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And just like that, another year draws to a close. Winter Baroque was great, although I miscalculated on the length and hope no one missed their Christmas pudding because of it. I still can’t believe we sold out St. Paul’s. Thank you to those who attended, and my apologies to those of you who could not get tickets.

2025 will be our 24^th season. Before we look ahead, I thought I'd look back at some favorite NCMF moments of mine from this year.

- The stark and bleak Schnittke piano quintet contrasting with Schumann’s ebullient quintet.

- Eliana’s soulful solo Bach cello suite at Winter Baroque.

- People going “ooh!” and spontaneously applauding after the second (pizzicato) movement of the Ravel string quartet.

- The four-way collaboration of Jane Niebling’s paintings, Alfred Nicol’s poems, Patrick Castillo’s music, and Elizabeth Brown’s theremin, for last summer’s world premiere “Avian Microludes.”

- Sitting together in the dark listening to the sound of the wind and crickets at the end of the Nachtmusik in Brown Chapel.

- Performing the Schoenberg on the Cret String Trio recital back in March. We began with an abrupt excerpt of the opening, followed by an explanation of the context in which it was written (Schoenberg’s heart attack). Then repeating the opening, I saw how suddenly the piece made sense to people who, just minutes earlier, had thought it sounded like ugly, random notes.

- Walking out in surgical scrubs for the Marin Marais at Winter Baroque and seeing the audience flip from confused to amused.

- If I had to choose any single moment from the entire year, it would be a specific chord at the end of György Kurtág’s “Officium Breve” string quartet. After all the grief that has built up over the course of this twelve-minute requiem for lost friends, the composer gently reaches out to hold the audience’s hand and lead us to a place of healing and closure. It is one of the most empathetic moments I can think of in all of classical music.

That’s it for 2024 and I think that’s darn good. Looking ahead, we have some very non-holiday music scheduled for Saturday, March 8^th, 2025 in an all-romantic program of Ravel and Brahms played by the Roebling Piano Trio.Since it is the end of the year, and since we run on a shoestring budget, please think of NCMF in your year-end giving. Every little bit helps, even $5 or $10. Happy New Year!David Yang, Artistic Director