I am
delighted to see how quickly we are building a
family of music lovers and phenomenal chamber
musicians at the Treetops Chamber Music Society.
This season, musicians from the Met Orchestra and
Manhattan School of Music’s Dean of
Performance, David Geber, will be joining forces
with last season’s Shanghai Quartet, Anthony
Newman and the all-Juilliard-faculty New York
Woodwind Quintet. These world-class artists
promise to thrill Treetops CMS audiences with a
long list of all-time favorite programs,
including master-works by Bach, Beethoven,
Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Falla and others.
A number of exciting discoveries are also
awaiting at Treetops CMS, including the two
master-works by Turina, the Debussy Dances for
Harp and Strings, the classical,
youthful—and short!—String Quartet by
Bruckner and the Carter Wind Quintet —to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth.
In order to more fully enjoy the natural beauty
of Treetops, we have moved the concert calendar
closer to the better weather, including concerts
at the height of the daffodil season. We
encourage our audience to come 20-30 minutes
early for a stroll before the concert to enjoy
the splendid landscape of Treetops’ seasonal
changes.
Bringing a second life to Louis Schanker’s art studio has
proven rewarding: the concert space has
outstanding chamber music acoustics and the
intimate setting is incomparable for the creative
and friendly atmosphere found at Treetops CMS.
Many new friendships have emerged at Treetops CMS
this past season over great concerts and the wine
and conversations that followed the music.
We are inspired by the rich cultural and civic
history of Treetops. Treetops was home to
glamorous parties that attracted celebrities such
as Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Truman
Capote. Former owner Libby Holman hosted Dr.
Martin Luther King and his wife Coretta Scott
King in the 1960’s, as part of her support
of the civil rights movement. To raise funds for
various causes in the community, Libby Holman
founded the Treetops Daffodil Festivals in the
1950’s, which became a tradition for many
generations and are still vivid in the memory of
many today. Some of the adults that attend our
concerts used to come to Treetops as children to
see the daffodils.
Libby Holman’s final wish was that Treetops
be used as parkland and a cultural center.
However, after she passed away in 1971, the
estate moved from hand to hand until the
1990’s when it faced imminent residential
development. Fortunately, those who fought for
the conservation of Treetops, and everyone in the
Greenwich-Stamford area, can take joy and pride
in our newest cultural addition: the Treetops
Chamber Music Society.
I look forward to another year of enriching
conversations amid the beauty of music and
nature.
Oskar Espina-Ruiz
Artistic Director
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| Libby Holman with
Gerald Cook at the piano |
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Louis Schanker's studio in
the 70's
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Treetops CMS since 2006
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