Recognized as one of the world's great ensembles, the Takács Quartet plays with a unique blend of drama, warmth and humor. Based in Boulder at the University of Colorado, the Takács Quartet performs ninety concerts a year worldwide, throughout Europe as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. The members of the Quartet are Associate Artists at the South Bank Centre, and in Madrid. The Takács is a Visiting Quartet at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. At Carnegie Hall a series of three concerts will feature the Schumann Quartets, their latest recording.

The Quartet's award-winning recordings include the Late Beethoven Quartets (2005 Disc of the Year and Chamber Award from BBC Music Magazine, and a Gramophone Award), Brahms' Quartets Op. 51 and Op. 67. The complete Haydn "Apponyi" Quartets, Op. 71 and 74, will be released in early 2011. The Takács Quartet was formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest by Gabor Takács-Nagy, Károly Schranz, Gabor Ormai and András Fejer, while all four were students. The Quartet made its North American debut tour in 1982. Violinist Edward Dusinberre joined the Quartet in 1993 and violist Roger Tapping in 1995. Violist Geraldine Walther replaced Mr. Tapping in 2005. www.takacsquartet.com

Program: Haydn Op. 74, No. 2; Shostakovich, No. 2; Mendelssohn , op. 13

The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society is fortunate in having Jon Nakamatsu return to give another concert, this time together with clarinetist Jon Manasse. Many of the audience will remember the electrifying recital Mr Nakamatsu gave for the society a few years ago, shortly after winning the Gold Medal at the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The duo was formed in 2004, and have since given highly acclaimed concerts throughout the country. The New York Times commented, "... their partnership is complete. Mr. Nakamatsu's playing is as meltingly beautiful as Mr. Manasse's." Clarinetist Jon Manasse is internationally recognized for his inspiring artistry, glorious sound and charismatic performing style. He is also principal clarinetist of the American Ballet Theater Orchestra and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. One of the most sought-after pianists of his generation, Jon Nakamatsu enjoys a continuously expanding career based on a deeply probing and illuminating musicality as well as a quietly charismatic performing style. Individually, Jon Manasse and Jon Nakamatsu have developedextensive repertoires and lengthy discographies. The Duo's debut CD, an album of the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas, was released early in 2008. www.parkerartists.com/NewPages/manasse-nakamatsu-duo.html

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The three Albers sisters are young and vibrant, united in music. The eldest, Laura, plays the violin. Rebecca is the violist and the youngest, Julie, is the cellist. Their mother Ellie LeRoux is a violinist and began teaching each child as soon as she was old enough to hold an instrument. All three eventually attended noted music schools and each one developed her own independent career. Laura Albers is the associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. She has performed and taught both the violin and viola at numerous programs and festivals. While attending Juilliard, Laura toured with the Astor String Quartet and the Wild Ginger Philharmonic, and also taught Suzuki violin at the Diller-Quaile School of Music. Laura volunteers for California Pacific Medical Center's Soothing Sounds program, bringing music to patients, visitors and employees. Rebecca Albers teaches the viola at the University of Michigan School of music at Ann Arbor. She currently teaches in the Juilliard pre-college section, and play in the Phoenix Quartet and in Mark O'Connor's Appalachia Waltz Trio and performs regularly with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Julie Albers lives in New York City. She performs solo with many major orchestras and also plays with a variety of ensembles. She has won prizes at international competitions in South Korea and Munich. The sisters began playing as an ensemble quite early in their childhood, starting in Boulder, Colorado where they were born. As a trio they have performed at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, National Theatre in Taipei, Weill Recital Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, and Zankel Hall. Their performances have also been seen and heard on Live from Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center Honors, Japan's NHK, Washington D.C.'s Voice of America and Bavarian Radio. Their upcoming season includes performances in New York City, Boston, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas. alberstrio.com

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The Ives Quartet has established a reputation for passion, precision, and provocative programming, winning accolades for playing that shows both super-refinement and visceral, rock-and-roll intensity. "Whether the group was playing Beethoven, Dvorak or Quincy Porter, the twentieth-century composer whose works are becoming an Ives specialty, the music felt thoroughly absorbed, idiomatic, and performed from the inside-out." —San Jose Mercury News. Inspired by the passionate artistic commitment and unique temperament of American composer Charles Ives (1874-1954), the quartet has attracted critical enthusiasm for its "practice of reveling in the unfamiliar," championing a repertoire that combines established masterworks with underappreciated gems, neglected scores of early twentieth-century America, and specially commissioned new pieces. Bettina Mussumeli, violin, was educated at Juilliard, studying with Dorothy Delay and Ivan Galamian among others. Members of the Cleveland, Guarneri and Juilliard quartets were her coaches in chamber music. Upon graduating she took a position as co-director of I Solisti Veneti, remaining with that ensemble for eighteen years. The viola player, Jodi Levitz, also played with I Solisti Veneti for many years after graduation from Juilliard and now teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Susan Freier, violin, pursued degrees in both music and biology at Stanford University before firmly coming down on the side of music. Stephen Harrison, violoncello, is on the faculty of Stanford University. He received his musical education at Oberlin College. The Quartet presents an annual home concert series in Silicon Valley and the Greater San Francisco Bay Area in addition to performing nationally and internationally at noted chamber music series and festivals. They are currently recording all nine quartets of the American composer, Quincy Porter, 1897-1966. www.ivesquartet.org

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Violist Jennifer Stumm is internationally recognized as a musical innovator and dynamic advocate for her instrument. Ms. Stumm is the winner of three major competitions: Concert Artists Guild in 2006, where she took First Prize as the first solo violist in the nearly sixty-year history of the competition; and the William Primrose and Geneva Competitions in 2005. Also that year, Ms. Stumm was honored with an award from the Vriendenkrans of Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. Hailed as "outstanding" by The Strad Magazine, Ms. Stumm's 2009-10 season highlights include her recital debut at New York's Merkin Concert Hall, and guest appear-ances for Chamber Music of Schumann at Symphony Space's Thalia Theatre in New York and at the Philadelphia Brahms Festival. She also returns to Barbes Bar/Performance Space in Brooklyn as part of CAG's New Music/New Places series. A native of Atlanta, Jennifer Stumm began viola studies at the age of eight in her school's orchestra program and now devotes time to master classes and educational outreach with the hope that younger musicians will be similarly encouraged. Ms. Stumm holds a Bachelors of Music degree from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute as a student of Karen Tuttle. She pursued interests in astronomy and politics at the University of Pennsylvania at the same time. Ms. Stumm also earned a Masters of Music degree at The Juilliard School. Currently, she divides her time between musical commitments in the U.S. and Europe, where her recent mentors have been violist Nobuko Imai and cellist Steven Isserlis. www.jenniferstumm.com

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Subscribers receive a free ticket to the Young Performers Concert of the Marin Music Chest with their subscription. The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society supports the goals of the Marin Music Chest and hopes that subscribers will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to hear talented young musicians.