Sora Salon Series - A New York Summer Night at The Hotel Chelsea

Sora Salon Series returns this summer for a special evening in collaboration with The Hotel Chelsea!

On August 5th, join us for an intimate salon celebrating music, conversation, and exceptional food, whiskey, and sake within one of New York’s most legendary creative spaces — once home to artists including Patti Smith, Janis Joplin, Andy Warhol, and Leonard Cohen. Enjoy bites from Teruko, The Hotel Chelsea’s newest Japanese culinary destination, a Japanese Whiskey tasting from Suntory, and music that defines New York's spirit performed by internationally acclaimed musicians.

The evening will feature live performances by clarinetist Anthony McGill, violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, cellist Arlen Hlusko, and pianist Rieko Tsuchida - Sora's founder and Artistic Director.

Inspired by New York's enduring role as a crossroads of artistic innovation, the program brings together works by George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Schoenfield, Gabriel Kahane, Meredith Monk, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Blending classical tradition with contemporary voices, the repertoire celebrates the city's rich cultural tapestry and the creative exchange that continues to define its artistic identity.

Join us for a rare opportunity to celebrate The Hotel Chelsea’s enduring role as a home for creative dialogue while celebrating contemporary cultural connections between Japan and New York.

Event Schedule:

6-7 pm: Doors open - Complimentary food served by Teruko and Suntory whiskey & sake tasting provided; additional beverages for purchase at the bar

7-8 pm: Concert

8-9 pm: Post-concert drinks and meet the artists

9 pm: Optional dinner at Teruko (Reservation required. Please e-mail dining@hotelchelsea.com or visit this link to make a reservation)

Space is extremely limited. Attire is summer cocktail/creative chic

About Sora:

Sora curates intimate, high-level classical music salons that reimagine the classical music experience by bringing Japanese cultural values into dialogue with New York’s global artistic community. 

Rooted in the concept of gokan — the engagement of all five senses — Sora transforms exceptional spaces into intimate artistic experiences that foster meaningful dialogue between Japan and the United States. With Sora, meaning ‘sky’ in Japanese, we look to the sky as a metaphor for openness, connection, and limitless possibility.

By bringing audiences into close contact with world-class musicians in thoughtfully curated environments, Sora cultivates cultural exchange, artistic excellence, and a refined community connected through beauty and shared experience.

Learn more at www.sorasalonseries.com

About Teruko:

Located in The Hotel Chelsea's basement space that once housed the iconic nightclub, Serena, Teruko is a refined Japanese restaurant with a thoughtfully curated sushi bar led by Executive Chef Tadashi Ono, formerly of Matsuri at The Maritime Hotel.

Teruko’s decor is anchored by a striking centerpiece, the original backbar from Hotel Okura’s famed Orchid Bar in Tokyo, which was salvaged before renovations and brought to New York. 

Named after Teruko Yokoi, the Japanese-born renowned artist who lived at Hotel Chelsea with her husband, notable painter Sam Francis, the restaurant pays homage to her creative legacy, displaying a collection of her original paintings throughout the space.

Featured Artists

Anthony McGill, clarinet
Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (The New York Times), clarinetist Anthony McGill is one of classical music’s most recognizable and brilliantly multifaceted figures. In addition to his dynamic international solo and chamber music career, McGill is Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic—the first African-American principal player in the organization's history.

McGill is the 2024 Musical America Instrumentalist of the Year and recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize. He appears regularly as a soloist with leading orchestras including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics and the Chicago and Detroit Symphonies.

He has released acclaimed recordings with the Pacifica Quartet (American Stories, Mozart & Brahms Quintets), and pianist Gloria Chien (Here With You), and performed at President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration. His advocacy for racial equity includes founding the viral #TakeTwoKnees campaign and partnering with Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative, with whom he performed in Montgomery, AL on Juneteenth 2024.

McGill is a faculty member at Juilliard and Curtis, where he directs the Music Advancement Program (MAP), focused on young musicians from underrepresented communities. He helped launch the MAP Summer Scholarship Fund and supported its $50 million Crankstart endowment.

