Performers

CONRAD TAO, piano

POIESIS QUARTET SARAH YING MA & MAX BALL, violins
JASPER DE BOOR, viola
DREW DANSBY, cello

Pianist Conrad Tao, recipient of the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Award alongside Michael Stephen Brown, joins the Poiesis Quartet, Grand Prize laureates at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and an ensemble noted for its “multi-faceted artistry” (The New York Times). The quartet’s performances combine clarity, intensity, and a strong sense of shared purpose. Described by New York Magazine as “the kind of artist that is shaping the future of classical music,” Conrad Tao brings his distinctive musical voice to a program that moves from inward reflection to sweeping expression.

The program begins in a world of quiet introspection — Brahms’ Intermezzo unfolds from a restrained and intimate place. Kevin Lau’s Surfacing follows, tracing a gradual emergence in which textures and gestures rise into clarity. Drawing on a wide range of influences, Lau’s music balances expressive intensity with a strong sense of structure — a combination that places his work in dialogue with the tradition Brahms so powerfully shaped. The program culminates in Brahms’ magnificent quintet, a work of extraordinary breadth and emotional complexity.

What begins in restless searching gathers momentum into music of profound emotional release.

Program

JOHANNES BRAHMS Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2 KEVIN LAU String Quartet No. 7 - Surfacing JOHANNES BRAHMS Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34

Tickets

Age 35+: $42 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish.

Honorary Concert Sponsors: In honor of music lovers Andy Austin Cohen and Ted Cohen from their family Shoshannah, Asher, Amos, and Elmer.