Coming up in Philly music: A premiere event with PCMS

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society isn’t a new music organization, but it routinely includes world premieres and Philadelphia premieres on its 50-concert schedule. On November 19, the Momenta String Quartet will present one world premiere, two Philadelphia premieres, and an older piece that will be just as novel, for most listeners, as the premieres.

The two Philadelphia premieres both have social connotations. Somehow We Can, by African-American composer Alvin Singleton, was inspired by Marian Anderson. Sin Tiempo by the Bolivian-British composer Augustin Fernández reflects his reactions to dictatorship and revolution. The world premiere will be a new string quartet by a recent Curtis graduate, conductor/composer Teddy Poll, commissioned by PCMS in honor of Philadelphia composer Robert Capanna. The older item is a string sextet by a Czech composer, Irving Schulhoff, who was a major name in the 1920s and ’30s. For the sextet, the Momenta will be reinforced by two of the Chamber Society’s most popular guests, violist Samuel Rhodes and cellist Marcy Rosen.

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society will present the Momenta String Quartet on November 19 at 3pm at the American Philosophical Society’s Benjamin Franklin Hall, 427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Tickets are $20 and they’re available online and at the door.