Our season finale features a masterwork of the 20th century whose unusual instrumentation has limited its live performances. Olivier Messiaen’s great Quartet for the End of Time will be played by our favorite Canadians, the Gryphon Trio, back for their fourth appearance, in collaboration with clarinetist James Campbell. The concert will feature two other rarely heard works, Beethoven’s “Gassenhauer” Trio, Op. 11, and Leonard Bernstein’s Latin-jazzy 1942 Clarinet Sonata.

The Gryphon Trio has impressed international audiences and the press with its highly refined, dynamic performances. With a repertoire that ranges from traditional to contemporary and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia, the Gryphons are committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century. The Trio’s celebrated recordings on the Analekta label are an encyclopedia of works by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Lalo, Shostakovich, and Piazzolla. Their 2011 Beethoven recording was followed by the release of Broken Hearts and Madmen, a collaboration with the cabaret singer Patricia O’Callaghan featuring songs by Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, and Laurie Anderson, alongside traditional melodies from Mexico, Argentina, and Chile.

Clarinetist James Campbell has followed his muse to five television specials, more than 40 recordings, and over 30 works commissioned. He has performed solo and chamber music concerts in 30 countries in many of the world’s great concert halls and has soloed with over 60 orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Russian Philharmonic, and the Montreal Symphony, and performed Copland's Clarinet Concerto four times with Aaron Copland conducting. He has appeared with over 30 string quartets, including the Amadeus (when he replaced an ailing Benny Goodman on a tour of California), Guarneri, Vermeer, New Zealand, Fine Arts, Allegri and St Lawrence Quartets.

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