Brahms Clarinet Quintet

The New York Philharmonic Quartet returns with clarinetist Alex Fiterstein for an evening of chamber music treasures. The program features Brahms’ radiant Clarinet Quintet, a beloved masterpiece of the Romantic era, and more.

Featuring:

• Brahms: Clarinet Quintet

• Additional pieces to be announced

New York Philharmonic Quartet

The New York Philharmonic String Quartet comprises four Principal musicians from the Orchestra: Concertmaster Frank Huang (The Charles E. Culpeper Chair); Principal Second Violin Group Qianqian Li; Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps (The Mr. and Mrs. Frederick P. Rose Chair); and Principal Cello Carter Brey (The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Chair). The group was formed in January 2017, during the Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary season; the New York Philharmonic String Quartet made its debut as the solo ensemble in John Adams’s Absolute Jest in New York in March 2017, and reprised the work on the Orchestra’s EUROPE / SPRING 2017 tour. All four members are multiple prize winners, have appeared as concerto soloists with the Philharmonic and orchestras around the world, and have appeared frequently in the Philharmonic’s chamber music series at David Geffen Hall and Merkin Concert Hall.

Alexander Fiterstein (clarinet)

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein is considered one of today’s most exceptional artists. Fiterstein has performed in recital, with distinguished orchestras, and with chamber music ensembles throughout the world. He won first prize at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition and received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. The Washington Post has described his playing as “dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility, and range. Every sound he makes is finely measured without inhibiting expressiveness” and The New York Times described him as “a clarinetist with a warm tone and powerful technique.”

Alexander Fiterstein (clarinet)

Clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein is considered one of today’s most exceptional artists. Fiterstein has performed in recital, with distinguished orchestras, and with chamber music ensembles throughout the world. He won first prize at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition and received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. The Washington Post has described his playing as “dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility, and range. Every sound he makes is finely measured without inhibiting expressiveness” and The New York Times described him as “a clarinetist with a warm tone and powerful technique.”

Nokuthula Ngwenyama (viola)

Nokuthula Ngwenyama (No-goo-TOO-lah En-gwen-YAH-ma), has established herself as a multifaceted artist and collaborator in her roles as both violist and composer, performing as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. She was born in Los Angeles, CA of Zimbabwean and Japanese parentage.  Ms. Ngwenyama gained international prominence as a violist when she won the Primrose International Viola Competition at age 16 and then the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, which led to debuts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and 92nd Street Y in New York; she is also a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Michael Stephen Brown (piano)

Pianist-Composer Michael Stephen Brown has been hailed by The New York Times as “one of the leading figures in the current renaissance of performer-composers.” A 2025 MacDowell Fellow and 2024 Yaddo Artist, Brown is currently composing Endangered Carnival, a large-scale co-commission premiering in 2026. Winner of the Emerging Artist Award from Lincoln Center and an Avery Fisher Career Grant, he has performed as a soloist with leading orchestras such as the Seattle Symphony and NFM Leopoldinum, and in recitals at iconic venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Louvre, and Beethoven-Haus Bonn.