Nova Linea Musica marks Philip Glass’s 90th birthday with an intimate program of his most
beloved chamber works.

Nova Linea Musica opens its Artists-in-Residence season with violinist Rabia Brooke, cellist Haddon Kay, and pianist Tamila Salimdjanova. Ravel, Chopin, Franck, Glière, and Bazzini's goblin dance: a century of repertoire, plus a work announced from the stage. The evening sets the spirit of the series, exceptional artists approaching every piece with curiosity, immediacy, and the sense that the music is being discovered in the room.

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Presented by the Chopin-Gesellschaft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V. as part of its 55th-anniversary season, this evening gathers four artists for a program of chamber music spanning the Classical, Romantic, and virtuoso repertoire.

Rabia joins pianist Claire Huangci for Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2, a work of storm and lyricism that stands among the composer's most dramatic contributions to the form. Claire follows with solo piano works by two composers close to the society's heart: Chopin's Ballade in F minor, Op. 52, and Polonaise in A-flat major, Op. 53, alongside a set of Paderewski miniatures.

After the interval, horn player Felix Klieser takes the stage for Dukas's "Villanelle," then joins Desirée Ruhstrat and Claire Huangci for Brahms's Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40, closing the evening in warm, autumnal color.

The concert is part of Rabia's August-September 2026 tour of Germany and Switzerland with Claire Huangci.

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Nova Linea Musica carries its new-music mission across the Atlantic, bringing an evening of chamber music that bridges traditional and contemporary repertoire to the Villa Morillon in Bern. NLM Artistic Director Desirée Ruhstrat and founding Artist-in-Residence Rabia Brooke are joined by pianist Claire Huangci, first-prize winner of the 2018 Concours Géza Anda, and by three distinguished European string players: violinist Benjamin Schmid, violist Mathis Rochat, and cellist Andreas Fleck. Set in the restored halls of the Villa Morillon, an 1830 country estate whose design draws on the Italian Renaissance villas of Palladio, these six artists move between the classic and the new, embodying NLM's founding purpose: to resource the music of our time and close the distance between composer, performer, and listener.

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Rabia Brooke and Claire Huangci explore music of the Americas in this special concert Program: William Kroll, Banjo and Fiddle, Amy Beach, Romance, and solo works by Bach.

Rabia Brooke returns to Germany for an afternoon that traces a line between the old world and the new. Presented by Braunschweig State Theatre, "Friends from 'near and far'" brings together musicians of the Staatstheater with guests from America for a program that travels from Leipzig to the American countryside and back again.

Rabia opens as soloist, drawing an arc from the searching Adagio of Bach's Sonata No. 1 (BWV 1001) through Nathan Milstein's dazzling Paganiniana and the quiet, prayerful voice of Lera Auerbach's T'filah, Op. 33. She then joins her colleagues for two cornerstones of the chamber repertoire: Dvořák's "American" String Quartet, written during the composer's years in the United States, and Tchaikovsky's richly Romantic String Sextet "Souvenir de Florence."

She performs alongside Desirée Ruhstrat and Dobromiła Hańćka (violin), Santiago E. Osorio and Arnold Stieve (viola), and Christian Bußmann and Guchao Zhao (cello).

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Violinist Rabia Brooke carries an evening that travels from Romantic brilliance to the bedrock of the solo-violin repertoire. The program opens with Schubert's Rondeau brillant, a sweeping showpiece for violin and piano, then turns to the drama and unrest of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, followed by a work of J.S. Bach for solo violin. The evening closes with Nathan Milstein's Paganiniana, a dazzling set of variations on Paganini themes that pushes a single violin to its expressive and technical limits, completing the arc the program's title promises: from Paganini to Bach.

Blooming Under Blue Skies

Nova Linea Musica’s season finale brings together vibrant voices from around the world in Blooming under Blue Skies, a night of bold premieres and cross-cultural resonance. At the heart of the program is the world premiere of a Nova Linea Musica commission by Grammy-nominated composer Clarice Assad, whose music pulses with rhythmic vitality, expressive nuance, and Brazilian warmth.

The evening also features Leon First’s shimmering Two Slovenian Songs, Hakki Cengiz Eren’s atmospheric Three Portals with guitarist Mak Grgić, and David Ludwig’s Prima Variations, performed with Desirée Ruhstrat. To close, Rabia Brooke joins Grgić for selections from Piazzolla’s sultry Histoire du Tango. Join us for a celebration of global artistry in full bloom.

