As a classical music lover, Stephen Kaye, a resident of Millbrook, was very aware that “young artists really need places to play” and, in 2019, he thought The Stissing Center (TSC) in Pine Plains, with its newly renovated performance space, could be the place. Fast forward four years to Aug. 27, 2023 when, prior to a performance by the PUBLIquartet, The Stissing Center honored Kaye for his inspiration and continuing support for TSC’s chamber music series.
Kaye had asked Jack Banning, TSC board president at the time, if any chamber music was planned and if there was money to support a classical series. The answer was “no” to both questions. Kaye offered to finance what has become the Chamber Music at The Stissing Center series. He was also able to recruit financial support for the series from other patrons of the arts in the nearby area.
Chamber music has a growing following at TSC due in part to “our effort to embrace rising talent across the chamber music universe,” said Brett Bernardini, TSC’s executive director. He said that the average audience has more than doubled during 2023.
Credit for the success of the series rests on the shoulders of Sophia Zhou. She was recruited by Kaye after he heard her perform at Bard College. “I was recruited by Mr. Kaye at the end of 2019, during my second year of a post-graduate piano fellowship at the Bard Conservatory,” Zhou recalled. “Stephen had heard about a new venue opening up for musical programming to connect the community through arts.”
From the outset of her tenure as Director of Chamber Music at TSC, Zhou has been guided by the series’ mission to promote world-class music making as well as promoting young talents. From her own experience and networking as an internationally known pianist, Zhou has brought a dazzling array of players to the TSC stage. She noted that she and Kaye “often discuss different combinations of talents, programming choices and marketing prospects that balance the needs of the venue, the community audience and the artists.”
The fifth season of Chamber Music at TSC will begin this fall. Zhou offered that “we are currently working on several very exciting projects, including the premiere of an octet reconstructed, for the first time, from sketches, a collaboration with Opus Illuminati to discover never-heard-before chamber music by South American composers, and a semi-staged Baroque Opera with the much-beloved Twelfth Night Ensemble.” There will also be showcases of young musicians from the Young Concert Artists in New York City, a prestigious organization representing young professional musicians, as well as from local educational institutions.
Zhou added, “It is also my strongest belief that the Chamber Music Series needs to engage with more local schools. We are working on hosting masterclasses and offering complimentary tickets to school students in the near future.”