Re:construct — The Performer as Composer

In the beginning, classical composers almost always emerged from the ranks of working musicians. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms, for example, all found fame as performers before they established themselves as composers. With the 20th century, though, came a new trend: composers such as Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, Dmitri Shostakovich, and others made musical composition their singular focus, free from distraction by the pressures of a busy performing career. It’s become the model that we now take for granted as normal, in which the majority of composers center on the “creation” of new works to be “re-created” by performers.

That separation of roles between composer and performers sometimes creates a disconnect between the composer’s imagining of their new pieces and the practical challenges faced by the performers who take them on. But some 21st-century composers are rekindling a closer connection between performing and composition.

On August 8, 2025, NEXUS Chamber Music’s Re:construct concert will offer insight into the intimate connection that composers who perform share with the artists who play their works, through the music of three composer/performers from different eras:

• The virtuoso cellist Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) is credited with radically expanding the role of cello in both chamber music and solo settings, as displayed charmingly in his String Quintet in E major, Op. 11, No. 5 (G. 275); for a whimsical taste of his music, you can catch NEXUS’ video of Boccherini’s Night Music of Madrid on our YouTube channel.
• Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) is best remembered as a world-famous violin soloist, but his beloved String Quartet in A minor has earned a cherished place in the canon.
• Cellist Paul Wiancko (b.1983) has won accolades through his extensive work as a soloist and chamber musician, including touring activities with both the Kronos Quartet and the Owls. At the same time, he’s been prolific as a composer, creating a large catalog of works that are performed worldwide. Re:construct will feature the world premiere of his The Twelve Seasons, commissioned by NEXUS Chamber Music with a grant from Chamber Music America.

NEXUS performers Katie Hyun and Miho Saegusa, violin; Ramón Carrero Martínez, viola; and Gabriel Cabezas, cello will join with Co-Artistic Directors Brian Hong on viola and Alexander Hersh on cello. Tickets for Re:construct are selling fast, reserve your place now!