Orpheus Chamber Orchestra | Marc-André Hamelin, piano

Name: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra | Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Start: 2026-03-03T19:00:00-05:00
Location: First Baptist Church Fernandina Beach

Schedule

Tue, 03 Mar, 2026 at 07:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

First Baptist Church Fernandina Beach | Fernandina Beach, FL

The world-renowned, conductor-less Orpheus Chamber Orchestra brings its signature precision and collaborative energy to Amelia Island in a landmark performance featuring 11-time Grammy-nominated pianist Marc-André Hamelin.
Program to include:
Liszt: Wanderer Fantasie (after Schubert)
Schubert/Breuer: Chamber Symphony in B-flat Major
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is a radical experiment in musical democracy, proving for over fifty years what happens when exceptional artists gather with total trust in each other and faith in the creative process. Orpheus began in 1972 when cellist Julian Fifer assembled a group of New York freelancers in their early twenties to play orchestral repertoire as if it were chamber music. In that age of co-ops and communes, the idealistic Orpheans snubbed the “corporate” path of symphony orchestras and learned how to play, plan, and promote concerts as a true collective, with leadership roles rotating from the very first performance.
It’s one thing for the four players of a string quartet to lean into the group sound and react spontaneously, but with 20 to 30 musicians together, the complexities and payoffs are magnified exponentially. Within its first decade, Orpheus made Carnegie Hall their home and became a global sensation through tours of Europe and Asia. Their catalog of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch, and other labels grew to include more than 70 albums that still stand as benchmarks of the chamber orchestra repertoire, including Haydn symphonies, Mozart concertos, and twentieth-century gems by Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Ravel, and Bartók.
The sound of Orpheus is defined by relationships, and guest artists have always been crucial partners in the process. Orpheus brings out the best in their collaborators, with bonds that deepen over time, as heard in the long arc of music-making with soloists such as Richard Goode, Vadim Gluzman, Anne Akiko Meyers, and Branford Marsalis, and in the commitment to welcoming next-generation artists including Nobuyuki Tsujii, Tine Thing Helseth, and Caleb Teicher. By partnering with jazz legends Brad Mehldau, Wayne Shorter, and Vijay Iyer, as well as actors Christine Baranski and Liev Schreiber, Orpheus expands the boundaries of what a chamber orchestra can achieve. Collaborating with composers like Jessie Montgomery, Billy Childs, and Fazil Say has been another crucial way Orpheus evolves, commissioning numerous world-premieres every year. Having proven the power of direct communication and open-mindedness within the ensemble, the only relationship Orpheus has never had any use for is one with a conductor.
At home in New York and in the many concert halls it visits in the U.S. and beyond, Orpheus begins their next fifty years with a renewed commitment to enriching and reflecting the surrounding community. Orpheus Reflections™ brings the healing power of music to those living with dementia and their caregivers. Celebrating more than twenty years, Access Orpheus shares the orchestra’s collaborative process with 1,500 New York City Public School students annually through coachings, school visits, and unparalleled access to their rehearsals and performances at Carnegie Hall. And through the Orpheus Leadership Institute, the musicians impart positive lessons of leadership and democracy to global organizations and businesses. Always evolving as artists and leaders, the Orpheus musicians carry their legacy forward, counting on their shared artistry and mutual respect to make music and effect change.
Marc-André Hamelin
Pianist Marc-André Hamelin, praised by The New York Times as a “performer of near-superhuman technical prowess,” is renowned worldwide for his blend of virtuosity and deep musical insight. Equally at home in major repertoire and adventurous rarities, he performs with leading orchestras and conductors across the globe and appears regularly in top recital venues and festivals.
In 2024–2025, Hamelin gives recitals across Asia—including Beijing, Xi’an, Seoul, and a duo tour in Japan with Charles Richard-Hamelin—as well as solo performances in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Gulangyu. His European season includes appearances in Warsaw, Copenhagen, Florence, Budapest, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and London’s Wigmore Hall, among others. Orchestral engagements include RTVE Madrid, Prague Radio Symphony, Bruckner Orchester Linz, and the São Paulo State Symphony, with a tour to the Bogotá International Classical Music Festival.
In North America, he returns to Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Bernard Labadie for Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto. He also performs with the Cleveland Orchestra, Montreal and Atlanta Symphonies, and embarks on a complete Beethoven cycle with the Edmonton Symphony. Recital stops include San Francisco, Toronto, Boston, Caramoor, and a national tour with the Dover Quartet, performing his own Piano Quintet.
An exclusive Hyperion Records artist, Hamelin has released 89 albums. Highlights include his 2024 recordings of Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata and an album of his own compositions, New Piano Works, praised for its originality and emotional depth. His other recent releases feature music by Fauré, C.P.E. Bach, and Bolcom.
A celebrated composer-pianist, Hamelin’s works are published by Edition Peters. His compositions include Études, Toccata on L’homme armé, and the recent Hexensabbat and Mazurka, premiered at the Library of Congress in 2024.
Born in Montreal, Hamelin resides in Boston with his wife, Cathy Fuller. His honors include the Order of Canada, the Ordre national du Québec, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the German Record Critics’ Association. He is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada.