2026-2027 Season Concerts

Tickets on sale:

April 15 for Dumbarton Concerts Members

May 1 for the general public

Livestreams are only available for the indicated concerts

Live in-person tickets $50 or $60 | Livestream tickets $14

Dynamic, award-winning duo perform iconic works for piano and cello

Tommy Mesa & Olga Kern

Saturday, October 17, 2026
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $60 live in-person

Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5
Claude Debussy Sonata in D Minor, L. 135
Andrea Casarrubios 24 Mozas
Adolphus Hailstork Elegy
Samuel Barber Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 6
Nadia Boulanger Trois Pièces
Aaron Copland Waltz & Celebration from “Billy the Kid”

We open our 49th season with a varied evening of American and European works celebrating the classic partnership of the cello and piano. These elegant works are delivered brilliantly in the hands of Tommy Mesa and Olga Kern, both stars in their own right. Dr. Mesa, a 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant winner and frequent major orchestral soloist, joins with the incomparable Ms. Kern, who gained international prominence as a past winner of the renowned Van Cliburn Competition, to form a powerful and charismatic duo. Sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy, and Barber are accompanied by shorter pieces by 20th and 21st-century composers, a nod to both performers’ commitment to new music. Help us kick off our “season of the cello”!

Metropolitan Opera star countertenor presents wide-ranging song repertoire

Iestyn Davies
with Oliver Wass, harp

Friday, October 23, 2026
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $50 live in-person | $14 livestream

Featuring works by

Claudio Monteverdi
Henry Purcell
Franz Schubert
Amy Beach
Francis Poulenc
Anna Meredith
Nico Muhly

With works for solo harp by
Claude Debussy, Manuel de Falla, & Benjamin Britten

Chamber music brings audiences close to the music in an essentially human study of inspiration, collaboration, and beauty. Before any string quartets were written, however, instruments were used to mimic and complement the human voice. This Fall, British countertenor Iestyn Davies brings to our stage a broad and fascinating program of solo songs accompanied by harp. Regularly lauded as one of the finest performers of his voice type in the world, Mr. Davies is supported by young rising star harpist Oliver Wass. Essentials of European and American song repertoire are set beside contemporary works by Francis Poulenc and Anna Meredith, plus a song cycle written especially for the artist by Nico Muhly.

Emotional, transcendent music for piano trio from young international phenoms

Trio Zimbalist

Josef Spacek, violin
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin, cello
George Xiaoyuan Fu, piano

Saturday, November 14, 2026
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $50 live in-person

Maurice Ravel Suite No. 2 from “Daphnis et Chloé”
Bedrich Smetana Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 15, JB 1:64
Robert Schumann Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63

Among the most intimate of chamber music ensembles, the piano trio offers a uniquely expressive musical experience, with three voices in elegant conversation. This season, Trio Zimbalist offers a program of deeply personal musical reflections, with classic works by Ravel, Smetana, and Schumann. All three works explore the composers’ inner lives, from the celebration of romantic love to the depths of mental illness and loss. United by their training at the famed Curtis Institute of Music, this trio of energetic young artists brings intellectual and eminently beautiful interpretations to a classic musical form.

Tickets on sale April 15 for Dumbarton Concerts Members and May 1 for the general public

A warm, musical holiday embrace returns to Georgetown

A Celtic Christmas

Allison Hampton, harp | Linn Barnes, guitar & lute
Joseph Cunliffe, flutes & recorders | Steve Bloom, percussion
Robert Aubry Davis, narrator

Saturday, December 5, 2026
Sunday, December 6, 2026
4:00 p.m.
Tickets $50 live in-person | $14 livestream
(Livestream on Sunday only)

It’s Christmastime in the city! Once again, we welcome the Barnes and Hampton Celtic Consort alongside the ever-charming Robert Aubry Davis for our annual holiday celebration, A Celtic Christmas. Nostalgic, cozy poetry and Celtic music have filled the Dumbarton stage with the warmth of the holiday season for nearly fifty years, and this is your chance to be part of the festivities. Enjoy fresh gingerbread and mulled cider made in our kitchen and relax in the embrace of our community of music lovers, where all is calm and all is bright.

Oh, brother! It’s time again for A Charlie Brown Christmas at Dumbarton

Cyrus Chestnut Trio

Thursday, December 10, 2026
Friday, December 11, 2026
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $60 live in-person | $14 livestream
(Livestream on Friday only)

After two straight seasons of sold-out performances, the godfather of jazz for Christmas returns, the incomparable Cyrus Chestnut. Appearing once again with his trio, Mr. Chestnut offers two opportunities this season to witness his ever-popular interpretation of Vince Guaraldi’s iconic A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack. From his beginnings in Baltimore, Mr. Chestnut has enjoyed a high-flying performance career in the jazz world, while remaining an influential teacher and mentor to young musicians across genres and counting Chick Corea and Kathleen Battle among his collaborators. This December, come be a part of Georgetown’s newest Christmas musical tradition.

The celebration continues with a Baltimore folk music supergroup

Helicon: Winter Solstice

Ken Kolodner | Robin Bullock | Chris Norman
Ken & Brad Kolodner Quartet | Charm City Junction
Elke Baker, fiddle | Jonathan Srour, Irish dancer

Saturday, December 12, 2026
4:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Tickets $50 live in-person | $14 livestream
(Livestream on evening performance only)

Every winter brings a sense of rest and renewal, of excitement for what the future holds. Here at Dumbarton, we mark the coming of a new year with our dear friends from Baltimore, the incredible Helicon. With their rollicking Winter Solstice program, they bring a sense of freshness and enthusiasm to the time-honored traditions of bluegrass, old-time, and Irish-American folk music, with a wealth of international influences. From classic ballads to whirling reels, come on an adventure with this supergroup of ten musicians and leave with a rhythm in your feet and a song in your heart.

