Rick Rhodes
Chamber Music Charleston continues its acclaimed Ovation Concert Series with Mozart Meets Chausson on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, at 3 p.m. at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church (405 King St.). The dynamic program marks the Chamber Music Charleston debut of pianist Michael Stephen Brown and the return of renowned violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti.
A 2025 MacDowell Fellow and 2024 Yaddo Artist, pianist Michael Stephen Brown performs worldwide as both soloist and collaborator, earning praise for his artistry and intellect. The recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award, he has appeared with major orchestras including the Seattle Symphony and NFM Leopoldinum, and in recital at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Louvre. Also a celebrated composer and educator, Brown is admired for his insightful commentary and charismatic stage presence—complete with his signature colorful socks.
Violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti brings expressive depth and radiant musicianship to her performances. Director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University and a founding member of the Ehnes String Quartet, she has served as concertmaster of both the Oregon Symphony and the Florida Orchestra, and performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician across North America.
Brown and Moretti join Chamber Music Charleston musicians Frances Hsieh and Jenny Weiss (violins), Ben Weiss (viola) and Timothy O’Malley (cello) for an extraordinary afternoon of music. The program features Franz Lachner’s brilliant chamber arrangement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23—a work of sparkling elegance—and Ernest Chausson’s lush and impassioned Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, a masterful blend of French lyricism and Romantic grandeur.
Tickets start at $35 for general admission and $10 for students and accompanying parents. For tickets and additional information, visit www.chambermusiccharleston.org/ovation-2025-2026.