Join Festival Artistic Directors Melinda Lee Masur and Ken-David Masur as they sit down with Bill Barclay — director, writer, and producer of Concert Theater Works — for an intimate Sunday brunch conversation at the stylish City Winery Bistro at Pier 57 in Chelsea.



Over a curated, Mark Twain-inspired, American menu, the three collaborators offer guests a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Copland & Twain and the creative vision driving the 2026 Festival. This event will also include music performed by violinists Yuyu Ikeda and Carlos Rafael Martinez Arroyo.

It is a rare opportunity to hear directly from the artists shaping the week’s programming in one of New York’s most vibrant waterfront settings. Tickets are at $100 and can be purchased at https://www.chelseamusicfestival.org/2026-events/june21.

Bill Barclay, director and producer at Concert Theater Works

Ken-David Masur, Festival Co-Artistic Director and conductor

Melinda Lee Masur, Festival Co-Artistic Director and pianist

Yuyu Ikeda, violin

Carlos Rafael Martinez Arroyo, violin

MENU

Inspired by American foods Mark Twain missed while he was abroad in Europe

Basket

Buttermilk Biscuits served with butter and honey

Main

Farm Egg Scramble – fresh herbs, stewed tomatoes, succotash (vegetarian)

Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Waffle – maple syrup, light butter

Sides

Saratoga Potatoes – Crisp, thin-sliced potatoes with sea salt

Heirloom Tomato – vinegar, sugar

Dessert

Warm Apple Pie – Fresh Cream

Beverages

‍ ‍Wine by City Winery (red, white, sparking, rose), craft beers, soda & juices

Coffee service, tableside

ABOUT MELINDA LEE MASUR

Lauded for her “impeccable technique and artistic interpretation” (The Columbian), pianist Melinda Lee Masur has performed on all three stages of Carnegie Hall, at London’s Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, the Berliner Philharmonie, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, at the Ravinia Festival, Festival Les Muséiques Basel and in Boston’s Symphony Hall. She has given recitals in cities from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Toronto and New York, to London, Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris, Kiev and Leipzig. Masur has performed as soloist with orchestras such as the Harvard Bach Society Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Shenzhen Symphony and Macao Youth Symphony.

An avid chamber musician, Masur has performed with such artists as Augustin Hadelich, Alban Gerhardt, Fanny Clamagirand, Adrian Brendel, Thomas Quasthoff, as well as the Verona, Ivalas, and Balourdet Quartets. She is pianist and founding member of The Lee Trio, praised worldwide for its “gripping immediacy and freshness” and “rich palette of tone colours” (The Strad). The Trio has given world, American and European premieres of piano trios by composers including Edmund Finnis, Uljas Pulkkis, Nathaniel Stookey, Philip Lasser, Jane Antonia Cornish, Nicky Sohn, & Sylvie Bodorova and garnered awards such as the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin. The Trio has recorded for the Delos and innova labels and their most recent album release, Midsummer Night Magic, was met with critical and audience acclaim.

A graduate of Harvard University and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover, Germany, Masur is passionate about educating the next generation of musicians. Masur has served on the faculty at the University of Chicago and Boston University, and given masterclasses at colleges & universities such as the Lewis & Clark College, University of Utah’s School of Music, Gordon College, Biola University, Wheaton College, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s School of Music, and the Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy in Romania. Masur is the Director of Piano Chamber Music and Co-Director of the Young Artists Piano Program at the BU Tanglewood Institute and joined the piano and chamber music faculty at Stanford in the Fall of 2025. Melinda Lee Masur is a Steinway Artist. theleetrio.com

ABOUT KEN-DAVID MASUR

Hailed as “fearless, bold, and a life-force” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and “a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma” (Leipzig Volkszeitung), Ken-David Masur is celebrating his seventh season as Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony’s Civic Orchestra, and newly announced Artistic Partner of the Oregon Bach Festival.

In 2025-2026, Masur will lead celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, featuring performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis, as well as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion as part of the third annual Bach Festival. Ken-David Masur and the MSO will reunite with longtime collaborators such as Augustin Hadalich, Orion Weiss, Stewart Goodyear, Nancy Zhou as well as a special project with Bill Barclay and Concert Theatre Works to celebrate America’s 250th birthday with a program interweaving the music of Aaron Copland with the words of Mark Twain. In Chicago, Masur leads the Civic Orchestra, the premiere training ensemble of the Chicago Symphony, in a wide range of programs, including its annual Bach Marathon.

Masur has conducted distinguished orchestras around the world, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Baltimore, Detroit, and San Francisco Symphonies, l’Orchestre National de France, Minnesota Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Norway’s Kristiansand Symphony and Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony. He has also made regular appearances at Ravinia, Tanglewood, the Hollywood Bowl, Grant Park, and international festivals including Verbier. Recent highlights include subscription debuts with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and the National Symphony as well as a triumphant return to the Oregon Bach Festival featuring a staged Carmina Burana.

Masur is passionate about contemporary music and has conducted and commissioned numerous new works over the years. Some notable pieces include Wynton Marsalis’ Harold Haller and Hallelujah, Augusta Read Thomas’ Bebop Kaleidoscope — Homage to Duke Ellington with the New York Philharmonic, Mannequin by Unsuk Chin with the Boston Symphony, Rounds by Jessie Montgomery, and Alan Fletcher’s Piano Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Additional U.S. premieres under his baton include works by James B. Wilson, Dobrinka Tabakova, Christopher Cerrone, Edmund Finnis, Eric Nathan, and Jacob Beranek among others.

