One particular focus of the CMS's 2006-07 programming will be the chamber music of three contemporary composers: Kirchner, Maw and Bright Sheng. Another contemporary music highlight will be a series of concerts juxtaposing works by Steven Stucky, Kaija Saariaho and Marc-Andr_ Dalbavie with Debussy's unfinished six-sonata cycle.
A mini-festival titled "An English Musical Renaissance: 1900-1930" opens with Purcell's Fantasia Upon One Note; three ensuing concerts will focus on seldom-performed chamber music by Arnold Bax, John Ireland and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others.
Among the well-known performers on the CMS roster this season, in addition to Finckel and Wu Han, are pianists Gilbert Kalish, Anne-Marie McDermott and Jeffrey Kahane; the violinist/violist sisters Ani and Ida Kavafian; and the Belcea, Mir‹ and Orion String Quartets.
In addition to its regular concert series in New York, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center begins a three-concert residency this season at the new $12 million concert hall at Drew University in Finckel's hometown of Madison, New Jersey.
For more information on the activities of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, visit www.chambermusicsociety.org.