Biss has curated a selection of works that range from stormy Classical drama to 20th-century nostalgia
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Classical music lovers in North Jersey, mark your calendars. On Sunday, March 8, 2026, the prestigious Parlance Chamber Concerts series welcomes one of the most profound musical minds of our time: pianist Jonathan Biss.
Performing at the stunning West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, Biss brings a program that isn’t just a concert—it’s an expressive journey through three centuries of keyboard masterpieces.
Beyond the Squeeze: Radu Ratoi Redefines the Accordion in Ridgewood
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Experience a musical revolution at the West Side Presbyterian Church this February.
Ridgewood, NJ – Forget everything you think you know about the accordion. On Sunday, February 22, 2026, Parlance Chamber Concerts makes history with its first-ever accordion recital, featuring the sensational Moldovan virtuoso Radu Ratoi.
Don’t Miss It: Internationally Acclaimed Tenor Lawrence Brownlee Brings Thrilling Bel Canto to Ridgewood This October!
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
RIDGEWOOD, NJ – Prepare for an unforgettable afternoon of world-class vocal artistry! Parlance Chamber Concerts is proud to present “The Bel Canto Tenor: Lawrence Brownlee,” featuring one of the most celebrated voices in opera today.
Ridgewood NJ, experience an unforgettable evening of music as Parlance Chamber Concerts honors the legendary Maurice Ravel on his 150th birthday with a mesmerizing performance at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ, on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at 4 PM.
Ridgewood NJ, Mark your calendars for an extraordinary musical event! On Sunday, February 9, 2025, at 4:00 PM, Steven Isserlis, the world-renowned British cellist, will grace the stage at the West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, NJ. Presented by Parlance Chamber Concerts, this is an experience music lovers won’t want to miss.
Ridgewood NJ, mark your calendars for January 19, 2025, as Grammy Award-winning organ virtuoso Paul Jacobs returns to Parlance Chamber Concerts for an unforgettable performance. Recognized by The Washington Post as “one of the great living virtuosos” and praised by The New York Times as “one of the finest organists of our day,” Jacobs will take center stage to perform a program of towering masterpieces for the organ.
Ridgewood NJ, prepare for a mesmerizing evening as renowned English pianist Paul Lewis returns to the Parlance Chamber Concerts stage on November 17. Celebrated worldwide for his poetic interpretations of Franz Schubert’s work, Lewis will perform Schubert’s final trilogy of piano sonatas — a profound and introspective set composed just two months before Schubert’s death.
Ridgewood NJ, On May 6, the stellar Neubauer-McDermott Family will bring our eleventh season to an exhilarating conclusion. Violist Paul Neubauer (of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society), violinist Kerry McDermott (of the New York Philharmonic), and their children, violinists Oliver and Clara Neubauer, will be joined by Kerry’s sister, CMS pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, in music of Bach, Dvořák, Ravel, and Schumann.
The concert will include the World Premiere of Gilad Cohen’s* Quintet for Three Violins, Viola, and Piano, commissioned by PCC especially for this event. Inspired by the familial theme, Cohen’s work will focus on children’s songs from Israel and America.
*Gilad Cohen is a Ridgewood resident and a music professor at Ramapo College. A Princeton Ph.D., he is the winner of the 2016 Barlow Prize and the 2010 Israeli Prime Minister Award for Composers.
Johann Sebastian Bach Preludio from Partita No. 3 arranged for 3 violins & viola
Antonín Dvořák Terzetto in C, Op. 74 for 2 violins and viola
Maurice Ravel Tzigane for violin and piano
Gilad Cohen World Premiere for 3 violins, viola and piano
Robert Schumann Sonata No. 1 in A minor, Op. 105 for violin and piano
Mark O’Connor F.C.’s Jig for violin and viola
Charles Dancla Variations on Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman for three violins and viola
Y. Donbon Zowie! Goes the Weasel for 3 violins and viola
Parlance Chamber Concerts:
West Side Presbyterian Church
6 S. Monroe Street, Ridgewood, NJ
Adults $40, Seniors $30, Young Adults $20, Students $10.
for more info call 800-838-3006
https://www.parlancechamberconcerts.org/2017-2018-season/may-6-2018.
https://www.parlancechamberconcerts.org
Visit parlancechamberconcerts.org for ticket info
Parlance Chamber Concerts Presents Neubauer-Mcdermott Family Concert Sun, May 06, 2018 Time: 3:00 PM Location: West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe Street, Ridgewood NJ 07450 Cost: 40
parlance chamber concerts presents danish string quartet Sun, April 08, 2018 Time: 3:00 PM Location: West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe Street, Ridgewood NJ 07450 Cost: 40
March 18,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Parlance Chamber Concerts Presents Danish String Quartet: On April 8, it will be a thrill to introduce the sizzling Danish String Quartet to our community. The Danes’s rare combination of rock star charisma, ensemble perfection, and consummate artistry have made them one of the most in-demand quartets of our time. Their All-Beethoven concert will feature three masterpieces from his early, middle and late periods.
