Concordia Chamber Players Presents “Stardust"on February 22, 2026

Concordia Chamber Players invites audiences to experience the luminous beauty of chamber music spanning four centuries when they present "Stardust" on Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM. The program's title reflects the magic and transcendent quality that infuses each composition—from the spare, meditative beauty of Estonian master Arvo Pärt to the exuberant Romanticism of Robert Schumann.

This concert marks the Concordia debut of Grammy-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein, whose artistry the Washington Post has called "strikingly original" with "irrefutable integrity." Since her internationally acclaimed 2007 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations topped the Billboard Classical Chart, Dinnerstein has performed in the world's great concert halls, from Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to the Berlin Philharmonie and Vienna Konzerthaus. Having world-class artists of Dinnerstein's caliber perform here in our corner of Bucks County is truly something special.

Joining Dinnerstein are Concordia's stellar string quartet: violinists Rebecca Fischer and Rubén Rengel, violist Jordan Bak, and Artistic Director and cellist Michelle Djokic.

The afternoon's program features Arvo Pärt's Da Pacem Domine ("Give Us Peace, Lord"), composed just two days after the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Originally written for four-part chorus, this arrangement for string quartet transforms a 9th-century Gregorian antiphon into Pärt's signature tintinnabuli style—spare, meditative, and deeply moving.

Georg Philipp Telemann's Sonata for String Quartet in A Major brings Baroque brilliance to the program. One of the most prolific composers in music history, Telemann was renowned in his time for quartet writing and composed at least forty works in the form, blending French, Italian, and German musical styles with remarkable inventiveness.

Dinnerstein will perform Johann Sebastian Bach's Keyboard Concerto in E Major, BWV 1053. Composed around 1738, this beloved concerto sparkles with joy in its outer movements, while the expressive middle Siciliano reveals the profound beauty characteristic of Bach's most moving works.

Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Opus 44, completes the program—a Romantic masterwork originally written for his wife, the pianist and composer Clara Schumann. Composed during Schumann's "Chamber Music Year" of 1842, Clara called it "splendid, full of vigor and freshness," and it remains one of the jewels of chamber music literature.

This concert is sponsored in part by the Arthur Judson Foundation.

A GLIMPSE BEHIND THE MUSIC: FREE OPEN REHEARSAL

The public is invited to attend a free open rehearsal on Saturday, February 21 at 3:30 PM at The Historic Phillips Mill, 2619 River Road, New Hope, PA. This unique opportunity allows audiences to witness the collaborative artistry behind these masterful works.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the main performance on Sunday, February 22 are $40 and available online at concordiaplayers.org or at the door. Students under 18 years are always welcome to our concerts free of charge. As part of our commitment to making chamber music accessible to families, one accompanying adult is also admitted free with each child under 18.

The concert takes place at Trinity Church, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury, PA.