The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will launch CMS Front Row starting on May 17, 2020.

The eight-week program will feature concerts on Sunday afternoons with a number of major artists. All concerts will be available on the company’s official website and social media channels for 72 hours after the performance.

“Since gathering safely together is still not possible due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to be able to sustain audiences of this beautiful art form in a meaningful, joyful, and innovative way. Our audiences will have a front row seat to CMS from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Viewers will have the best of both worlds,” stated CMS Executive Director Suzanne Davidson. “They will enjoy personal engagement with the artists during the introductory video and live Q & A, both recorded from the artists’ homes, and also a curated concert with HD quality sound and performance recorded in our halls, a musical experience which is not possible to achieve through recording in musicians’ homes. Engaging with this great art form and artists at the highest level is the perfect antidote to our necessary social distancing.”

While the focus of these concerts will undeniably be chamber music, opera lovers can enjoy some vocal music on June 7 when pianist Gilbert Kalish will feature sopranos Tony Arnold and Lisette Oropesa. With Arnold, Galish will present “Three Early Songs” by Crumb. Oropesa will join the pianist for “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen” by Schubert; clarinetist David Shifrin will also appear in this performance.

Other series who will be featured in the performance series include Michael Brown, Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung, Gloria Chien, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne-Marie McDermott, David Shifrin, and Arnaud Sussmann.