Orion Chamber Ensemble
2025-10-19 15:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Carter Memorial United Methodist Church, 800 Highland Avenue, Needham, MA, 02492, United States
Elegance and Passion
Artists
Randall Hodgkinson, piano
Peter Zazofsky, violin
Steven Ansell, viola
Ronald Lowry, cello
The Orion Chamber Ensemble, joined by Boston Symphony principal violist Steven Ansell, presents two works that chart the piano quartet’s journey from Mozart’s stormy brilliance to Brahms’ Romantic vision.
Program
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, K. 478
Johannes Brahms, Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26
About the Artists
With a history of more than twenty years, the Orion Chamber Ensemble has developed a robust repertoire of widely known piano trios and lesser known gems. The ensemble welcomes BSO violist Steven Ansell in performances of these two quartets.
Randall Hodgkinson
Pianist Randall Hodgkinson has performed as a soloist with major orchestras in the United States and abroad. In addition to his work with the Orion Ensemble, he is an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society. He also performs the four-hand and two-piano repertoire with his wife, Leslie Amper. Mr. Hodgkinson is a faculty member of the New England Conservatory, Wellesley College, and the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge. As a young artist, he won the International American Music Competition and the Tanglewood Music Center’s Cabot Award.

Peter Zazofsky
Violinist Peter Zazofsky has appeared as soloist with many great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He often is a featured soloist with Israeli orchestras. As first violinist of the Muir String Quartet, Mr. Zazofsky is proud to have performed many complete cycles of the Beethoven quartets, and to have promoted new works by American composers. Early in his career, Mr. Zazofsky won top prizes in the Queen Elisabeth and Montreal International Competitions. He is a faculty member at Boston University and also teaches at New England Conservatory Preparatory School.

Steven Ansell
Steven Ansell is principal viola of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, positions he has held since 1996. Mr. Ansell has appeared on PBS’s In Performance at the White House. He has received two Grand Prix du Disque awards and a Gramophone magazine award for Best Chamber Music Recording of the year. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he is also a member of the Muir String Quartet, which he co-founded in 1979. Mr. Ansell will perform as soloist in the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante with the BSO and concertmaster Nathan Cole in February 2026.

Ronald Lowry
Needham Concert Society artistic director Ronald Lowry—praised in the Boston Globe for “superb” musicianship—is principal cellist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and the Boston Ballet Orchestra. He performs frequently with the Boston Symphony, both at home and on international tours. He has presented solo recitals at Jordan Hall and at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and he has been a guest artist with the Boston Chamber Music Society, the New England Conservatory First Mondays concert series, and the Muir String Quartet. Mr. Lowry teaches at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and the Rivers School Conservatory.

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First Night
2025-12-31 19:00
New Year’s Showcase
The Needham Concert Society reprises their beloved First Night concert, in which exceptionally talented students and the society’s favorite professional guests perform highlights from the chamber music and chamber orchestra repertoire.
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Leland Ko + Adria Ye
2026-04-12 15:00
Elegant Artistry
Artists
Leland Ko, cello
Adria Ye, piano
Prize-winning cellist Leland Ko and acclaimed pianist Adria Ye present a program of expressive and virtuosic music, ranging from works by Lili Boulanger, Nadia Boulanger, and Janáček to Kabalevsky and Brahms.
Program
Lili Boulanger, Nocturne (arr. cello and piano)
Leoš Janáček, Pohádka (Fairy Tale), JW 7/5
Dmitry Kabalevsky, Sonata for Cello and Piano in B-flat major, Op. 71
Nadia Boulanger, Three Pieces for Cello and Piano
Johannes Brahms, Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38
About the Artists
Leland Ko
Cellist Leland Ko has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician in Boston, New York, Israel, Korea, Hong Kong, and across Europe. In March 2026, he was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant. He is also a first prize winner of the Concours Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Concert Artists Guild Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, and the Walter W. Naumberg International Cello Competition, and he received the Presidential Scholar Award at New England Conservatory for 2022–2024. Violinist Itzhak Perlman has praised his “beauty of sound and subtlety.” Mr. Ko holds degrees from Princeton University and the Juilliard School and an Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory. Before college, he studied with Ronald Lowry. He plays a cello by Giovanni Battista Rugeri, Cremona, c. 1710, on generous loan from Canimex, Inc.
Adria Ye
Pianist Adria Ye cites a fascination with music among her earliest memories. She began study of the piano at age five and made her orchestral debut with the Oregon Sinfonietta at age nine. Emerson String Quartet cellist David Finckel has praised her “naturally beautiful sound and lyric instinct.” Ms. Ye has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician across Europe, China, and the United States. She won the 2022 Music Academy of the West Solo Piano Competition, and she received the Paul Streit Special Prize at the 2022 Concours de Genève. She has been featured in public radio broadcasts of Performance Today and From the Top. Ms. Ye earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the Juilliard School and a graduate diploma at New England Conservatory.

