STRINGWOOD CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
CONCERTS
FOUR NIGHTS, FOUR MUSICAL ADVENTURES
Chamber Music Festival brings Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven, Golijov, Clarice Assad, Caroline Shaw—and the next generation of string quartets—to Lanesboro this August
LANESBORO, MN — August 2026 — What happens when Mozart meets Caroline Shaw? When Debussy and Britten share a stage? When Beethoven’s music of profound gratitude meets the haunting dreams and prayers of Isaac the Blind? And when a young string quartet steps into the spotlight alongside Haydn and Mendelssohn?
At the 2026 Stringwood Chamber Music Festival, the answer unfolds across four adventurous concerts in August, bringing together internationally acclaimed guest artists, the Artaria String Quartet, and the rising young musicians of Stringwood’s Fellowship Artist program.
Taking place in the beautiful bluff country of southeastern Minnesota, Stringwood’s concert series celebrates chamber music as a living conversation—between centuries, cultures, composers, performers, and generations.
AUGUST 11 — MOZART, SHAW & ASSAD
A conversation across centuries
The festival opens with music that leaps effortlessly across time and style. Mozart’s Viola Quintet in G minor, K. 516, one of the most searching and emotionally expansive of his chamber works, shares the program with two strikingly contemporary voices.
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Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte offers a playful, mysterious reimagining of the classical string quartet tradition, while Grammy-nominated composer Clarice Assad’s Canções da América (2022) draws on the rich musical landscapes of the Americas.
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The Artaria String Quartet is joined by guest violist Paul Laraia.
PROGRAM
Mozart: Viola Quintet in G minor, K. 516
Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte
Clarice Assad: Canções da América (2022)
Artaria String Quartet + Paul Laraia, viola
AUGUST 13 — THREE CELLO SONATAS, THREE WORLDS
Astrid Schween and John Jensen explore the cello’s extraordinary range
One cello. One piano. Three composers. Three radically different musical worlds.
Cellist Astrid Schween, celebrated for her powerful artistry and longtime work as a member of the Juilliard String Quartet, joins pianist John Jensen for an evening devoted to the cello sonata.
Debussy’s Cello Sonata compresses an entire world of color, wit, mystery, and French elegance into a remarkably concentrated work. Benjamin Britten’s Cello Sonata is more expansive and searching, revealing a composer fascinated by the cello’s voice and possibilities. The evening concludes with César Franck’s monumental Cello Sonata, heard in the celebrated cello transcription by Jules Delsart.
Together, the three works trace an extraordinary journey—from impressionistic nuance to Britten’s restless modernism and Franck’s sweeping Romantic passion.
PROGRAM
Debussy: Cello Sonata
Britten: Cello Sonata
Franck/Delsart: Cello Sonata
Astrid Schween, cello + John Jensen, piano
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AUGUST 18 — MUSIC OF GRATITUDE, MEMORY & MYSTERY
Schubert, Beethoven and Golijov in an evening of profound reflection
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Some music asks us simply to listen. Some music asks us to stop.
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This deeply expressive program begins with three songs by Franz Schubert, featuring baritone Dylan Woodman, before moving into one of Beethoven’s most extraordinary creations: the “Heiliger Dankgesang” from his String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132.
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Written after a serious illness, Beethoven called this remarkable slow movement a “Holy Song of Thanksgiving from a Convalescent to the Deity.” Its alternation of hushed chorale-like passages and radiant, dancing music makes it one of the most intimate statements of gratitude in the chamber repertoire.
The program then turns toward the mysterious and deeply personal world of Argentine-Israeli composer Osvaldo Golijov. Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind draws inspiration from the mystical writings of Isaac the Blind and from the sounds and traditions of Jewish klezmer music, creating a work in which memory, spirituality, and ecstatic energy collide.
The Artaria String Quartet is joined by clarinetist Aileen Razey and baritone Dylan Woodman.
PROGRAM
Schubert: Three Lieder
Beethoven: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 — III. “Heiliger Dankgesang”
Osvaldo Golijov: Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
Artaria String Quartet + Aileen Razey, clarinet + Dylan Woodman, baritone
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AUGUST 20 — HAYDN, SMITH & MENDELSSOHN
The masters—and the musicians who will carry the tradition forward
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The festival’s final concert brings the 2026 Stringwood Fellowship Artists, the Koa String Quartet, into the spotlight.
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The young quartet takes on Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 76, No. 5, a masterpiece of elegance, invention, and musical conversation. Alongside it comes a contemporary work by G. Smith, Carrot Revolution, followed by Mendelssohn’s intensely emotional String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80, written in the aftermath of his beloved sister Fanny’s death.
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It is a fitting finale for Stringwood: music that honors tradition while looking squarely toward the future.
PROGRAM
Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 76, No. 5
G. Smith: Carrot Revolution
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80
2026 Stringwood Fellowship Artists: Koa String Quartet
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WHERE GREAT MUSIC MEETS THE NEXT GENERATION
Stringwood is more than a concert series. For more than a generation, the festival has brought together young musicians and exceptional professional artists for an immersive experience centered on chamber music.
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During the 2026 festival, participants rehearse, perform, take private lessons and masterclasses, work side-by-side with professional musicians, and discover what it means to build music together. The public concerts offer audiences a chance to experience the results of that intense collaboration—and to hear some of today’s most exciting chamber musicians alongside the emerging artists who will shape the future of the field.
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From Mozart to Golijov, Haydn to Clarice Assad, Beethoven to Caroline Shaw, Stringwood 2026 is a festival of musical conversations: between past and present, tradition and innovation, established artists and musicians just beginning to find their voices.
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Four concerts. Four distinct musical journeys. One unforgettable summer in Lanesboro.
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For concert details, tickets, and the complete festival schedule, visit the Stringwood Chamber Music Festival Concerts page.
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