Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York Celebrates its 25th Year
Musicians perform in an intimate townhouse setting, and conduct music workshops/recitals at schools and retirement homes.
NEW YORK, Dec. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York (www.lyricny.org) is celebrating its 25th year. With cutting-edge repertoire presented in an intimate salon setting, concerts have been described as a “quintessential New York concert experience” catering to music connoisseurs from around the world.
“If you would have asked me 25 years ago if we would still be here today, the thought would have never entered my mind,” said Joan Thomson Kretschmer, Artistic Director and founder of Lyric. “The idea was simply to love music, and love it with others.”
Lyric’s concerts are held in The Kosciuszko Foundation townhouse on the Upper East Side. Designed by Harry Jacobs who is known for fashionable homes designed in historic styles, it is a near replica of a Regency-period mansion in London which was the childhood home of England’s late Queen Mother.
“We are thrilled with the reputation we have established, especially with knowledgeable music lovers in Manhattan,” added Kretschmer. “It’s not just any audience. People don’t come to concerts if it isn’t any good.”
Kretschmer, who graduated from Barnard College and received her doctorate degree in musicology from Columbia University, is a former music critic at the New York Post. When she launched Lyric, some of the biggest names in classical music supported her, including Victor Borge, Zubin Mehta and Jean-Pierre Rampal. She has taught at The Juilliard School and lectured at SUNY Purchase and for the Metropolitan Opera Guild. At Yale University, she directed an Oral History of Electronics in Music, a collection of interviews with significant innovators in twentieth-century musical life.
“By sending our musicians throughout the country for performances, we are expanding our presence nationally,” said Reggie Bahl, Lyric’s Executive Director. “We also do outreach programs at retirement homes, as well as provide music workshops in schools without a classical music program.”
In 2004, Bahl heard a moving performance by a young but struggling classical group that prompted him to do serious soul searching. He quit a lucrative corporate job to guide the career of up-and-coming musicians, and bringing additional visibility to renowned names. Together with Kretschmer, he is broadening Lyric’s mission and musical endeavors, and hopes to navigate it through the next 25 years.
Some of Lyric’s most ardent champions are Didi and Oscar Schafer, proud supporters of New York’s Concerts in the Park. Mr. Schafer, an investment banker, is Chairman emeritus of the New York Philharmonic.
Upcoming concerts:
Monday, December 12, 2022: Matt Herskowitz, Jazzical Pianist
Tuesday, February 21, 2023: Nancy Allen, Principal Harp, NY Philharmonic
Monday, March 13, 2023: Robert Langevin, Principal Flute, NY Philharmonic
Tuesday, April 4, 2023, Sheryl Staples, Principal Associate Concertmaster, NY Philharmonic
Tuesday, May 1, 2023, Competition Winner from Lynn Conservatory of Music, Florida
SOURCE – Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York
