2026 International Chamber Classics Festival Marks Penultimate Day with Further Masterclasses Followed by Public Concert
The third day of the 2026 International Chamber Classics Festival brought together both intensive study and public performance, combining a full programme of masterclasses with an evening concert held at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, to mark the penultimate day of this latest edition.
The day began with a series of classes led by German cellist Claudio Bohórquez, who continued his work with participants in a focused setting. Among the students taking part were Jiaqui Liu and Benjamin Cohen, both of whom benefited from the detailed guidance of the distinguished professor. As on the previous day, the sessions encouraged not only individual development but also collective learning, with participants observing and engaging in discussion.
In the evening, the festival returned to the concert stage, with a chamber performance featuring Italian pianist Enrico Pace, American violist Matthew McDowell, and Bohórquez himself, in a programme that brought together a selection of core Romantic repertoire, offering audiences a highly expressive musical journey.
Indeed, the concert opened with Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestücke, Op. 73, followed by Johannes Brahms’s Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99, a work notable for its structural breadth and expressive depth. The programme then concluded with Brahms’s Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114, performed in an arrangement for viola, cello, and piano.
Combining pedagogical work with high-level performances, the third day of ICCF 2026 reflected the festival’s integrated approach, in which the work undertaken in masterclasses finds a natural continuation on stage. As the festival now moves towards its final day, this interplay between preparation and performance continues to define its artistic direction.