McGill is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, a board member of Cedille Records and the Harmony Program, and an advisor to several youth initiatives. He is a Backun Artist.

Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin
     American violinist Isabelle Ai Durrenberger is nationally recognized for her captivating and sincere artistry. Based in New York City, she is first violinist of the acclaimed Aeolus Quartet and an alumna of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program and the Marlboro Music Festival.
    An avid chamber musician, Durrenberger performs regularly with Chamber Music Northwest, Boston Chamber Music Society, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Jupiter Chamber Players. A dedicated educator, she previously taught at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and will serve as Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin at Oberlin Conservatory in 2027.
     Born in Taiwan and raised in Ohio in a musical home, Durrenberger studied with Jaime Laredo from age thirteen and later completed graduate studies at the New England Conservatory with Soovin Kim and Don Weilerstein. She is a prizewinner of the Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition and the Klein Competition and performs on a 2020 Zygmuntowicz violin generously loaned by a New York patron.

Arlen Hlusko, cello

Hailed for her “sublime cello prowess” (Take Effect) and “absorbing originality” (Gramophone), internationally acclaimed cellist ARLEN HLUSKO has performed extensively across North &South Americas, Asia, and Europe. Arlen has performed solo recitals across 3 continents, is the current Artist-in-Residence at Grace Farms, and cellist of the Bang on a Can All-Stars. She performs with ensembles including The Knights, Dolce Suono Ensemble, and Manhattan Chamber Players, and is a recent alumna of the Curtis Institute of Music and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. She is “capable of playing with great delicacy but also fearlessness; regardless of the character of the material, she executes it with authority and conviction [...] and open-hearted expression is present throughout” (Textura). Interested in a wide array of music, Arlen has collaborated closely with artists including Jordi Savall, Midori, Meredith Monk, Jacob Collier, and David Byrne, and is a GRAMMY-award winner for her collaboration with The Crossing. She has performed as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Calgary Philharmonic, among others, and is a regular at chamber music festivals including Spoleto USA, Tippet Rise, Bay Chamber, Rockport Music, and Music from Angel Fire. Committed to connecting with and serving her community through music, Arlen is the founding director of Philadelphia Performances for Autism, and is involved with numerous communities, including Carnegie Hall’s “Musical Connections” at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

Rieko Tsuchida, piano
Pianist Rieko Tsuchida enjoys a multi-faceted international career as a soloist, chamber musician, and entrepreneur.. She has performed as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic, California Symphony, Ashdod Symphonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, and San Domenico Orchestra, and most recently with the Armenian State Symphony in February 2025 giving the Armenian premiere of Michel Legrand’s Piano Concerto. Her prizes include the SONY USA Grant from the Salon de Virtuosi. She has also been invited to perform at other prestigious festivals and venues such as the Verbier Festival Academy, Salle Gaveau, Weill Hall, and more.

While living in Paris, she co-founded Ensemble IMAGO, Ensemble-in-Residence at the Fondation des États-Unis, and regularly performs and commissions new works by living composers. Ms. Tsuchida also served as the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Classical Music Collection Japan (CMCJ), a project funded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to promote the classical music culture of Japan. With CMCJ, she helped produce the first classical music concert in Nishihonganji Temple’s 400-year history in Kyoto and made her concert debut in Tokyo’s Oji Hall. Other recent performance highlights include concerts at Salle Cortot, the Eiffel Tower, and appearances on BBC 3 Radio and WFMT Chicago. She recently founded Sora Salon Series, a nonprofit concert series bringing Japanese culture to New York’s global artistic community through immersive classical music salons.

A lover of fashion and fine jewelry, she has performed for and represented leading luxury houses including Cartier, Mikimoto, Dolce & Gabbana, Naeem Khan, Lafayette 148, Monique Lhuillier, and Kiton.

Ms. Tsuchida studied at the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. Her mentors include John McCarthy, Boris Slutsky, Matti Raekallio, and Joseph Kalichstein.