Masur has made recordings with the English Chamber Orchestra and violinist Fanny Clamagirand, and with the Stavanger Symphony, the latter of which was named by WQXR, New York’s classical music radio station, as a “Best New Classical Release.” Masur also received a Grammy nomination from the Latin Recording Academy for Best Classical Album of the Year for his work as a producer of the album Salon Buenos Aires.

Born and raised in Leipzig, Germany, Masur was trained at the Mendelssohn Academy in Leipzig, the Gewandhaus Children‘s Choir, the Detmold Academy and the „Hanns Eisler“ Conservatory in Berlin. While an undergraduate at Columbia University in New York, Masur became the first music director of the Bach Society Orchestra & Chorus with which he toured to Germany and recorded the music of J.S.Bach and his sons.

Music education and working with the next generation of young artists are of major importance to Masur. In addition to his work with Civic Orchestra of Chicago, he has conducted orchestras and led masterclasses at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Boston University, Boston Conservatory, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan Chamber Orchestra, the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and The Juilliard School. kendavidmasur.com

ABOUT BILL BARCLAY

Director, writer, and composer Bill Barclay has created dozens of theatrical concerts with the world’s most prominent ensembles. He is Artistic Director of Concert Theatre Works and was Director of Music at Shakespeare’s Globe from 2012-2019. A “personable polymath” (London Times), his theatrical concerts are praised as “witty and incisive” (New York Times), “Effortless perfection” (The Observer), “quietly transfixing” (The New Yorker), and “quite simply exquisite” (The Guardian). Broadway and West End credits include Farinelli and the King, Twelfth Night, and Richard III all starring Sir Mark Rylance.

Major tours include The Chevalier (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Center, Tanglewood, Chautauqua, Music of the Baroque, Harlem Chamber Players, Caramoor, Snape Maltings, Buffalo, Virginia, Indianapolis); Secret Byrd for The Gesualdo Six and Fretwork (30+ cities on tour); Anthony & Cleopatra (LA Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony); Peer Gynt (Boston, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras); and Markus Passion for Oregon Bach Festival, Dunedin Consort & The Sebastians (NYC, Pittsburgh, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Portland, Seattle, Eugene, Chicago).

As a composer, Barclay composed the historic Hamlet Globe-to-Globe which toured to 189 countries, and Call of the Wild that performed in 42 US states. He has composed three times for the British Royal Family, for President Obama, for the Olympic Torch, at the United Nations, and in refugee camps in Jordan and Calais. His newest work Letters to a Young Poet premiered with The Brodsky Quartet at The Aldeburgh Festival before performances at Lincoln Center and Tanglewood. He created the sold-out Candlelit Concerts series from the launch of London’s Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in 2014, partnering with The Royal Opera House and BBC Proms. He founded the label Globe Music, recognized by The Royal Philharmonic Society, for Shakespeare’s Globe where he produced music for 130 productions and 150 concerts over seven years. His single Let Nature Sing, made of birdsong with singer Sam Lee, debuted at #11 on the UK Pop Charts to support The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

A lauded actor, Barclay received a Fox Foundation Fellowship, the largest grant for actors in the US. A Boston native and past acting company member at Shakespeare & Company (11 years), the Actors Shakespeare Project (10 years, Artistic Associate), and The Mercury Theatre (UK), he trained in Bali, The National Theatre Institute and Vassar College. MFA in Playwriting, Boston University. concerttheatreworks.com/bill-barclay

ABOUT THE CHELSEA MUSIC FESTIVAL

Chelsea Music Festival celebrates great music by convening world-leading musicians & artists in the performing, culinary, and visual arts for an international audience. The Festival invites artists, composers, and performers to collaborate in pursuit of new perspectives in artistic expression. Inspired by its Chelsea roots, the Festival reflects the creativity of one of New York City’s most dynamic neighborhoods. Programs span musical genres ranging from classical to contemporary to jazz with a special emphasis on Festival commissions by composers whose works are not in the traditional western canon. In addition, the Festival hosts an online library of recordings so music enthusiasts, artists, and students alike can explore unique interpretations of classical, jazz, and contemporary works via high-quality videos of world-class performances.

Since 2010, the Festival has established itself as a critically-acclaimed, accessible, and interactive gateway to chamber music in non-traditional concert spaces such as art galleries, public squares, schools, and churches. Programming includes concerts, lectures, exhibitions, family events, and free outreach performances. In 2020, the Festival inaugurated its Online Encores and Online Originals YouTube series; Online Encores presents highlights from Festival archives while Online Originals presents new performances and recordings. We are proud to give emerging voices, particularly those of women and people of color, a stage and work to build an audience and intimate community to support a new generation of musicians, composers, and artists.

Festival Sponsors & Partners:

Carl Brandt, Inc., Brotherhood Winery, Columbia Alumni Association Arts Access, Consulate General of Germany in New York, Fordham University, German International School New York, Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Masterwork Arts Foundation, Materials for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Polycast Productions, Radeberger Gruppe USA, Sennheiser, Skylight Arts Productions, Steinway & Sons, Tarisio Fine Instruments & Bows, WBGO, Weinhaus Traubengold, and WQXR.

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