It could easily be overlooked by the world premieres of Violin Concerto No.2 and the Witches of Venice, but next Saturday night marks a very important event: the first performance by the new chamber music group, the GLASS CHAMBER PLAYERS at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York.

The group is a collection of hand-picked virtuoso players who will perform Philip Glass' chamber music frequently and pair it with masterpieces of the classical repertoire.  These first performances feature Arnold Schoenberg's hyper-romantic Verklaerte Nacht (Transfigured Night) with the Glass String Sextet (arr. of Symphony No.3). 

The group includes classical players who know Glass' music very well including Wendy Sutter for whom Glass' Songs & Poems for Solo Cello was composed and who is Artistic Director of the group, Maria Bachmann for whom Glass' Sonata for Violin and Piano was composed, and Tim Fain who was violin soloist for both Book of Longing and the recent concert performance of Einstein on the Beach at Carnegie Hall.  Rounding out this version of the group are the outstanding award winning violists David Harding and Misha Amory, and the outstanding cellist Alexis Gerlach.