October 5, 2026
Key moments
A chamber concert can seem hard to enter from the outside. The name alone can make people wonder if they need a music education, a dress code, or some special invitation. Juliana Athayde and Erik Behr want to remove that hesitation. Their message is simple: come to the concert, listen closely, and see what moves you.
The two Artistic Directors join Mark Siwiec and Corey James Moran as Chamber Music Rochester begins its fiftieth season. Their conversation is about more than an anniversary. It is about how a small local concert series has lasted, how it is finding new listeners, and why a room full of people hearing live music together still matters.
Chamber Music Rochester began at the Eastman House, where people brought their own chairs and pillows to sit beneath the large elephant in the museum. The original idea brought musicians from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the Eastman School of Music together to play in an intimate setting. Fifty seasons later, that local connection remains central to the series.
Athayde is concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Behr is its principal oboe. Together, they lead a program that brings local artists forward while also inviting visiting musicians into Rochester. The scale is part of the appeal. A chamber ensemble lets an audience see the musicians listen to one another, react, and create each phrase in the room.
For concert details, read Chamber Music Rochester's official The Marvelous Mr. Mendelssohn blog post.
The fiftieth season opens with a new way into a familiar composer. The October program centers on Felix Mendelssohn and his Octet, a work he wrote at age sixteen for eight string players. Athayde and Behr describe it as an easy choice for a milestone season because the music is beloved, immediate, and full of life.
The concert also gives Mendelssohn a role beyond the score. Chamber Music Rochester is using a three dimensional rendering based on a well known portrait, along with a scripted voice, to let him introduce the evening and react to the world around him. The idea came from a museum installation the directors saw featured on television. It is meant to invite a new listener into the music, not replace the music or the musicians.
That distinction matters to them. The technology can offer a doorway, but the center of the night remains eight musicians playing live. Mendelssohn wrote the Octet more than two centuries ago. The people in the room still have to make it speak to a Rochester audience now.
Athayde and Behr keep returning to the same obstacle: people who think they do not know enough to attend. They have heard the concern from potential patrons, even though the reaction after a first concert is often the opposite. Listeners come in unsure, then leave saying they had fun, felt something, or heard a piece they want to know better.
Behr puts it plainly. He would rather stop calling it a classical concert and call it a concert. The repertoire is serious, but the experience does not need to be stiff. Audience members can arrive with no background in the composers and still connect with the performance. A person does not need to know every detail of a painting to spend time in a museum. Music can work the same way.
The programming reflects that open invitation. A return appearance by saxophonist Eddie Barbash will bring a jazz quartet and string quartet together across jazz, country, and classical music. The program opens with Rhapsody in Blue arranged for piano and strings. A version of the concert last season brought a large number of first time attendees into the room.
The goal is not to abandon the repertoire that built the series. Brahms, Mozart, and other anchors still belong there. The directors are looking for ways to place those works beside new voices and unexpected combinations. They want longtime patrons to recognize the series they love while giving someone new a reason to come through the door.
The difference between a recording and a live performance is not only sound. Athayde describes the audience as an active part of the room. Musicians feel the energy of people listening, reacting, laughing, and applauding. Her line about the relationship is direct: if the audience is not there, the musicians are simply having a rehearsal.
That shared experience is one reason the series has seen growth. The directors report a 43 percent rise in attendance over the last year. They credit stronger outreach, a growing media presence, board support, and a willingness to try ideas that might bring a new person into the room.
Young listeners are part of the plan, but not as a marketing slogan. Students can attend Chamber Music Rochester concerts for free with an ID. The organization also brings music into schools and community settings for students who may not have an easy path to the concert hall. The work is built on a long view. A child who hears a string quartet in school may return years later because the sound stayed with them.
The fiftieth season is a celebration of what Chamber Music Rochester has sustained for five decades. It is also a reminder that live music survives by making room for the next person. A first visit can begin with curiosity about a digital Mendelssohn, a familiar Gershwin melody, or a friend who says to come along. The point is getting in the room and letting the music do the rest.
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