by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, written when he was 18 (SCT is represented on this weekend’s Seattle Symphony program as well); Bartók’s Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion; Enescu’s Octet; Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata; Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht” in the original sextet version (with James Ehnes in the ensemble, and more.

complete program

Filed under: music news, Seattle Chamber Music Society

July 31, 2024 • 2:57 pm Comments Off on Ani Aznavoorian’s Family-Made Cello

Ani Aznavoorian’s Family-Made Cello

Ani Aznavoorian and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet at Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival; photo (c) Carlin Ma

A new post for The Strad on this month’s just-concluded Summer Festival presented by Seattle Chamber Music Society:

With its roster of several dozen internationally prominent musicians, the just-concluded 2024 edition of the Summer Festival presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society involved a de facto summit of priceless string instruments in action….

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Filed under: cellists, luthier, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Strad

July 1, 2024 • 12:14 pm Comments Off on 2024 Summer Festival with Seattle Chamber Music Society

2024 Summer Festival with Seattle Chamber Music Society

Violinist James Ehnes, Seattle Chamber Music Society’s artistic director, performs with colleagues during a SCMS Chamber Music in the Park concert. SCMS’ Summer Festival runs July 1-26 this year. (Jenna Poppe)

Tonight is the opening concert of the 2024 edition of the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s annual Summer Festival. I wrote a preview for The Seattle Times here:

Sure, the Seattle Chamber Music Society has a menu of the usual star composers — Beethoven, Brahms, Dvořák — for its Summer Festival running July 1-26. But this year, the festival is boasting an actual menu that will be designed onstage by Seattle star chefs. …

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Filed under: James Ehnes, music news, Seattle Chamber Music Society, Seattle Times

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