Artistic Director Nicholas Canellakis brings together Beethoven, Dvořák and American composers for the November 22 opening concert, launching a five-concert season featuring internationally acclaimed musicians.
Sedona, AZ — Chamber Music Sedona will open its 44th season on Sunday, November 22, at 3 p.m. at the Sedona Performing Arts Center in West Sedona, with a concert exploring two extraordinary chapters in history: the birth of the United States and the musical revolution led by Ludwig van Beethoven.
The opening program, Revolutionaries: Beethoven and America, commemorates the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026 and the approaching 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death in 2027.
For Nicholas Canellakis, Chamber Music Sedona’s artistic director and an internationally acclaimed cellist, the pairing offers an opportunity to explore how revolutionary ideas have shaped both nations and music.
“Our season opener celebrates two extraordinary milestones: the 250th anniversary of American independence and the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death,” Canellakis said.
Joining Canellakis on stage will be violinists Chad Hoopes and Arnaud Sussmann and violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, four accomplished musicians whose careers have taken them to some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls.
Hoopes has performed with major orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony. Sussmann is a longtime member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has performed alongside violinist Itzhak Perlman. Pajaro-van de Stadt is a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Dover Quartet, while Canellakis has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and major chamber music festivals internationally.
A Musical Journey Through Two Revolutions
The November 22 program spans more than two centuries of music, beginning with colonial American composer William Billings and continuing through works by Samuel Barber, Beethoven and Antonín Dvořák.
Canellakis describes the opening selection, Billings’s 18th-century hymn America, as a starting point for tracing the development of a distinctly American musical identity.
From there, the program moves to Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, which Canellakis calls “one of the most iconic and emotionally powerful works in the American repertoire.”
At the center of the concert is Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135, his final complete string quartet.
Written near the end of Beethoven’s life, the composition reveals an artist who, despite decades of innovation and achievement, continued to challenge musical conventions.
Canellakis describes the work as finding Beethoven “still questioning, experimenting, and even joking.”
He considers it simultaneously one of Beethoven’s most profound and lighthearted late compositions, reflecting the composer’s remarkable creative spirit even as his life approached its end.
The concert concludes with Dvořák’s celebrated American Quartet, composed in 1893 during the Czech composer’s stay in Spillville, Iowa.
Dvořák had come to the United States to lead New York’s National Conservatory of Music at a time when the young nation was searching for its own musical voice.
“He became fascinated by African American spirituals and folk traditions, believing they could help form the foundation of a distinctly American musical tradition,” Canellakis explained.
Those influences helped inspire Dvořák’s American Quartet, one of the most enduring and frequently performed works in the chamber music repertoire.
Canellakis believes the composition provides a fitting conclusion to an afternoon devoted to “two kinds of revolution: the birth of a country and a composer who changed music forever.”
Five Concerts Spanning the 2026–2027 Season
The November opening is the first of five concerts scheduled through April 2027, bringing a varied collection of internationally recognized musicians and ensembles to Sedona.
On January 10, Boyd Meets Girl features Australian guitarist Rupert Boyd and American cellist Laura Metcalf, a husband-and-wife duo whose performances combine classical works with contemporary music, including arrangements of songs by the Beatles and Radiohead.
On February 13, pianist Jonathan Biss presents Jonathan Biss Plays Beethoven. Widely recognized for his interpretations of Beethoven, Biss will explore the composer’s musical legacy alongside works by contemporary composers.
The March 14 concert brings the Kavafian-Wiley-Polonsky Trio, featuring violinist Ida Kavafian, cellist Peter Wiley and pianist Anna Polonsky. The program includes works by Mozart, Beethoven and Dvořák. Both Kavafian and Wiley are former members of the celebrated Beaux Arts Trio.
The season concludes on April 4 with Curtis on Tour, featuring Canellakis alongside talented young musicians from Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. The performance reflects Chamber Music Sedona’s longstanding relationship with emerging artists and its commitment to developing the next generation of professional musicians.
Four Decades of Music and Education in Sedona
Founded in 1983, Chamber Music Sedona has become one of northern Arizona’s established cultural organizations, presenting internationally recognized performers while maintaining an extensive commitment to music education.
Beyond its public concerts, the organization has supported music instruction in local schools, helped provide instruments for students and created opportunities for young people to interact directly with visiting professional musicians.
Its Concerts for Youth introduce hundreds of local schoolchildren to classical music through live performances at the Sedona Performing Arts Center. These events let students hear professional musicians, learn about their instruments, and experience music outside the traditional classroom.
Chamber Music Sedona also supports the Sedona Community & Youth Orchestra, giving young and developing musicians throughout the Verde Valley opportunities to perform together and build their musical skills.
These educational activities have become an important part of the organization’s identity, extending the impact of its visiting artists beyond the concert stage.
As Chamber Music Sedona enters its 44th season, the organization continues to connect an international community of accomplished musicians with Sedona audiences and local students.
The November 22 opening concert offers an example of that mission, bringing together four musicians to explore the connection between America’s founding, its developing musical identity and Beethoven’s revolutionary contributions to classical music.
Concert information: Revolutionaries: Beethoven and America takes place Sunday, November 22, 2026, at 3 p.m. at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road, Sedona. Tickets, season subscriptions and additional information about all five concerts are available at ChamberMusicSedona.org.
