Best of 2000: Best Crossover Classical Music Series

Muzik3

The brainchild of young cellist Felix Fan, Muzik3 -- going into its fourth year -- has insisted on breaking down boundaries. There have been Beethoven and Debussy quartets and Bach Brandenburg Concertos and Brahms and Tchaikovsky string sextets on the weekend programs in March and April. But Fan has made an effort to program avant-garde modern music. Add to this serious jazz, mixtures of standard with electronic instruments, arrangements of classic pieces for half chamber-music ensemble and half jazz combo, improvisations... Unlike what happens in some chamber music series, the director of this one does not use the concerts as a showcase for his own talents: when he plays, he takes a back seat, in spite of being one of the best young cellists around.