Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival Presents: Series Concert III
SERIES CONCERT III: We Hold These Truths
The Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival returns for its 27th season, September 8–19, 2026, with two weeks of concerts that explore the influence of revolutionary thought in this 250th anniversary year of our nation. Founded in 2000 by Charlottesville natives and accomplished musicians Raphael Bell and Tim Summers, the Festival continues its tradition of bringing internationally acclaimed musicians to Charlottesville for performances that combine artistic excellence with emotional connection and intellectual curiosity.
A major highlight of the 2026 Festival will be the performance of a newly commissioned work by Iranian-American composer Kian Ravaei. Through a string quartet of incredible musicians and narration of the text by Doug Schneider, Ravaei’s composition offers a close reading of the Declaration of Independence, illuminating its language, aspirations, and continuing resonance in contemporary civic life. This new work, paired with Amy Beach’s sweeping Piano Quintet and Gabriel Fauré’s emotional Piano Quartet, will make for a complete evening.
*A Free People is co-commissioned by the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Mimir Chamber Music Festival (Fort Worth, TX), and Seattle Chamber Music Society
Program:
Amy Beach Piano Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 67
Kian Ravaei A Free People for string quartet and narrator, 2026 co-commission*
Gabriel Fauré Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 15
Raphael Bell, Jennifer Frautschi, Judith Gordon, Simone Porter, Raman Ramakrishnan, Dov Scheindlin, Doug Schneider, Tim Summers
Sponsored by Terry E. Grant
Other 2026 Festival concerts at The Paramount include ticketed events on Tuesday, September 8 at 7:30PM and Saturday, September 19 at 7:30PM and a FREE lunchtime concert open to the public on Friday, September 18 at 12:30PM.
About the Musicians
Raphael Bell is principal cello of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra in Belgium, Co-Founder of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, and Co-Artistic Director of La Loingtaine in Montigny-sur-Loing, France. He has performed at Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Salle Gaveau, Berlin Philharmonie, Köln Philharmonie, Luzerner Theater, the American Academy in Rome, Tokyo Suntory Hall, and Kyoto Concert Hall, and at festivals including Ferrara Musica, Wiener Festwochen, Elba Festival, Sonoro Musikland, Ravinia, Verbier, and Resonance Festival Belgium. After growing up in Charlottesville, Raphael studied at The Juilliard School with Harvey Shapiro, and later with Mario Brunello, Steven Isserlis, and Ferenc Rados. He now resides in Antwerp, Belgium with violinist Aki Saulière, and their son, Tomo.
Two-time GRAMMY nominee and Avery Fisher career grant recipient violinist Jennifer Frautschi has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and St Paul Chamber Orchestra. As chamber musician she has performed with the Boston Chamber Music Society and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and appeared at Chamber Music Northwest, La Jolla Summerfest, Music@Menlo, Tippet Rise Art Center, Toronto Summer Music, and the Bridgehampton, Lake Champlain, Moab, Ojai, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Spoleto Music Festivals. She was recently appointed Artistic Director of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit.
Pianist Judith Gordon explores diverse repertoire in collaboration with an exceptionally wide range of solo artists and ensembles. She was a member of the percussion-based Essential Music, focusing on the American Experimental tradition, and has been soloist in works from Bach and Ravel to Cage and Boulez with groups including the Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. An associate professor of music at Smith College from 2006-20, she is a graduate of the New England Conservatory, where she recently received an Outstanding Alumni Award. Now based in New Mexico, she plays regularly with the musicians of ChatterABQ.
Violinist Simone Porter has been recognized as an emerging artist of impassioned energy, interpretive integrity, and vibrant communication. She has debuted with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle, and Pittsburgh Symphonies and with a number of renowned conductors, including Stéphane Denève, Gustavo Dudamel, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Nicholas McGegan, Ludovic Morlot, Donald Runnicles, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Manfred Honeck, Louis Langrée, and David Danzmayr. Simone made her professional solo debut at age 10 with the Seattle Symphony and her international debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London at age 13. In March 2015, she was named a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Cellist Raman Ramakrishnan enjoys performing chamber music, old and new, around the world. For two decades, as a founding member of the Horszowski Trio and the Daedalus Quartet, he toured extensively through North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and recorded for Bridge Records and Avie Records, including the complete piano trios of Robert Schumann and the complete string quartets of Fred Lerdahl. He is currently an artist member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and is on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. He served on the faculties of the Kneisel Hall, Norfolk, and Taconic Chamber Music Festivals, as well as in the Music Performance Program of Columbia University.
Acclaimed by The New York Times as an “extraordinary violist” of “immense flair,” Dov Scheindlin has built an international career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator. A member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and associate member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, he also served as Artistic Director and Program Coordinator of Orpheus from 2013–2016. He has performed in 28 countries and appeared as soloist with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Paris Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Munich Philharmonic. He has taught at Harvard, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Tanglewood, and currently performs with Quartet 212.
Doug Schneider is a local actor/singer/vocal instructor. He has been a performer in Charlottesville for over 30 years and has appeared in many productions at Heritage Theatre Festival (now Virginia Theatre Festival), Four County Players, Richmond Triangle Players, HATTheatre in Richmond, New Lyric Theatre, The Hamner Theater, and Live Arts.
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival since 2000, violinist Tim Summers is a member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and has performed on violin, viola, and occasionally mandolin with the orchestra across the world while also serving on the orchestra’s board. He is also artistic director and developer of the MCO’s ‘Future Presence’ Immersive Audio project with sound artist Henrik Oppermann, and has served as director of the orchestra’s own Festival in Hitzacker, Niedersachsen, Germany, focusing on music and the history of cryptography. Tim has performed as a chamber musician at festivals across the United States and Europe. He served as second violinist of the Orpheus String Quartet, and was for several years a participant in the Emmanuel Music cycle of Bach Cantatas in Boston, led by John Harbison and the late Craig Smith.
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