Lou Steigler to Retire After 42 Landmark Seasons with South Mountain Concerts

Driven by Passion for South Mountain's Legacy,

David Finckel and Wu Han Assume Artistic Directorship in January 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

PITTSFIELD, MA — After more than four decades of inspired leadership, Lou Steigler has announced his retirement as Director of South Mountain Concerts, effective at the end of 2025. Since taking the helm in 1987, Steigler has been the artistic heart of the series, shaping it into one of the country's most quietly distinguished chamber music series - a gathering place for the world's greatest artists and a loyal, devoted audience. David Finckel and Wu Han, renowned cellist and pianist, have been named Artistic Co-Directors, effective January 2026.

“We are deeply honored to have been selected to preserve and carry forward the legacy of South Mountain Concerts,” said David Finckel and Wu Han in a joint statement. “Having had the privilege to perform on this series more than sixty times between us, we have grown to increasingly value South Mountain’s unwavering commitment to presenting only the finest music performed by the world’s best artists. The extraordinary hall, in its unique setting, is admired by musicians worldwide, and the vision of the founder is today more important to revere and sustain than ever before. We therefore pledge to honor South Mountain’s traditions and respect the history and quality to which its audience has been accustomed over decades."

Over 100 Years of Chamber Music Excellence

Located on a picturesque 59-acre hilltop in Pittsfield, in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, South Mountain Concerts has sustained a legacy of world-class chamber music since its founding in 1918 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, one of history's most impactful American patrons of classical music. With a summer home in Pittsfield, MA, she was inspired by a festival in Blue Hill, Maine. She selected Dutch cellist Willem Willeke, cellist of the Kneisel Quartet, to serve as the first director of the Berkshire Festival of Chamber Music (later to become South Mountain Concerts). Willeke led the series until his death in 1950, when he was succeeded by his second wife, Sally Willeke, who handed the series to Lou Steigler in 1987. A former church music director and organist with five decades of experience, Steigler revitalized the concert series, building a loyal audience and setting the artistic standard of excellence for which South Mountain Concerts is renowned. In 2026, with the blessing of Steigler and the South Mountain board of directors, David Finckel and Wu Han will become the fourth directors in the series' history.

The "Temple of Chamber Music"

The 440-seat Concert Hall, built in 1918 by Coolidge on her mountain property from the timber of an old textile mill, was christened "The Temple of Chamber Music" and is noted for its superb acoustics and is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Its classic New England exterior houses a rustic yet warm and comfortable concert space, the audience seated on cushioned antique church pews. Designed exclusively for chamber music, the seamless acoustic shell projects every musical nuance to the back of the hall with perfect clarity and immediacy.

Artists & New Commissions

Distinguished artists of international renown, such as Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Gary Graffman, Menahem Pressler, Leontyne Price, Rudolph Serkin, and Peter Serkin have appeared there. Pianist Menahem Pressler debuted at the hall as a chamber musician with the Beaux Art Trio in 1955 and returned 50 times. String quartets including the American, Borromeo, Brentano, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, St. Lawrence, and Tokyo, have been frequent visitors to their stage. Piano trios have included the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson, and Wu Han, David Finckel and Philip Setzer. Other distinguished ensembles include members of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and Wu Han & Friends.

A composer herself, Coolidge was a great patron of new music. Over the years, South Mountain has commissioned works from composers including Bloch, Schoenberg, Poulenc, Ravel, and Stravinsky, among many others. Recent seasons have seen commissions from Paul Epstein, Ned Rorem, Ezra Laderman, Joan Tower, David del Tredici, and Ellen Taafe Zwilich, among others.

Community Engagement & Recognition

In addition to faithfully serving an audience hungry for quality chamber music every season, South Mountain Concerts also fosters young talent by awarding scholarships to young musicians from Berkshire County.

In 2016, South Mountain Concerts received the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinay Service to Chamber Music, presented to Lou Steigler on the stage of Alice Tully Hall in New York City.

David Finckel and Wu Han

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 Director. 

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.

www.davidfinckelandwuhan.com

Sunday, September 7, 3pm:

Wu Han & Friends

Sunday, September 14, 3pm:

Calidore Quartet with Matthew Lipman, viola

Sunday, September 21, 3pm:

Dover String Quartet

Sunday, September 28, 3pm:

Escher String Quartet

Sunday, October 5, 3pm:

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

For further information and tickets, contact South Mountain Concerts:

413.442.2106

PRESS INQUIRIES

Milina Barry P.R.

212.420.0200

mbprnews@gmail.com