By Michael Johns
Special to The Island News
USC Beaufort’s Chamber Music is pleased to announce its spectacular 46th season.
Artistic Director, brilliant pianist, witty raconteur, and chatty chamber music pitchman Andrew Armstrong is bringing together a roster of seasoned veterans and rising stars to play works ranging from sublime, transcendent beauty to ravishing technical virtuosity.
Major compositions by classical-music luminaries Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, and Shostakovich anchor each program, toe-tapping fare by Johann Strauss, Jr., Gershwin, and Sousa loosen things up, and an avalanche of encore showstoppers by Bazzini, Paganini, Sarasate, Terterian, and Zolotaryov will astonish, leaving listeners gasping in their wake. Surely there is something for everyone.
The opening concert, Sunday, Nov. 9, features a return of the sensational young American violinist Kevin Zhu. His eye-and-ear opening debut on this series two seasons ago created an immediate clamor for re-engagement.
Following an international calendar of recitals and orchestral performances, Zhu returns to showcase flawless technique and bravura style. The program reflects an artist with wide-ranging tastes: Sonatas by Mozart and Ravel, Gershwin’s sassy Porgy and Bess arrangement by legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz, and show-pieces from tender — William Grant Still’s “Mother and Child” — to blistering — Sarasate’s Zapateado,” Moszkowski “Guitarre,” Bazzini, “Dance of the Goblins.” Armstrong will provide sensitive pianistic support, stylistic insight, and orchestral heft.
The New Year kicks off on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, with two returning artists joining Armstrong: Stefan Jackiw, an acclaimed violinist in the midst of a major international career and cellist Raphael Bell, a highly-valued fixture in American and European concert halls. They will play two multi-movement works packed with an enormous amount of emotional power.
Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Opus 67 was dedicated to a close friend whose premature death in February 1944 affected Shostakovich profoundly. He wrote to the widow that “it is impossible to express in words all the grief that engulfed me on hearing the news,” whereafter Shostakovich transferred feelings of anguish into music. Rounding out the program is Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Opus 90, (“Dumky”), a folksong-inflected composition of profundity, with sad ruminations separated by lively, dance-like episodes.
Armstrong will host but not play on the Sunday, March 1, 2026, program, clearing the deck for a brilliant string-only romp. Violinists Maria Ioudenitch and Blake Pouliot, violist Matthew Lipman and cellist Edward Arron will perform Ravel’s first major work, the innovative String Quartet in F Major, written at age 27.
For the second half they will be joined by a quartet of players trained at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University and on the cusp of brilliant classical music careers: violinists Virgil Moore and Hayoung Choi, violist Carlos Walker, and cellist Sara Scanlon. This will be the Series’ debut of Mendelssohn’s amazing String Octet in E-flat Major, Opus 20. Written when Mendelssohn was 17, the Octet is arguably the greatest, freshest, most mature work of any 17-year-old classical composer anywhere at any time. It seamlessly combines the optimism and everything-is-possible zest of youth with classical restraint and romantic flamboyance.
Warm humanism, familiar tunes and a bit of sardonic humor enliven the Sunday, March 29, 2026, concert. Cellist Ani Aznavoorian and violinist Andrew Wan join pianists Park and Armstrong to interpret old favorites (Mozart Overture from The Marriage of Figaro, Edvard Grieg Two Norwegian Dances), raise the temperature with meatier fare (Shostakovich Cello Sonata No. 2, Grieg Violin Sonata No. 3), and conclude with a work as American as apple pie, Sousa’s The Stars and Stripes Forever.
The season concludes on Sunday, April 26, 2026, with the introduction of a new artist, instrument, and repertoire. Armstrong will be joined by clarinetist Yoonah Kim, an instant hit on her debut last season, and accordion virtuoso Ryan Corbett, a brilliant artist with an international classical performing career. Many of us have experienced the accordion’s warm and joyful persona on sidewalks and in café courtyards; few are aware that, in the hands of a master, it is also capable of the nuanced, intimate conversation of chamber music. Each instrument is fully explored: short piano miniatures by Bach, Perry, Still, Liadov, and Scriabin; solo concert works for accordion by Cunningham and Zolotaryov; clarinet and piano join for Brahms Clarinet Sonata No. 2, clarinet and accordion float in Taneyev’s soothing Canzona, and the 46th season is brought to a riotous close with a trio performance of Srul Glick’s The Klezmer’s Wedding.
After 45 successful seasons, this is our first ever subscriptions-only season. If you are not now one of the lucky subscribers, you can join us for all five concerts by settling into a comfortable spot before a screen and streaming the video created by the Series’ inventive and experienced videographer. If you are a subscriber who at any point cannot use or gift your ticket(s), please email ljones@usch.edu and donate them to the Series. We will make every effort to resell returned tickets to our wait-listers; all proceeds go directly to the Endowment.
Crossing the sold-out-by-subscription threshold is the envy of every performing arts organization in the country. It reflects well on our arts-loving lowcountry community and reaffirms its expectation that performances will be exciting, in-the-moment, gotta’-be-there creative experiences accentuating the power of music to unleash emotions and elevate spirits. Although he makes it look easy, Artistic Director Armstrong spends a great deal of offstage time pondering programs that match players, balance repertoire, generate a natural flow in each individual program, while investing the entire season with a cohesive overview. At all times he remains wedded to the idea that music is for everyone and attains its highest calling when it educates, enlightens and, most importantly entertains.
There are three ways to enjoy each concert: in person at the Arts Center and virtually by Live-Stream and OnDemand. All virtual concerts are professionally produced; great viewing opportunities abound. On the Wednesday before each concert, live and virtual ticket holders receive an email with a link to Sunday’s concert. OnDemand is accessible four days after the concert and available to view at your leisure for three weeks.
Each Friday before a Series concert the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) presents Inside the Music, a two-hour deep dive into Sunday’s repertoire. Dr. Michael Johns provides multiple recorded excerpts and commentary, acclimating listeners to what they will hear. Classes are free, open to the public, and are held at USCB’s Center for the Arts, Room 102 at 10 a.m.. Call 843-208-8247.
For concert, artist, event, OLLI, and ticket information, go to www.uscbchambermusic.com or call 843-521-3107, Monday through Friday. The first concert of USCB Chamber Music’s 46th season is Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. All performances begin at 5 p.m., and will be at the USCB Center for the Arts, 801 Carteret Street, Beaufort, in the downtown historic district.
