New York, February 1, 2026 | Hosted by Arlene Hajinlian

On February 1st, Consort Eureka held its first New York salon concert. Hosted on the Upper West Side, the evening brought together musicians, longtime collaborators, and new friends for an intimate gathering of performance and conversation. I met our host, Arlene Hajinlian, last summer at an Insight Chamber Players concert at the Chautauqua Women’s Club. A pianist, violist and longtime supporter of chamber music, Arlene has been deeply involved in charitable and community initiatives through the arts, using music as a means of bringing people together. When we began planning Consort Eureka’s first New York salon, she generously offered to host — opening her Upper West Side apartment to help launch the project.

This first New York concert was also a snapshot of the team. Étienne and I first met at age fourteen at the Meadowmount School of Music, then reunited some fifteen years later when I moved to Montréal — his hometown — to begin my PhD at McGill. Liam, a master’s student, stepped into the role of Executive Director. He had never visited New York City, so it felt fitting that our first performance together would also be his first encounter with the city. We were joined by two key builders from earlier chapters: my mother, Susan, who flew up from Florida to support the launch (and continues to assist with administrative work), and Felicia Su, who flew in from Chicago. Felicia, a former student of mine from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Continuing Education Program, is an accountant by profession and a passionate lover of music. She generously lends her guidance as we grow — she and my mother both helped build Insight Chamber Players in its early days.

Arlene is an exceptional host. Her apartment is beautifully equipped for chamber music — two pianos, intimate seating, and a room that keeps everyone engaged. Roughly thirty guests joined us: bankers, a professor of philosophy, a puppetry teacher, and many others. As always, I like to mingle before we begin; a few conversations over wine eliminate any nerves and turn a performance into a shared event.

We opened with Shostakovich’s Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano, assembled in the 1950s by his friend Levon Atovmyan from earlier works. Before performing, I traced their origins in The Gadfly, The Human Comedy, and the ballet The Limpid Stream — music written under very different political pressures. What can sound light on the surface carries a more complicated history beneath it, and that context reframes the irony, lyricism, and dance impulse in the writing.

From there we turned to Bach’s Double Concerto in D Minor. We involved the audience in a short card game to demonstrate fugue and then listened for those mechanics in the performance. We also explored bariolage, from the French barioler, “to streak with many colors”: the rapid alternation between strings (often a stopped note against an open string) that produces a shimmering, multi-colored sound. As always, someone immediately recognized the word from hair styling — the “multi-colored streaks.”

We closed with a pastiche I composed in the style of Roman Baroque composers, written in honor of my colleague Nicola Canzano — an homage and an experiment in placing historical idiom in a contemporary setting.

As the evening concluded, the program gave way to conversation. Over food and drinks, guests lingered, asked questions, and shared their own stories. Arlene and I spoke at length about future possibilities, and it was clear that this first gathering had opened the door to many more. The following morning, Étienne and Liam made one final pilgrimage to the Empire State Building before we all dispersed the three musicians back to Montréal, Susan to Florida, and Felicia to Chicago.

Inaugural Soirée

New York, February 1, 2026 | Hosted by Arlene Hajinlian

Twisted Love