Musical Chairs Chamber Music Festival | May 22-30, 2026

At the Musical Chairs Chamber Music Festival, nobody stays in the same seat for long! This unique international gathering brings together outstanding students and faculty from institutions across four continents to perform, teach, and collaborate. Ensembles shift and recombine throughout the festival, creating thrilling new musical interactions and showcasing music as a truly universal language, shared by 86 musicians on and off the stage.

Musical Chairs | Masterclass: Yan Lim, piano

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Yan Lim, piano, professor (Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music of the National University of Singapore)

Musical Chairs | Lecture: Getting Along: Chamber Group Dynamics

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William Coleman, professor (Mozarteum University Salzberg)

Musical Chairs | Masterclass: Stefan Mendl, piano

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Stefan Mendl, piano, professor (Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien in Vienna)

Musical Chairs | Beethoven, Haydn & Shostakovich

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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 16 JOSEPH HAYDN String Quartet in D major, Op.71, No.2  DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Piano Quintet in G minor, Op.57 

With performances by students and professors from:

Musical Chairs | Masterclass: Lina Bahn, violin

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Lina Bahn, violin, professor (Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, USA)

Musical Chairs | Masterclass: Matthew Jones, viola

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Matthew Jones, viola, professor (Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK)

Musical Chairs | Masterclass: Daniel de Borah, piano

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Daniel de Borah, piano, professor (Queensland Conservatorium of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia)

Musical Chairs | Masterclass: Marina Scalafiotti, piano

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Marina Scalafiotti, piano, professor (Conservatorio Statale “Giuseppe Verdi” di Torino, Italy)

Musical Chairs | Arensky, Fauré & Messiaen

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ANTON ARENSKY Piano Quintet in D major, Op.51 GABRIEL FAURÉ Piano Quartet No.1 in C minor, Op.15  OLIVIER MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time 

With performances by students and professors from:

Musical Chairs | Lecture: The Art (and Science) of Practice

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Matthew Jones, professor (Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK)

Musical Chairs | Chamber Music Marathon! A Musical 5 à 7 (... à until we're done!)

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Select works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Ernest Chausson, Claude Debussy, Antonín Dvořák, George Enescu, Gabriel Fauré, Sergei Rachmaninov, Rebecca Clarke, Dmitri Shostakovich, Bedřich Smetana, Igor Stravinsky, Sergey Taneyev, and Joaquín Turina.

Musical Chairs | Chamber Music Marathon! A Musical Mimosa!

Programme

Selected works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Ernest Chausson, Claude Debussy, Antonín Dvořák, George Enescu, Gabriel Fauré, Sergei Rachmaninov, Rebecca Clarke, Dmitri Shostakovich, Bedřich Smetana, Igor Stravinsky, Sergey Taneyev, and Joaquín Turina.