The 2008-2009 Season will feature the music of

Franz Joseph Haydn.

10/12/08 Joseph Haydn ~ simply classical!
Opening Gala - Dazzling French Horn virtuosos Andrew McAfee & Michael Hrivnak herald the season's tribute to Haydn with Chamber Music America's award-winning Degas Quartet and CMW resident artist Barbara McKenzie. Music of Haydn, Beethoven & Mendelssohn.

11/09/08 The Innovator
Nicholas Duchamp Mesmerizing international flute star, Nicholas Duchamp, National Opera Comique-Paris returns by popular demand to present Sonatas of Haydn, Poulenc & Prokovief as well as popular French selections.

02/01/09 The Folkspirit
Carolina Piano Trio Chamber Music Wilmington's captivating resident ensemble performs in the fiery folkspirit style of the Gypsies popularized in the music of Haydn & Enesco.

03/29/09 Father of the String Quartet, part i
Alexander String Quartet San Francisco's dazzling Alexander Quartet presents the first homage to Haydn, the inventor of the ultimate chamber music genre-the string quartet. Music by Haydn, Mozart & Brahms.

05/03/09 Father of the String Quartet, part ii
Daedalus String Quartet The Daedalus String Quartet in Residence at Lincoln Center, winner of the Martin E. Segal & the Guarneri String Quartet Awards, will close the Season's tribute to Haydn with early string quartets, a world premier & final benediction.

On Haydn.....
Early in his life Joseph Haydn was given the sobriquet "Papa" by the musicians working under him in the service of Prince Esterhazy. The name came not from his age or appearance, but because of the affectionate, kind and compassionate way he cared for those in his charge. As time went on, and his musical accomplishments became widely known, the nickname also alluded to his central role in creating or "fathering" the Classical symphony and the string quartet as we know them today.

Haydn was an amazingly prolific composer, despite his disclaimer that he was "never a quick writer" and that he composed with "care and diligence." Over his half-century of creative life, his chamber music output alone included eighty-three string quartets, sixty-seven string trios, thirty-one piano trios, and innumerable miscellaneous pieces.

above excerpt from "Guide to Chamber Music" by Melvin Berger, Dover Publications, 2001 ISBN 0-486-41879-0