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Waterbury Symphony Orchestra: Thomas Clark, WSO’s Young Artist Initiative

January 18, 2026 @ 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Join us here at the Litchfield Community Center for Waterbury Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 Season “Where Music Takes Us”

A World-Class Ensemble: Quintet ZaRiah & Yale’s Melvin Chen

The 2nd of WSO’s 3-Concert Litchfield Series this season

Jan 18, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM

One of the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra’s most meaningful artistic partnerships is its long-standing collaboration with the Yale School of Music—a relationship that brings extraordinary young talent to local audiences year after year. Conceived by current Board Chair Thomas Clark, WSO’s Young Artist Initiative was created with a simple but powerful idea: to introduce our community to the next generation of great musicians, just as they are coming into their own.

On Sunday January 18, that vision comes vividly to life with a chamber concert featuring Quintet ZaRiah, a world-class emerging ensemble whose artistry is already making national waves—introduced to WSO through distinguished pianist Melvin Chen, longtime Professor in the Practice of Piano at Yale School of Music and Director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival / Yale Summer School of Music.
To hear an artist of Chen’s stature perform one of the pieces planned for the concert, Poulenc’s brilliant Sextet, in tandem with a rising young chamber ensemble is an extraordinary and rare treat.
Quintet ZaRiah is no stranger to our region. This past summer, the ensemble was in residence at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, where their electrifying performances quickly became a highlight of the season.
Three of the quintet’s five members are currently completing graduate degrees at the Yale School of Music, while all five are already accomplished orchestral musicians. Collectively, they have performed with some of the world’s most respected ensembles, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New World Symphony, and leading regional orchestras across the country.
Beyond their technical brilliance, Quintet ZaRiah brings a compelling sense of purpose to their music-making. With three members who are first-generation college students and three who hail from the rural South, the ensemble is deeply committed to expanding access to classical music and engaging underserved communities—an ethos that resonates strongly with WSO’s own mission.

Repertoire

• Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – They Will Not Lend Me A Child (~4’)
• Carl Nielsen – Wind Quintet, Op. 43 (~27’)
• Francis Poulenc – Sextet (~19 – 20’) with Melvin Chen, piano
• Valerie Coleman – Tzigane (~11’)

Tickets: $30 General Admission | $10 Students with ID

For tickets online: visit waterburysymphony.org
For tickets by phone: Call WSO/Palace Box Office, at (203) 346-2000  (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

The chamber concert is the 2nd of WSO’s three concert ‘LITCHFIELD SERIES’ generously supported by Series Sponsor O&G Industries as well as WSO’s 24/25 Season Presenting Sponsor Thermo Conductor Services. The Series is being presented as part of a new partnership with the Litchfield Community Center.

The performances will be followed by a complimentary reception.
For more information or to purchase tickets online, visit WaterburySymphony.org.  Tickets can also be purchased by telephone at 203-346-2000, via WSO/Palace Box Office.

 

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