NEWS
Daniel Chong and Jessica Bodner to Lead CCMS as Artistic Directors Beginning With 2025-26 Season
An Announcement from CCMS Board President H. Nancy Sokol, MD
Our wonderful Founder and Artistic Director (AD) over the past 25 years, Wendy Putnam, will be stepping down at the end of this season. Though her shoes are difficult to fill, the Board and I are are thrilled to let you know that we have found the successor who we believe embodies everything we had hoped for to assure the robust future of CCMS, enhance our reach to new audiences and expand the boundaries of chamber music.
In fact, we found two such individuals with abounding musical excellence, communication skills, and vision who will share the position as Co-Artistic Directors. I am thrilled to let you know that Daniel Chong and Jessica Bodner, founding members of the outstanding Parker Quartet, have accepted our offer to lead CCMS, to start in the 2025–26 season.
Some of you may have heard them perform with the Parker Quartet at our first post-pandemic concert in Lincoln in 2022. If you were fortunate to have been there, you would have experienced the quartet’s beautiful music and Daniel and Jessica’s unique connection with the audience in the post-concert discussion they led.
Please read Daniel and Jessica’s letter and bios below, and join us in welcoming them to our CCMS community.
I look forward to seeing you at our concerts this season, and thank you for your support.
Best regards,
Nancy
September, 2024
Letter From Daniel Chong and Jessica Bodner
Dear CCMS Community,
We are thrilled to introduce ourselves as the new Co-Artistic Directors of the Concord Chamber Music Society. Stepping into this role at the end of this celebratory 25th season is both exciting and an honor. We cannot imagine a more fitting place to bring our passion for chamber music than to this outstanding organization.
As founding members of the Parker Quartet, we have dedicated over twenty years to performing chamber music around the world. For us, chamber music is not just a vocation; it is a way of life that embodies listening closely to diverse voices, collaborating with joy, and fostering spontaneity and creativity. These essential elements are fundamental to the transformative power of chamber music.
As CCMS begins its 25th season, there is so much to celebrate. From the unforgettable concerts and the impressive roster of artists who have graced the stage, to the meaningful interactions with young folks and the remarkable vision and leadership of Wendy Putnam – there is so much to honor. Looking ahead, we are eager to contribute to the growth of this vibrant community, to offer inspiring and innovative programming, and to continue introducing the voices of exceptional artists. Future plans also include expanding our reach through performances at non-traditional venues, deepening our community and educational engagements with partners throughout Greater Boston, and working towards establishing a dedicated concert venue for CCMS.
As painter and art critic John Berger wisely said, “The value of art resides in what it does, not what it is.” We look forward to embracing this belief through the music we will be sharing with you and to discovering the exciting possibilities that lie ahead for CCMS and its devoted community.
With warmest regards,
Daniel Chong and Jessica Bodner
September, 2024
Daniel Chong
GRAMMY Award-winning violinist Daniel Chong is one of the most exciting and versatile musicians of his generation and is known for his gripping interpretations and sincerity of expression. Since 2002, as the founding first violinist of the Parker Quartet, he has garnered wide recognition for his performances in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, Musikverein, and Wigmore Hall. Additionally, recent solo engagements include appearances at National Sawdust in New York City, Seoul Arts Center, and Jordan Hall in Boston. Daniel has received several awards and prizes such as the Cleveland Quartet Award and top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. In the recording realm, he can be heard on the ECM Records, Zig-Zag Territoires, Naxos, and Nimbus Records labels.
His major music festival performances include the Marlboro Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Mostly Mozart, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the Perigord Noir Music Festival. In addition to the core repertoire, Daniel is a strong advocate for new music. Some of the composers he has worked closely with are György Kurtág, Augusta Read Thomas, Helmut Lachenmann, and Chaya Czernowin.
Daniel currently serves as Professor of the Practice at Harvard University.
Jessica Bodner, described by the New York Times as a "soulful soloist," is known for her inexhaustible search for vivid music-making and exploration of sound. Jessica is the violist of the GRAMMY Award-winning Parker Quartet and has appeared at venues around the world both with the Quartet and as an individual such as at Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Library of Congress, Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Musikverein, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Seoul Arts Center, and has appeared at festivals including Edinburgh International Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Chamberfest Cleveland, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Moab Music Festival, Yellow Barn, Perigord Noir, Monte Carlo Spring Arts Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Istanbul’s Cemal Recit Rey, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hitzacker, and Heidelberg String Quartet Festival. As a member of the Parker Quartet, she has recorded for ECM Records, Zig-Zag Territoires, Nimbus, and Naxos.
Jessica held visiting teaching positions at New England Conservatory and Longy School of Music, has been on faculty at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Yellow Barn Festival, and is currently a faculty member of Harvard University's Department of Music as Professor of the Practice in conjunction with the Parker Quartet's appointment as Blodgett Quartet-in-Residence. Outside of music, Jessica enjoys running, practicing yoga, and hiking with her husband, violinist Daniel Chong, their son, Cole, and their vizsla, Bodie.
Jessica Bodner
Articles About Daniel and Jessica’s Appointment
“Bodner, a violist, and Chong, a violinist, are members of the Grammy Award-winning, Boston-based Parker Quartet, whose numerous honors include winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at France’s Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, and Chamber Music America’s prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award.
Bodner and Chong are professors in Harvard’s Department of Music.
“Together, they will bring a wealth of experience, fresh perspectives, and an inspiring commitment to artistic excellence,” said Nancy Sokol, CCMS president.
The newly appointed directors acknowledged Putnam’s “remarkable vision and leadership” and said, “We cannot imagine a more fitting place to bring our passion for chamber music than this outstanding organization.””
“We’ve been developing programs as members of the Parker Quarter for — like you say, this is our 22nd season. We’ve had a lot of experience thinking about what might be effective, what might be a great way to communicate with audiences in many different kinds of situations.
But then, we’ve also had wonderful experiences meeting and playing with so many other musicians, going to plenty of concerts, becoming aware of so many exciting voices that are ready to be on the stage today.
...
I think for the Quartet, having been in the Boston area for so long, we look forward to using those partnerships that we’ve built over this time and seeing what kind of creative possibilities they can bring to this series.”
“CCMS recently announced the appointment of two new Co-Artistic Directors in the form of founding Parker Quartet players Jessica Bodner and Daniel Chong. The husband-and-wife duo will step into the role from the opening of the 2025/26 season.”
“Chong and Bodner have served as founding members of the Parker Quartet since 2002. As part of the quartet and as individuals, both have made numerous performance appearances throughout the US and worldwide and received several awards and prizes, such as the Cleveland Quartet Award, plus top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition.
The Parker Quartet has recorded for ECM Records, Zig-Zag Territoires, Naxos and Nimbus. The members serve as professors of the practice at Harvard University’s Department of Music in conjunction with the ensemble’s appointment as Blodgett quartet-in-residence.”