Concert Artists Guild announces 19-20 season

Concert Artists Guild’s 2019-20 CAG Presents  season features emerging artists alongside exciting co-presentations with Joe's Pub, The Wilson Center, Roadmaps Festival, Music for Food, and Creative Stage Collective, highlighting CAG’s mission to help young musicians launch meaningful careers in the arts.

CAG’s season opens with multi-string quartet Invoke, a 2018 CAG Competition winner. Performing in a co-presentation with Joe’s Pub on Tuesday, November 5, the ensemble’s style encompasses traditions from across America, including bluegrass, Appalachian fiddle tunes, jazz, and minimalism. Invoke performs original works along with music by American composers including Takuma Itoh and Jessie Montgomery.

GRAMMY nominee the Aizuri Quartet performs at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall on Wednesday, December 4. Joining CAG’s roster after winning the Grand Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, the ensemble has garnered critical acclaim for its engaging and thought-provoking programs and was nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY Award in the “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble” category. The group’s program, LOCALLY SOURCED, celebrates composers influenced by their surroundings, including Armenian folksongs by Komitas and Paul Wiancko’s LIFT.

Pianist Yi-Nuo Wang won First Prize in the 2018 CAG Competition and the 2017 Wideman International Piano Competition in Louisiana. Performing at Weill Recital Hall on Tuesday, February 11, her program includes piano masterworks with literary and folk inspirations by Bartók, Brahms, Liszt, and others.

Instrumental Storytellers awakens excitement and passion for classical music in young people and inspires traditional concertgoers to experience the music in a new way, featuring storytelling, movement, comic sketches, and poetry. CAG partners with Creative Stage Collective on Sunday, March 8 to present two performances featuring CAG musicians at Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia.

On Monday, March 16, CAG partners with Music for Food to present Quartet Extravaganza! Featuring the Aizuri and Argus Quartets with MFF founder Kim Kashkashian, viola, this concert will raise resources and awareness in the fight against hunger and features works by Mozart and Garth Knox alongside Mendelssohn’s Octet for Strings, Op. 20. Proceeds from this concert will benefit Broadway Community.

In partnership with The Wilson Center and Roadmaps Festival, CAG presents an unmissable event during April. The Arctic: Sounds of Crisis is an experiential evening linking global warming, the transformation of our planet, the impacts this palpable change is having on the people of the North – and why you should care. Led by Mike Sfraga of The Wilson Center and featuring performances by the Verona Quartet and pianist Tanya Bannister, the evening weaves a compelling narrative on global warming and the Arctic with visuals and music, followed by a panel discussion led by critically-acclaimed journalist Ali Velshi.

In the final concert of the 19-20 season, percussionist Mitya Nilov performs at Weill Recital Hall on Tuesday, April 14. A winner of the 2018 CAG Competition, Mitya has appeared in top halls around the globe, including the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, and the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall. His program RUSSIAN SOUL features The Little Prince by Victor Grishin alongside a new commission by Michael Gilbertson.

CAG PRESENTS 2019-20

Tuesday, November 5, 2019, 7:00pm
Invoke
A co-presentation with Joe’s Pub
Bluegrass and fiddle-inspired original and new music by American composers
Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater
Tickets: $20 / $25 on the door

Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 7:30pm
Aizuri Quartet
GRAMMY-nominated ensemble perform works by Komitas, Haydn, and Paul Wiancko
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Tickets: $30 / $15 student

Tuesday, February 11, 2020, 7:30pm
Yi-Nuo Wang, piano
Piano masterworks with folk and literary inspirations by Bartók, Brahms, Liszt, and more
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Tickets: $30 / $15 student

Sunday, March 8, 2020, 4:00pm and 7:00pm
Instrumental Storytellers
A co-presentation with Creative Stage Collective
Discover the excitement of music in a new way through this multidisciplinary performance
Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space
Tickets: $15 / $20 day of show

Monday, March 16, 2020, 7:30pm
Quartet Extravaganza!
A co-presentation with Music for Food
Partnering with this musician-led initiative for hunger relief, CAG artists perform Mendelssohn’s Octet
Broadway Presbyterian Church, 114^th Street and Broadway
Suggested donation at the door: $30 / $10 student

April date TBC
The Arctic: Sounds of Crisis
A co-presentation with The Wilson Center and Roadmaps Festival
An experiential evening linking global warming, the transformation of our planet, the impacts this palpable change is having on the people of the North – and why you should care.
Venue TBC 

Tuesday, April 14, 2020, 7:30pm
Mitya Nilov, percussion
Percussion works from the heart and soul of Russia
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
Tickets: $30 / $15 student

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Concert Artists Guild is a non-profit organization that identifies and develops artists with a desire to make an impact in the world through music. Since 1951, CAG has helped more than 500 young musicians launch meaningful careers in the arts. Winners of CAG’s annual competition receive comprehensive management support, a New York showcase performance, concert bookings, and professional career development and coaching.

For further information, please contact Jessica Lightfoot
(212) 333-5200, ext. 1004 I jlightfoot@concertartists.org