Rabia Brooke’s 2026–27 season: a new film and four world premieres
Commissioned by Nova Linea Musica for Rabia, My Childhood Memories is a new work for solo violin by Chen Yi, drawn from her early years in China. In August, Rabia and Chen Yi spent a day together in the Sanctuary at Winnetka Congregational Church with director Nicolas DeGrazia and Bitter Jester Studios, filming their conversation, their work on the score, and Rabia’s performance. The result, Chen Yi: My Childhood Memories, is the first episode of In the Composer’s Room, a documentary series following the music being written for Rabia. It traces the piece from Chen Yi’s childhood, including her years during the Cultural Revolution, to the moment it reaches the stage. On March 31, at Inheritance: Chen Yi World Premiere, the evening opens with the film’s premiere screening, and Rabia then gives the work its first public performance, with Chen Yi in the audience.
The autumn opens on October 16 with First Light, joined by cellist Haddon Kay and pianist Tamila Salimdjanova. On October 28, at Philip Glass at 90: A Celebration at Guarneri Hall, Rabia plays Glass’s Partita for Solo Violin on a program with flutist Demarre McGill, violinist Desirée Ruhstrat, and cellist Wendy Sutter. In November she records Shawn Okpebholo’s Smooth | Pluck | Whirl with the composer, and in December she heads back to Switzerland and Germany for Schumann’s Piano Quintet in Zurich and Frankfurt with Claire Huangci, Desirée Ruhstrat, Mathis Rochat, and Andreas Fleck. The new year begins on January 29 with Into the New Year, alongside pianist Chelsea Wang, and in February Rabia records Jennifer Higdon’s Art Measures at Ravinia.
A second commission follows on April 23, when Rabia premieres Elizabeth Younan’s And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow… for solo violin, with the composer present to hear it for the first time.
Rabia also leads the Nova Linea Musica Piano Trio, with cellist Ashley Ryoo and pianist Tamila Salimdjanova, in three concerts featuring two more world premieres. On April 14 at Guarneri Hall, My Eternal Memories brings the world premiere of Stacy Garrop’s Into the Wild, with the composer in attendance, alongside works from the piano trio canon. On May 14, the Emerging Composers Concert pairs Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 with a new piano trio by an emerging composer. On June 4, the trio closes the season with the 2027 Score Call Winner Concert, setting Beethoven and Brahms beside the first performances of three new piano trios by the winners of Nova Linea Musica’s national Score Call, directed by Clarice Assad.