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet in D, Op. 18, No. 3
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet in F, Op. 59, No. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet in C# minor, Op. 131
parlance chamber concerts presents violinist benjamin beilman & pianist orion weiss Sun, March 11, 2018 Time: 3:00 PM Location: West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe Street, Ridgewood NJ 07450
March 4,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Parlance Chamber Concerts Presents Violinist Benjamin Beilman and Pianist Orion Weiss:
Duos From Four Centuries
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Time:3:00PM
Location: West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 Monroe Street, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Cost: Adults: $40; Seniors: $30; Young Adults:$20;Students:$10
Our March 11 event will spotlight two of today’s fastest-rising stars, violinist Benjamin Beilman and pianist Orion Weiss. Their deeply communicative performances go far beyond technical mastery and have won them worldwide acclaim. Their far-flung musical journey will range from the 18th to the 21st centuries, including music by Mozart, Beethoven, Bartók, and a newly composed work by the renowned American composer Frederic Rzewski.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata in G major,K. 379 (1781)
Frederic Rzewski: Demons (2017)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No.10 in G, Op. 96 (1812)
Fritz Kreisler: Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta (1947)
Parlance Chamber Concerts:
West Side Presbyterian Church
6 S. Monroe Street, Ridgewood, NJ
Adults $40, Seniors $30, Young Adults $20, Students $10.
for more info call 800-838-3006
https://www.parlancechamberconcerts.org/2017-2018-season/march-11-20018.
Sun, December 17, 2017 Time: 3:00 PM Location: West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe Street, Ridgewood NJ 07450 Cost: 40
Ridgewood NJ, Parlance Chamber Concerts presents the pianistic partnership of Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung. Their musical marriage has been described as one “of wondrous colors and dextrous aplomb, subtly balanced to make a musical performance sound as one.” Their virtuosity, passion, and artistic chemistry will be on display in glittering duets by Mozart, Shostakovich, Lutoslawski, and Rachmaninoff.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sonata in C, K. 521 for piano 4-hands Program Notes
Dmitri Shostakovich Concertino in A minor, Op. 94 for two pianos Program Notes
Witold Lutoslawski Variations on a Theme of Paganini for two pianos Program Notes
Sergei Rachmaninoff Suite No. 2, Op. 17 for two pianos Program Notes
Parlance Chamber Concerts:
Duo Pianists Alessio Bax & Lucille Chung
Sunday, December 7, 2017 at 3:00pm
West Side Presbyterian Church
6 S. Monroe Street, Ridgewood, NJ
Adults $40, Seniors $30, Young Adults $20, Students $10.
for more info call 800-838-3006
https://www.parlancechamberconcerts.org/2017-2018-season/december-17-2017. https://www.parlancechamberconcerts.org
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Arts Foundation Honors were held on Sunday, January 29, 2017, 4-6pm, at Fish Restaurant in Ridgewood. Honorees for this inaugural event are Parlance Chamber Concerts and Art of Motion, two iconic Ridgewood performing arts organizations.
The event was hosted by former deputy mayor Albert Pucciarelli, now president of the Ridgewood Arts Foundation. Pucciarelli opened the evening by acknowledging those in attendance, including members of the Board of Education, council members and you guessed it former mayor Paul Aronsohn.
The Ridgewood Arts Foundation, a public charitable 501(c)(3) foundation, was created to provide funding for the many worthy artistic endeavors within our village, to encourage the further development of the arts in our community, and to establish a scholarship fund for art students from Ridgewood.
Editor’s Note – The fourth event of Parlance Chamber Concerts’ ninth season will take place this coming Sunday afternoon, March 6, at 3 p.m. at West Side Presbyterian Church. Michael Parloff, the event’s founder and former flutist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, gives us some background insight into what we can expect on Sunday.
DECEMBER 11, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Editor’s Note – The third event of Parlance Chamber Concerts’ ninth season will take place this coming Sunday afternoon, Dec. 13, at 3 p.m. at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood. Here concert founder Michael Parloff gives us some background to the musicians and the program.
The concert will feature three spectacular virtuosi, violinist Kristin Lee, pianist Gilles Vonsattel (both winners of the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant) and the celebrated cellist Paul Watkins of the Emerson String Quartet.
In honor of Beethoven’s 245th birthday next Wednesday, Sunday afternoon’s concert will be devoted to three highlights of his chamber repertoire: the heroic A-major violin sonata (“Kreutzer”), the intimate cello sonata in C, and the ever-popular D-major piano trio (“The Ghost”).
Parlance Chamber Concerts
All Beethoven Program – Sunday, December 13 at 3pm – West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 S. Monroe Street, Ridgewood Free parking and Childcare Tickets at the Door – Adults $40; Seniors $30; Young Adults $20; Students $10
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MICHAEL PARLOFF Paquito D’Rivera is a world-class musician who composes and plays both the saxophone and clarinet. Stefon Harris plays the vibraphone and marimba and is one of today’s top jazz artists
APRIL 24, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY SUBMITTED BY MICHAEL PARLOFF
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Editor’s note – Michael Parloff of Ridgewood is presenting the final event of the 2014-15 season of his very popular Parlance Chamber Concerts this coming Sunday afternoon, April 26, at 3 p.m. at West Side Presbyterian Church. Here he offers our readers some background on the world class performers.
The legendary sax and clarinet virtuoso Paquito D’Rivera, the reigning master of Latin jazz, will team up with special guest Stefon Harris, the blazing young star of the vibraphone and the marimba.
They will be joined by Paquito’s all-star Quintet, which includes the Argentinian trumpeter/trombonist Diego Urcola, the Peruvian bassist Oscar Stagnaro, and the American pianist Alex Brown and drummer/percussionist Eric Doob. Together, this stellar ensemble was awarded the Grammy award for best Latin Jazz Album of 2001.
