As the world prepares to mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death in 2027, cellist Michael Kannen and pianist HieYon Choi open the 2026–2027 Tuesdays at Six series with an exciting preview: the complete cycle of Beethoven's five cello sonatas, performed across two programs.

The first concert (September 15) opens with the Seven Variations on "Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen" from Mozart's The Magic Flute — a reminder of how deeply Beethoven treasured his great predecessor — before turning to the paired Op. 5 Sonatas, youthful and ambitious works written for the Prussian court. The second concert (September 22) presents the towering later sonatas: the searching Op. 69 and the visionary Op. 102 pair, works that point unmistakably toward Beethoven's final quartets.

Michael Kannen, Director of Chamber Music at Peabody Institute and founding member of the acclaimed Brentano String Quartet, brings a distinguished career in chamber music to this traversal. The Boston Globe has praised him as "an expert and experienced chamber music player, particularly gifted at rhythmic nuance and subtleties of bowing and tonal color." His partner, HieYon Choi — now Professor of Piano at Peabody — is among the rare pianists worldwide to have performed multiple complete Beethoven sonata cycles, earning international acclaim for her recordings released on Decca in 2025. Gramophone singled out her playing for its "scurrying brio and harmonic awareness," while the Washington Post called her Beethoven "the evening's most impressive performance."

Together, Kannen and Choi bring clarity, intimacy, and deep interpretive conviction to this milestone undertaking — a fitting launch for our season and an inspired anticipation of the Beethoven anniversary year to come.

• Michael Kannen, cello

• HieYon Choi, piano