Tickets on sale April 15 for Dumbarton Concerts Members and May 1 for the general public

A Nordic winter concert experience with an innovative Swedish string octet

Camerata Nordica

Sunday, January 24, 2027
4:00 p.m.
Tickets $60 live in-person

Traditional Two Swedish folk songs
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (attr.) Grande Sestetto Concertante, after K. 364
Hanna Helgregen The Nordic Seasons
Reinhold Glière String Octet in D Major, Op. 5

Just in time for the polar winds of January, in sweep fresh and exciting young musicians from the north. Sweden’s Camerata Nordica has already distinguished itself as a dynamic and groundbreaking ensemble, and its touring string octet carries its distinctive style on the international stage. Known for performing without a conductor or chairs, and often without sheet music, this intrepid crew will move the audience through a varied program including folk songs and a contemporary work inspired by the natural beauty of their Scandinavian homeland, alongside grand works by Mozart and Glière.

Vivid, imaginative selections for string quartet and clarinet

Verona Quartet with Alex Fiterstein, clarinet

Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro, violin
Abigail Rojansky, viola | Jonathan Dormand, cello
Alex Fiterstein, clarinet

Saturday, February 27, 2027
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $60 live in-person

Erich Wolfgang Korngold String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 26
Philip Glass String Quartet No. 3 (“Mishima”)
Johannes Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115

One might not expect the worlds of film music and string quartets to intertwine, and yet with our February concert this year, the Verona Quartet and Alex Fiterstein bring a program of music inspired by modern human stories. Erich Korngold and Philip Glass are both composers famed for their evocative film scores, and this narrative approach to composing shows through in their string quartets. The program concludes with Brahms’ beloved late-career Clarinet Quintet, a monumental, magical, and warmly nostalgic work that uses the melancholy timbre of the clarinet to reflect on a life well lived. This ensemble of young music educators (the Verona from Oberlin and Mr. Fiterstein from Peabody) admirably carries these mature works to a rousing conclusion.

Tickets on sale April 15 for Dumbarton Concerts Members and May 1 for the general public

Cutting-edge, genre-defying jazz with a titan of the music industry

Chelsey Green and the Green Project

Friday, March 12, 2027
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $50 live in-person

Chelsey Green is no ordinary violinist. Her ironclad credentials established her early on as a fine classical player, but her career and resumé since then contain depths unlike any other musician of her generation. From sharing the spotlight with such jazz and soul artists as Stevie Wonder, Esperanza Spalding, and Samara Joy to gracing the stages of the GRAMMY Awards, CBS’s The Late Show, and NPR’s Tiny Desk, Dr. Green’s musical versatility knows no bounds. Perhaps most impressively, in 2025 she made history as the first Black woman and youngest person ever elected to serve as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Recording Academy. Join us for an evening of unique and innovative jazz with this trailblazing artist.

Cello superstar showcases intimate reinterpretations of classic works

Steven Isserlis
with Connie Shih, piano

Saturday, April 10, 2027
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $60 live in-person | $14 livestream

Ludwig van Beethoven Variations on a Theme from Judas Maccabeus, WoO 45
Robert Schumann (arr. Isserlis) Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 121
L. van Beethoven Variations on a Theme from The Magic Flute, WoO 46
Johannes Brahms Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99

It is impossible to discuss great cello playing without mentioning the incredible Steven Isserlis. Equally at home on the chamber and symphony stages and from the Baroque to the contemporary, Mr. Isserlis easily ranks as one of the greatest cellists of our time. In this rare chamber recital, experience this superstar in our intimate hall as he pairs Brahms’s mercurial Sonata No. 2 with works by Beethoven and Schumann. Joined by his perennial performance and recording partner, pianist Connie Shih, this international star has curated an evening of intelligent yet devastatingly beautiful music for cello and piano.

From Europe to the Caribbean: A transatlantic program for strings and saxophone

Dalí Quartet with Timothy McAllister, saxophone

Ari Isaacman-Beck and Carlos Rubio, violin
Adriana Linares, viola | Jesús Morales, cello
Timothy McAllister, saxophone

Saturday, May 1, 2027
7:30 p.m.
Tickets $50 live in-person

Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga String Quartet No. 2 in A Major
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135
Adolf Busch Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet, Op. 34
Paquito D’Rivera Preludio y Merengue

A vibrant and thrilling international program by the Dalí Quartet and Timothy McAllister closes our 49th season with a celebratory selection marking new beginnings and venerable endings. Arriaga, often called the “Spanish Mozart”, lived only 20 years but made his mark on the chamber music world with a delightfully clever set of string quartets. Beethoven’s 16th and final quartet then ushers in Adolf Busch’s quintet for strings and alto saxophone, among the first-ever compositions for this instrument. The program, and our season, closes with a salute to the quartet’s Latin American heritage through a setting of classic Caribbean dance music by the Cuban-American saxophone icon, Paquito d’Rivera. Come celebrate with us and usher in a half-century of Dumbarton Concerts!

Purchase a Dumbarton Concerts membership here!