Belfast Chamber Music

Thank you for a wonderful 2025–2026 winter season!

Past Concerts:

Saturday January 17, 2026: “Strings Attached:” Nora Willauer, Cello, and Marlene McCarthy, Piano

3 PM, First Church in Belfast UCC, 8 Court Street

In “Strings Attached,” cellist Nora Willauer and pianist Marlene McCarthy bring to life a program that celebrates the sparks of creativity born out of close artistic relationships. This brilliantly virtuosic program explores Britten’s Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello, Ravel’s Miroirs, and Henriëtte Bosmans’ rarely heard Sonata for Cello and Piano.

Nora and Marlene weave storytelling throughout this program and invite audiences to experience each work through the lens of the friendships and romances that sparked its creation. Great works of art and human connection are often deeply intertwined, and “Strings Attached” gives audiences a chance to learn the fascinating history that lead to this beautifully emotional music.

Originally from Hope, Maine, Nora is a performer and educator with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Marlene, from Farmingdale, Maine, is on the faculty at Bay Chamber Music School and formerly taught at NYU’s Steinhardt School. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree from Stonybrook University.

Sunday December 21, 2025: Home and Hearth, Second-Annual Charity Benefit Concert

3 PM, First Church in Belfast UCC, 8 Court Street

Join Artistic Director Philipp Elssner, violin/viola, and visiting artists Jacob Wang, piano, and Olena Kaspersky, violin for a joyous concert for a good cause this holiday season. Admission is free, and donations will be raised for Waldo County Bounty and the Midcoast Maine Homeless Coalition. The program will feature known favorites and lessor known gems by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Bacewicz, Karabyts, Schumann and more!

Pianist Jacob Wang has appeared in solo and chamber recitals throughout Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, Maine, New York, Perugia (Italy), and Germany. As a concerto soloist, he has performed with the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, UNCSA Symphony Orchestra, Central Iowa Symphony, and the Fort Dodge Area Symphony. He is a prizewinner in numerous competitions, including the RSO, Haeberle, Huntoon, Ronald Sachs, and International Paderewski Competitions. Wang currently serves as a faculty member and Resident Musician at the Music Haven school in New Haven, Connecticut.

Violinist Olena Kaspersky, a Los Angeles native, earned her bachelor’s degree from the USC Thornton School of Music, studying with Lina Bahn, and her master’s degree from McGill University under the guidance of Violaine Melançon. She has held principal positions with the Colburn Chamber Orchestra and the American Youth Symphony, and has served as concertmaster of the USC Symphony, McGill Symphony Orchestra, and the Colburn Youth Orchestra. Kaspersky has also performed with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa). A winner of USC’s Solo Bach Competition (undergraduate division) and the Ofiesh Quartet Competition with the Gateway Quartet, she currently resides in Montréal, performing regularly while pursuing further graduate studies at McGill.

Saturday November 22, 2025: Trillium String Quartet w/Philipp Elssner

4 PM, Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, 37 Miller Street

Program:

Antonín Dvořák: String Quintet no. 3, “American,” Op. 97 (with Philipp Elssner, viola); Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E minor, op. 44 no. 2; Jessie Montgomery: Source Code

About the performers:

Comprised of violinists Sommer Altier and Judith Kim, violist Sydney Link, and cellist Amelia Smerz, the Trillium String Quartet formed out of a love for chamber music, collaboration, and connection. Trillium has studied with renowned musicians such as Paul Watkins, Nina Lee, and Ron Copes, and has worked in close collaboration with Attacca Quartet, Bela Fleck, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and Jake Runestead. The quartet was named semi-finalist of The Plowman Chamber Music Competition in the spring of 2025 and has appeared at the Calidore String Quartet Seminar, Texas Chamber Music Institute, Daponte String Quartet Institute, and Stretto Festival. In May of 2025, the quartet completed a year-long residency as the Graduate String Quartet at Montclair State University.

Passionate about giving back to the community through public performances and education, the Trillium String Quartet currently serves as Artist Faculty for the inaugural Kinhaven Semester School Program in Weston, Vermont – a four month immersive educational opportunity for nine young musicians with a special interest in chamber music. Throughout this residency, Trillium will provide intensive coachings, lessons, and perform weekly concerts around southern Vermont.

Read more about the Trillium String Quartet here: https://trilliumstringquartet.com/

Philipp Elssner, Violin