Opening the 131st Season of Ladies Morning Musical Club on September 11, the remarkable Christian Blackshaw will be performing his third concert for LMMC as he opens the LMMC series of ten concerts at McGill’s Pollock Hall. The ‘club’ has an excellent reputation in the world of classical music, and they attract top international and Canadian artists to the Sunday afternoon concerts. We’ll highlight the upcoming fall concerts, and introduce the 2023 winter and spring concerts in our December issue. In the meantime, the complete line-up is available on the website: www.lmmc.ca 

The career of British pianist Christian Blackshaw is most unusual. He embarked on the concert circuit only to stop abruptly in 1990, partly due to the death of his wife from cancer, but also because of a reluctance to continue performing at any level short of the Platonic ideal he had set himself.

Blackshaw made a remarkable comeback a few years ago, performing Mozart’s sonatas in London’s Wigmore Hall to tremendous critical acclaim. Volume 4 was named one of the Best Classical Recordings of 2015 in the New York Times, and Gramophone magazine’s named it one of the Top 50 Greatest Mozart Recordings. During the 2018-2019 season Blackshaw served as Artist in Residence at Wigmore Hall in London.

Oct. 2 Los Angeles Piano Trio. Venerated artists and long-time Los Angeles residents Fabio Bidini (piano), Margaret Batjer (violin), and Andrew Shulman (cello) founded the Los Angeles Piano Trio in 2020, building upon their individual distinguished careers as internationally acclaimed soloists, chamber musicians, recording artists, and pedagogues. The Trio offers all the core repertory for this formation (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvořák, Shostakovich, Ravel and others), impressing audiences and critics alike with its fresh, inventive interpretations, exceptional technical prowess, and abiding musical passion. In addition, the Trio regularly introduces new and seldom-played works reflecting their home city’s diverse arts scene.

Oct. 23 Talich Quartet: For several decades, the Talich Quartet has been recognized internationally as one of Europe’s finest chamber ensembles, and as the embodiment of the great Czech musical tradition. During the 1990s, there was a gradual and complete change in personnel, rejuvenating the Quartet while continuing the tradition of its predecessors. Jan Talich Jr., the current first violinist, is the son of the Quartet’s founder. Specializing in works by Czech composers, the Quartet has won several Grand Prix du Disque awards. It regularly visits such venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Salle Gaveau in Paris.

Nov. 13 Rachel Barton Pine, Violin : In both art and life, violinist Rachel Barton Pine has an extraordinary ability to connect with people. She plays with passion and conviction across an extensive repertory, thrilling audiences with her dazzling technique, lustrous tone, and infectious joy in music-making. Her repertory ranges from traditional classical works to contemporary composers like the American Mohammed Fairouz and the Ghanian Kwabena Nketia.

Pine holds prizes from several of the world’s leading competitions, including a gold medal at the 1992 J.S. Bach International Violin Competition in Leipzig.

Dec. 4 Calidore String Quartet: One of the most exciting young ensembles to emerge on the chamber music scene in recent years is the Calidore String Quartet, noted for its fiery brilliance, musicianship, and palpable energy. Formed in 2010 at the prestigious Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, the Calidore String Quartet has been described as “a miracle of unified thought” (La Presse, Montreal) and as “four highly intelligent, deeply sensitive virtuosos” (Strings magazine). In 2016, the Calidore String Quartet made international headlines as the Grand-Prize winner of the first M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the largest prize for chamber music in the world (U.S. $100,000).

Full subscriptions for the ten-concert series are available, at $300, and $80 for students (26 years and under). Single tickets are $50, and $20 for students (26 years and under). For more information, please call: 514 932-6796 or by email at [email protected].