Coming up in Philly music: Get ’em while you can with PCMS

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society (PCMS) played its last 2018 concert on December 12. It will end its holiday break on January 6 (Twelfth Night) with the first event in a six-concert January schedule. PCMS crowds 50 concerts into a seven-month season, so it has to make up for lost time.

Unfortunately, the first five concerts are already sold out. But you can still buy tickets for the sixth, which features two of Philadelphia’s most popular virtuosos: clarinetist Ricardo Morales and pianist Natalie Zhu.

Star players

The play list for the program should give Morales plenty of opportunity to show why he’s the principal clarinet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Sonatina, for example, zooms through three octaves in its first four bars and follows that with touches of jazz, a climactic Furioso, and a brief appearance by the kind of catchy tune you would expect from the composer who wrote the score for The Bridge on the River Kwai. Morales’s partner in the undertaking is a pianist noted for her sensitivity and her exceptional control over the nuance and shading she produces with her instrument. This will be Natalie Zhu’s 20th appearance on the PCMS schedule.

Reasons to try the waiting list

The other PCMS January concerts exemplify the range of an organization that has become the largest presenter of chamber music in the United States, outside of New York. PCMS maintains waiting lists for all of its sold-out events, and tickets do become available. I’ve noticed empty seats here and there when I’ve attended concerts posted as sold out.

The other programs include an all-Mozart event featuring music that teams a string quartet with the oboe and the flute (January 6); mixtures of new music and standard repertoire (January 13); a recital by piano star Peter Serkin (January 18); a classic German lieder recital (January 22); and an intriguing novelty in the form of a recital for double bass, violin, and piano (January 25).

The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society will present Richard Morales on clarinet and Natalie Zhu on piano on January 28 at 7:30pm at the American Philosophical Society’s Benjamin Franklin Hall (427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia). Tickets ($20) are available online and at the door. You can also call 215-569-8080 for tickets, more information, and to get on the waiting list.

The other January PCMS concerts will take place at the Kimmel’s Perelman Theater (January 6, 13, 18, and 22; $30) and the American Philosophical Society (January 25; $20).

The Kimmel Center is an ADA-accessible venue. Benjamin Franklin Hall is accessible via an alternate entrance. PCMS recommends that patrons wishing to use that entrance contact them at 215-569-8080 for detailed information and an on-site contact number.