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50th Anniversary Concert
2026-05-03 15:00
Bold and Timeless
Artists
Peter Zazofsky, violin
Zenas Hsu, violin
Wenting Kang, viola
Caitlyn Lynch, viola
Ronald Lowry, cello
Andrew Mark, cello
The Needham Concert Society celebrates its fiftieth anniversary with a commissioned work by Pulitzer-nominated composer David Post and two string masterpieces, a classically elegant string quintet by Mozart and Dvořák’s romantic and exuberant string sextet.
Program
David Post, Premiere of work for two cellos
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K. 516
Antonín Dvořák, String Sextet in A major, Op. 48, B. 80 for two violins, two violas, and two cellos
About the Artists
David Post
Composer David Post started musical training early, studying cello and composition. Among his awards is a Pulitzer Prize nomination for his Fourth String Quartet. His choral, orchestral, and chamber works have been performed and recorded in the U.S. and Europe by the likes of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic, and the Salem Philharmonic. He has received commissions from many groups, including the Terezin Music Foundation, the Fennimore Quartet, the Martinu and Hawthorne Quartets, the Aolis Collective, the New England Reed trio, and now, the Needham Concert Society.
Peter Zazofsky
Violinist Peter Zazofsky has appeared as soloist with many great orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He often is a featured soloist with Israeli orchestras. As first violinist of the Muir String Quartet, Mr. Zazofsky is proud to have performed many complete cycles of the Beethoven quartets, and to have promoted new works by American composers. Early in his career, Mr. Zazofsky won top prizes in the Queen Elisabeth and Montreal International Competitions. He is a faculty member at Boston University and also teaches at New England Conservatory Preparatory School.
Zenas Hsu
Violinist Zenas Hsu received early instruction at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory. He is a founding member of Chamber Music by the Bay, a California-based interactive music series. In Boston, Mr. Hsu is a member of the Grammy-nominated orchestra A Far Cry, and he serves as concertmaster of Phoenix, a Boston orchestra that focuses on approachable concert experiences. He is a frequent guest artist of Bard Music West and the Wellesley Chamber Players and guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Wenting Kang
Violist Wenting Kang is principal violist of Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid at Teatro Real of Spain, as well as one of the founding members of the Madrid Soloists Chamber Orchestra. Her debut CD recording with pianist Sergei Kvitko, Mosaic, was released in 2022 to critical acclaim, winning the gold medal in the Melómano Magazine in Spain. Its tracks were selected for the “Best New Classical” playlist on Spotify and the “New Music Friday” playlist of the American Society of Composers and Publishers. Ms. Kang is on the faculty at New England Conservatory.
Caitlin Lynch
Violist Caitlin Lynch performs with artists ranging from Itzhak Perlman to Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. She is violist of the Aeolus String Quartet, violist and co-artistic director of A Far Cry, and has appeared with the Cleveland, Guarneri, Juilliard, Takács, and Tokyo String Quartets. Recent and upcoming performances include Carnegie Hall Citywide, the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and NYC’s Kaufman Music Center. Ms. Lynch is a graduate of the Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music. She performs on an eighteenth-century Forster viola and a 2020 Zygmuntowicz viola.
Ronald Lowry
Needham Concert Society artistic director Ronald Lowry is principal cellist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and the Boston Ballet Orchestra, and he performs frequently with the Boston Symphony. He has presented solo recitals in Jordan Hall, at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and throughout New England. He has been guest artist with the Boston Chamber Music Society, the New England Conservatory First Mondays concert series, and the Muir String Quartet. Mr. Lowry teaches at New England Conservatory Preparatory School, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and Rivers School Conservatory.
Andrew Mark
Cellist Andrew Mark, an accomplished advocate of new music, has performed with the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops and is currently cellist with the Portland String Quartet. He has been a member of the Boston Composers String Quartet and the award-winning CORE Ensemble and was named Artistic Ambassador by the U.S. State Department. A graduate of New England Conservatory, Mr. Mark is on the faculty of the Heifetz Institute, has chaired the Boston Conservatory string department, and has earned awards from American String Teachers Association and the Foundation for Advancement of String Education.

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Piano Trio Gems
2026-05-17 15:00
Diamonds in the Rough
Artists
Asiya Korepanova, piano
Irina Muresanu, violin
Ronald Lowry, cello
Violinist Irina Muresanu and pianist Asiya Korepanova join cellist Ronald Lowry in a program that brims with passion and contrast, characterized by shimmering color (Turina), fiery intensity (Babajanian), and lyrical virtuosity (Felix Mendelssohn).
Program
Joaquín Turina, Piano Trio No. 2 in B minor, Op. 76
Arno Babajanian, Piano Trio in F-sharp minor
Felix Mendelssohn, Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66
About the Artists
Asiya Korepanova
With a repertoire of over sixty works ranging from baroque to contemporary, pianist Asiya Korepanova is also a composer, transcriber, visual artist, and poet. “Poème,” her work for alto saxophone and piano, recently received its world premiere. A native of Russia, Ms. Korepanova debuted at age nine and has since soloed with many Russian orchestras. In the U.S., she won the gold medal at the Wideman International Piano Competition and earned an Artist Diploma from the University of Miami. South Florida Classical Review has hailed her “blazing technique” and her “singular affinity for Rachmaninoff’s Russian romantic idiom.” Ms. Korepanova celebrated Rachmaninoff’s 150th birthday in 2023 with performances of his complete solo piano music.

Irina Muresanu
Romanian violinist Irina Muresanu is known for elegant and passionate performances that stretch the boundaries of classical music. A sought-after soloist and chamber musician who has appeared throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South Africa, Ms. Muresanu is a compelling interpreter of contemporary music. Her concerts have frequently been cited by the Boston Globe as among the “Best of Classical Music Performances.” As a faculty member of the University of Maryland, she has documented worldwide variations in violin technique, and she is engaged in development of AI technology for use in violin instruction. Ms. Muresanu earned the Artist Diploma and Doctor in Musical Arts degrees from New England Conservatory. She plays an 1849 Giuseppe Rocca violin with an Étienne Pajeot bow.

Ronald Lowry
Needham Concert Society artistic director Ronald Lowry—praised in the Boston Globe for “superb” musicianship—is principal cellist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra and the Boston Ballet Orchestra. He performs frequently with the Boston Symphony, both at home and on international tours. He has presented solo recitals at Jordan Hall and at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and he has been a guest artist with the Boston Chamber Music Society, the New England Conservatory First Mondays concert series, and the Muir String Quartet. Mr. Lowry teaches at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and the Rivers School Conservatory.

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