Music at Amherst 2024–2025

Your Music at Amherst Series is excited to announce the 2024–2025 season’s lineup!

The season starts on October 4, 2024 with critically acclaimed pianist Emmanuel Ax bringing his signature eloquence to a program of three of Beethoven’s timeless piano sonatas, each brimming with a virtuosic richness that contrasts the sparse, modern innovations found in short pieces by Schoenberg. On November 15, you’ll experience 7-string guitar player, Yamandu Costa, for our exciting new partnership with The Drake. Costa is credited with reviving Brazilian Guitar. Rounding out the fall, the ever-evolving Juilliard String Quartet returns to Buckley Recital Hall on December 6 with Schubert’s String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887 and the Mozart Clarinet Quintet K. 581.

After winter break, M@A returns February 21 with a recital by rising dramatic tenor, Limmie Pulliam, who comes to us after recent debuts with the Gewandhaus Orchester, Metropolitan Opera, Cleveland Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézét-Seguin.

He is followed by The Harlem Chamber Players with star guest, David Krakauer, clarinet, on April 4, performing works by Rhiannon Giddens, Frederick Tillis, Sergei Prokofiev and Osvaldo Golijov. Last but not least, we take you back to The Drake on April 25, to enjoy a sensational performance by Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom. Known by critics as a modern jazz icon in the making, Miller artistry on the drums is one you wouldn’t want to miss.

All of this, right on your doorstep!

Subscribers, new and returning, your seats are waiting for you! Subscription sales begin August 26, 2024 via our ticketing website, where single tickets later also go on sale 14 days before each performance. Please don’t hesitate to call the Concert Office line at (413) 542–2195 if you have any questions or if we can help in any way.

Yours,
Alisa Pearson

Manager of Concert Programming, 
Production and Publicity 
Amherst College

M@A Series 2024–2025 Concerts

A man sitting at a piano

Emmanuel Ax, Pianist

Buckley Recital Hall • 7:30 pm

Mr. Ax brings his signature eloquence to a program of three of Beethoven’s timeless piano sonatas, each brimming with a virtuosic richness that contrasts the sparse, modern innovations found in short pieces by Schoenberg. “Mr. Ax...played with youthful brio, incisive rhythm, bountiful imagination, delicacy when called for, and thundering power…” – The New York Times

Program

Beethoven: Sonata Op. 27 No. 1 Quasi una Fantasia
Schoenberg: 3 Pieces Op. 11
Beethoven: Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 Quasi una Fantasia “Moonlight”
Schoenberg: 6 Little Pieces Op. 19
Beethoven: Sonata Op. 57 No. 2 Apassionata

A man with a beard playing a guitar

Yamandu Costa, Guitarist

The Drake • 7:30 pm

Virtuoso 7-string guitar player Yamandu Costa is credited with reviving Brazilian guitar. A 2021 Latin GRAMMY winner, his collaborators include Bobby McFerrin, Richard Galliano, Toquinho, and João Bosco, and he is a featured soloist with symphony orchestras worldwide. “Musicians of this caliber that make you fall out of your seat come once in a generation.” – La Presse Montreal

Four people holding violins

Juilliard String Quartet

Buckley Recital Hall • 7:30 pm

The Juilliard String Quartet returns to Buckley with a program of Schubert and Mozart. Founded in 1946 and hailed by The Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history,” the ensemble draws on a deep and vital engagement to the classics, while embracing the mission of championing new works, a vibrant combination of the familiar and the daring.

Program

Schubert Quartet No. 15 G major D 887
Mozart Clarinet Quintet K 581

A Black man with a beard smiling warmly

Limmie Pulliam, Tenor

Buckley Recital Hall • 7:30 pm

Rising dramatic tenor Limmie Pulliam comes to us after recent debuts with the Gewandhaus Orchester, Metropolitan Opera, Cleveland Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nézét-Seguin. “Pulliam can roar, he can sing sweetly, and he can simmer, all the while creating a dramatically believable character.” – San Francisco Classical Voice

Program

Collaborative pianist, Spencer Myer
Spirituals, songs and arias

Six musicians holding instruments

Harlem Chamber Players, with David Krakauer, Clarinet

Buckley Recital Hall • 7:30 pm

The Harlem Chamber Players is an ethnically diverse collective of professional musicians dedicated to bringing high-caliber, affordable and accessible live classical music to people in the Harlem community and beyond. “Attending a concert by the Harlem Chamber Players gives a special feeling, the music-making always superb and the atmosphere relaxed” – 5 Bouroughs Music Festival

Program

Rhiannon Giddens At the Purchaser’s Option with Variations
Frederick Tillis Spiritual Fantasy No. 12
Sergei Prokofiev Overture on Hebrew Themes
Osvaldo Golijov The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind

A woman with short gray hair

Allison Miller, Drummer

The Drake • 7:30 pm

Described by critics as a Modern Jazz Icon in the Making, Allison Miller has been named “Top 20 Jazz Drummers” in Downbeat Magazine and is also the first recipient of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s Commissioning Grant. “…Miller’s craftiness as a percussionist is met by her ingenuity as a composer and group conceptualist.” – The New Yorker

Subscription Packages, Single Tickets and How-to's

Subscriptions and tickets are available online at no additional cost through amherst.universitytickets.com and through the Amherst College Concert Office:

P. O. Box 5000
Amherst, MA 01002-5000
Box Office Telephone: (413) 542–2195 Email: concert (at) amherst (dot) edu

Subscriptions

Choose from one of three subscriptions:

  • ALL 6 concerts
  • CLASSICAL+ includes 4 performances: 10/4 • 11/15 • 12/6 • 2/21
  • TRY TWO includes 2 performances: 4/4 • 4/25

M@A subscriptions go on sale August 26, 2024. Subscription renewals requests close September 16, 2024. For more information, please call (413) 542-2195 or write to concerts@amherst.edu. For your convenience, you can use the online portal at no added charge: amherst.edu/go/music-at-amherst

Parking and access to Buckley: Between the hours of 4:30 PM and 2:00 AM, visitors may park in any valid space on the campus without a permit. Handicapped parking is available opposite the Arms Music Building, and visitors can access Buckley Recital Hall without needing to navigate any steps. If you are attending any of the assigned seating performances this season (10/27, 12/1, 2/9 and 4/19), seats in Orchestra row N do not require steps. Please inform our ushers if you need extra time to enter and help with wheelchair/walkers etc. Amherst College has an online campus map with an interactive wayfinding feature outlining all of the accessible paths, parking, restrooms, push-button doors, and elevators on campus. For additional information about how to use or find these features, please see this how-to video. We look forward to welcoming you to Buckley!

Alisa C. Pearson

Alisa C. Pearson

Manager of Concert Programming, Production & Publicity

Arms Music Center Room 101