Founding Artistic Directors David Finckel and Wu Han to Conclude Tenure After 25 Years of Leadership, Following Summer 2026 | |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
ATHERTON, CA — After more than two decades of visionary leadership, world-renowned musicians David Finckel and Wu Han have announced that they will step away from their roles as Founding Artistic Directors of the acclaimed Music@Menlo festival and institute, following the 2026 summer season. As co-founders and the driving artistic force behind Music@Menlo since its inception in 2003, Finckel and Wu Han have shaped the festival into one of the nation’s most esteemed chamber music institutions—an internationally recognized haven of artistic excellence, innovation, and education.
| | David Finckel and Wu Han commented in a joint statement, “Music@Menlo is one of our proudest and most cherished achievements. Over the past twenty-five transformative years, it has grown into a vibrant, beloved institution—a place where extraordinary artistry and education thrive side by side. While it is difficult to step away from something so close to our hearts, we know the time has come to entrust its future to new leadership. We do so with full confidence and great optimism, as we continue to tour and champion the art form that has shaped our lives.” | |
“Music@Menlo was created from the inspiration, passion, and unwavering commitment of our founders, David Finckel and Wu Han,” said Eff Martin, founding and current board member. “The Board expresses its immense gratitude for their years of dedication—to presenting the finest chamber music of our time and to nurturing its future through Music@Menlo’s unparalleled education programs for young musicians.”
John Robinson, Executive Director of Music@Menlo added, “David and Wu Han’s leadership has been truly visionary. We are excited to continue their tradition of excellence into the future.”
| | Celebrating 25 Years of Visionary Leadership | | Under the leadership of David and Wu Han, Music@Menlo has emerged as a cultural beacon, recognized for its innovative programming, world-class artistic excellence in performance, unwavering commitment to education, and profound influence on the global chamber music community. The following milestones offer a powerful reflection of the breadth and depth of David and Wu Han’s impact over the past 25 years: | | · Close to 400 artists have come to Music@Menlo from around the world to perform in main-stage concerts, lead multimedia Encounter lectures, coach students of the Chamber Music Institute, and work with Menlo School students during the annual Winter Residency. | | · Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute has become a cornerstone of the festival, earning a reputation as a world-class training program and providing intensive, festival-based experiences for 563 aspiring musicians. Running concurrently with the summer festival, the Institute’s two programs—the Smith Family Young Performers Program for gifted musicians aged 10–19 and the International Program for pre-professional artists aged 20–30—reflect Music@Menlo’s deep commitment to education, artistic excellence, and mentorship. Thanks to the generous support of the Music@Menlo community, these programs are now tuition-free. | | · Alumni of the Chamber Music Institute have gone on to establish more than 40 chamber music festivals and presenting organizations across the globe—a testament to the Institute’s exceptional impact and far-reaching influence in shaping the next generation of chamber music leaders. | | · The expansive Music@Menlo LIVE recording catalog has become a definitive archive of the festival’s performances—an extraordinary collection of 137 recordings comprising virtually the entire core chamber music repertoire, featuring 279 artists plus 13 string quartets. Produced by Grammy Award-winning engineer Da-Hong Seetoo, the series of audiophile-quality recordings has been hailed by the San Jose Mercury News as “the most ambitious recording project of any classical music festival in the world.” Now fully digitized, the collection is available on iTunes, Amazon.com, Spotify, and Classical Archives, reaching and inspiring audiences and musicians worldwide. Live recordings are broadcast nationally by American Public Media’s Performance Today, airing on 260 stations and reaching more than one million people each week. | | · Music@Menlo’s industry-leading Arts Administration Internship Program has provided hands-on professional experience to 389 interns, many of whom have gone on to hold leadership roles at top arts organizations across the country, including at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Colburn School. | | · Total annual attendance now exceeds 10,000, with free program attendance exceeding 5,000 annually. | | · Thousands of Menlo School students have enjoyed an enhanced educational experience through the annual Winter Residency program. The Winter Residency program also includes community engagement concerts at assisted living facilities, workshops with elementary school musicians, and presentations for other local organizations. | | · Performances, master classes, and lectures are all streamed free of charge from Music@Menlo’s website and social media channels. | | During David and Wu Han’s 25-year tenure, their astute financial stewardship has enabled Music@Menlo to grow from a small start-up into a robust and self-sustaining institution, with an annual budget of $2.5 million and a healthy balance sheet. Committed to accessibility and building and sustaining a passionate audience for chamber music, Music@Menlo presents dozens of free concerts and masterclasses every summer and offers its world-class training programs tuition-free. The majority of support comes from dedicated and generous patrons, sponsors, and strategic partners. Music@Menlo recognizes that the unwavering commitment of the festival community has been critical to its success. | | David Finckel and Wu Han, Founding Artistic Directors | Founders and Artistic Co-Directors of Music@Menlo since its inception in 2003—and Artistic Directors of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) since 2004—they have shaped the field through their multifaceted careers as performers, recording producers, educators, and cultural entrepreneurs. Their leadership also extends to The Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach and La Musica Chamber Music Festival in Sarasota, where Wu Han serves as Artistic Advisor. | Recipients of Musical America’s Musicians of the Year award, they have performed globally and produced over 150 recordings on their pioneering ArtistLed label, as well as the Music@Menlo LIVE and CMS Live labels. Their landmark recordings for ArtistLed include the complete cello sonatas of Beethoven as well as works of Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Dvořák, alongside pieces by living composers written for and dedicated to the duo. Passionately committed to education, they continue to mentor emerging talent through programs such as the Bowers Program at CMS and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute. | | Further details about Music@Menlo’s future leadership will be shared in the coming months. The 2025 and 2026 summer seasons promise to be a joyous culmination of David Finckel and Wu Han’s artistic journey at Music@Menlo—seasons that will celebrate the legacy of two individuals whose impact on chamber music continues to be far reaching. | | |
2025 Summer Festival
July 18–August 9
| | Music@Menlo’s 2025 summer festival, Constellations: Ensemble Magic, explores the many different forms of chamber music, from intimate duos to lively octets. From July 18 through August 9 over forty artists will present concerts, informative lectures, free performances, and master classes. All events take place on the Menlo School campus in Atherton, CA. Visit Music@Menlo’s website for a full, day-by-day list of all events this summer, and to read more about the programming and artists on stage. | | Tickets can be purchased online or by calling Music@Menlo Patron Services at 650-331-0202 (Monday–Friday, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM). | | | | |
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