BELFAST — Belfast Chamber Music (BCM) opens its third season with a concert featuring the Trillium String Quartet. The concert takes place Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, at 2 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 37 Miller Street, Belfast. Admission is free, with donations encouraged to support the performers.

The program will include Johannes Brahms’s String Quintet, Op. 111, performed with BCM Artistic Director Philipp Elssner, alongside works for quartet by contemporary composer Caroline Shaw and pioneering American composer Florence Price.

The Trillium String Quartet is currently the Kinhaven–Cleveland Institute of Music String Quartet in Residence, splitting its time between Vermont and Ohio. The ensemble comprises violinists Sommer Altier and Judith Kim, violist Sydney Link, and cellist Amelia Smerz. Trillium has appeared in concert alongside the Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet and Béla Fleck, and has appeared at prominent New York venues including Merkin Hall, National Sawdust, and Symphony Space, according to a Belfast Chamber Music news release. The group has collaborated closely with composers Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) and Jake Runestead, and has attended and performed at festivals including the Calidore String Quartet Seminar, Texas Chamber Music Institute, DaPonte String Quartet Institute, and the Stretto Festival.

BCM Artistic Director Philipp Elssner is a violinist, violist, and music theorist based in Midcoast Maine. Since June of 2024 he has been a member of Maine’s renowned DaPonte String Quartet. In addition to his work with the quartet, Elssner also frequently performs with the Lake Trio across Maine, North Carolina, Michigan, and beyond. His principal teachers have included Jinjoo Cho at McGill, and Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has performed around the US and Canada, and at music festivals including Encore Chamber Music, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival.

Founded in 2024 by local artists, Belfast Chamber Music is dedicated to advancing the public appreciation of chamber music through affordable performances and educational programming, supporting both local and visiting artists while enriching the cultural life of our community.