Week of March 9, 2020 Dear Friend, When life throws you lemons, make lemonade! This week's update contains important new information about two upcoming concert engagements at the Chamber Music Society of Detroit: the three concerts scheduled for this weekend with the musicians from Curtis on Tour , and the concert next season by pianist Emanuel Ax. Let's start with this weekend...

Due to concerns about the coronavirus (Covid-19), the Vera Quartet and pianist Meng-Chieh Liu are unable to travel to Michigan for their Curtis on Tour concerts this weekend.  Instead, they will perform their program in the Curtis Institute of Music’s lovely Field Concert Hall (pictured below) on Friday evening, March 13, at 7:30 pm, with the performance live-streamed from Philadelphia to the CMSD audience here in Michigan via 'YouTube Live.'

This special webcast will be accessible via most computers, tablets and smart phones, and will begin with a pre-concert talk by Curtis Institute faculty member David Ludwig at 7:00 PM.  The video recording of the complete concert will remain accessible online for our audience members all day Saturday and Sunday as well. Be sure to turn your sound on... And here is the link to this free live stream concert:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIDffmGiHP0

If you're here in Michigan and feeling up to it, you can still make a night of it on Friday! All interested patrons are invited to join us in person at The War Memorial in Grosse Pointe Farms on Friday evening, March 13 to experience this concert through the Patriot Theater’s state-of-the-art digital projection and audio system, which is used regularly for the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD and other spectacular Fathom Events.  (We tested it out today, and it's wonderful!) The Patriot Theater will open for seating at 6:30 PM, and best of all, no admission will be charged!

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you bought advance tickets to the March 13, 14 or 15 concerts at the War Memorial in Grosse Pointe, the Village Theater in Canton or Oakland University’s Varner Recital Hall, our staff will be in touch with you soon to process a refund or exchange.

Now for next season... In case you missed it, a couple of weeks ago I reported that we mistakenly scheduled pianist Emanuel Ax for a concert on our 2020-2021 Signature Series on the first night of Passover in March 2021. Clearly that doesn't work! I am happy to report now that we have a new date for this concert! You can mark your calendars now for Saturday, January 30, 2021. Special thanks to Mr. Ax's managers at Opus 3 Artists, and to our own Willa Walker, for working so hard to solve this problem. You can also mark your calendar now for Saturday, March 20, 2021 (the weekend before Passover) for a special event at the Seligman Performing Arts Center, designed to fill the long gap between our Signature Series concerts on February 13 and April 10 in 2021 that results from the change in Mr. Ax's date. I can't share the details just yet, but we can promise it will be lots of fun!

Finally, let me say emphatically that nothing matters more to us at the Chamber Music Society of Detroit than protecting the health and safety of our audience members and visiting artists. We are monitoring the rapidly evolving coronavirus (Covid-19) situation very closely, and exploring the ways in which we can best accomplish our mission in light of the risks it poses. Because at the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, you're family . I look forward to sharing more with you in the weeks and months ahead. Best,

Steve Wogaman, President Chamber Music Society of Detroit Tickets: 313-335-3300 or CMSDetroit.org

Chamber Music Society of Detroit | CMSDetroit.org

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