Featring: Mak Grgić (guitar), Desirée Ruhstrat (violin), Wendy Sutter (cello), and Rabia Brooke (violin)

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Rabia Brooke opens the evening with Anthology of Emotions, written for her in 2023 by GRAMMY-nominated composer Clarice Assad, who served as mentor for the Nova Linea Musica Score Call 2025 and will be in attendance. She is then joined by the NLM Piano Trio (Rabia Brooke, violin; Daniel Dorsey, cello; Nathaneal Canfield, piano) for the world premieres of three new works by the Score Call winners: Freight by Graham Meyer, God is in the Details by Jason Zhang, and This Moment by Joel Y. Hoo. Nova Linea Musica is excited to present this evening of premieres.

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Rabia Brooke joins pianist Claire Huangci for an intimate salon program featuring Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor and Lera Auerbach's T'filah for Solo Violin. The evening closes with the first movement of Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat major, performed alongside Desirée Ruhstrat, Sanford Whatley, and Haddon Kay. Presented by Nova Linea Musica.

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Rabia & Friends: Traditional and New Works

Rabia & Friends brings violinist Rabia Brooke together with a rotating ensemble of close musical collaborators for an evening that blends beloved classics with vibrant new voices. This season features the NLM Piano Trio—violinist Rabia Brooke, cellist Haddon Kay, and pianist Tamila Salimdjanova—performing the second appearance of Stacy Garrop’s under the shimmering aspens, presented just after its world premiere. The program also features the second performance of Jennifer Higdon's Art Measures for violin and piano, performed by Rabia Brooke and pianist Nathanael Canfield, following its world premiere on March 11, 2026. Garrop and Higdon are among today's most celebrated composers, and Rabia & Friends offers a rare opportunity to hear their music up close, alongside works by Lera Auerbach, Paganini, Chopin, and Handel-Halvorsen, in an intimate and inspiring setting.

Featuring: NLM Piano Trio: Violinist Rabia Brooke, Cellist Haddon Kay, and Pianist Tamila Salimdjanova, with Pianist Nathanael Canfield

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Nova Linea Musica’s Artists-in-Residence series continued with Beyond the Art of Measures, an evening celebrating the journey from idea to realization. Violinist Rabia Brooke and pianist Nathanael Canfield gave the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Art Measures, and violist Samuel Rosenthal and pianist Tamila Salimdjanova premiered a new work by Michelle Barzel Ross, both Nova Linea Musica commissions. The program also featured music by Jessie Montgomery, Arvo Pärt, Keoni Bolding, and Pierre Boulez.

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Threads of Melodic Silence brings together a program of rich and reflective works performed by the NLM Piano Trio: Rabia Brooke (violin), Haddon Kay (cello), and Tamila Salimdjanova (piano). The evening features the world premiere of Under the shimmering aspens - a Nova Linea Musica commission by Chicago’s own Stacy Garrop, written especially for the ensemble. Also on the program are the Piano Trio No 1 by Grammy Award-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, and Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 28 by Lera Auerbach—a work of vivid emotional contrasts that evokes the spirit of both Bach and Shostakovich. Alexander Hersh will also share some solo and chamber works on the program.

On December 14, 2025, four virtuosic performers make their debut together at The CheckOut in an exhilarating concert preview. The Nova Linea Musica Piano Trio—Rabia Brooke (violin), Haddon Kay (cello), and Tamila Salimdjanova (piano)—presents Jennifer Higdon’s Piano Trio Color Through and Lera Auerbach’s Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 28, works that showcase the vivid colors and emotional depth of contemporary chamber music. Violinist Rabia Brooke and pianist Tamila Salimdjanova bring lyricism and brilliance to Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major, Op. 12, a youthful and spirited piece whose classical elegance stands in striking contrast to the modern harmonic language and intensity of Higdon and Auerbach. The evening concludes with Haddon Kay’s performance of Schumann's Fantasiestücke for Cello and Piano, Op. 73 capturing a Romantic ideal of fre imagination and shifting moods.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to witness their first performance together—a milestone moment that sets the stage for the trio’s highly anticipated January premiere of Stacy Garrop's Under the shimmering aspens.