Marina Piccinini, flute; Justin Taylor, harpsichord
Marina Piccinini, celebrated by *Gramophone* as “the Heifetz of the flute,” returns to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society for an intimate Bach program with Franco-American harpsichordist Justin Taylor. Making his PCMS debut, Taylor joins Piccinini as an equal musical partner rather than serving only as an accompanying bass voice, bringing the harpsichord’s virtuosity and color to four of J.S. Bach’s essential flute sonatas.
The program features music of striking variety and expressive depth, performed by two artists known for technical command, imaginative interpretation, and wide-ranging musical interests.
When: Tuesday, November 24, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Venue: American Philosophical Society, Benjamin Franklin Hall, 427 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia
Tickets: $30 per ticket
Program: J.S. Bach, Flute Sonata in E Major, BWV 1035; Flute Sonata in B Minor, BWV 1030; Flute Sonata in A Major, BWV 1032; and Flute Sonata in E Minor, BWV 1034
Run time: Approximately 70 minutes without intermission
Lineup: Marina Piccinini, flute; Justin Taylor, harpsichord
Marina Piccinini: Piccinini is an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist recognized for her expressive intensity, technical authority, magnetic stage presence, and commitment to both traditional and contemporary flute repertoire. Her work has included nearly 40 commissioned new pieces, with premieres by composers including John Harbison, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Paquito D’Rivera, Matthew Hindson, Michael Torke, David Ludwig, Roberto Sierra, Aaron Jay Kernis, and Christopher Theofanidis.
She has appeared with major orchestras and ensembles around the world, including the Boston, Vienna, Montreal, Toronto, Tokyo, and National Symphonies, the London and Rotterdam Philharmonics, and the Ravenna Chamber Orchestra. Her collaborators have included conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur, Pierre Boulez, Myung-whun Chung, Gianandrea Noseda, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and Alan Gilbert, as well as the Tokyo, Mendelssohn, and Takács Quartets, Musicians from Marlboro, and pianist Andreas Haefliger.
Piccinini’s recordings appear on the Avie, Claves, and ECM labels. Her discography includes Bach’s complete flute sonatas and solo partitas, flute sonatas by Prokofiev and Franck, works by Bartók, Martinů, Schulhoff, Dohnányi, and Taktakishvili, and her own arrangement of the Paganini Caprices. She is a faculty member at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, created the Marina Piccinini International Masterclasses, and was the first flutist to receive an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Justin Taylor: Taylor is a French-American harpsichordist whose international career began with a first-prize victory at the 2015 Musica Antiqua Harpsichord Competition in Bruges. He also received the competition’s Audience Prize, Alpha Classics Prize, and EUBO Developing Trust Prize. In 2017, he was a finalist for the “Instrumental Soloist Revelation” category of the *Victoires de la Musique Classique* and received the Professional Critics Association’s Musical Revelation of the Year award.
He has performed throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States at venues including the Paris Philharmonie, Barcelona’s Auditori, London’s LSO St Luke’s, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the Louvre Auditorium, Tokyo’s Oji Hall, and the Library of Congress and Opéra Lafayette in the United States. His orchestral collaborations include the National Orchestra of Île-de-France, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonie, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Mannheim Philharmonic Orchestra, Concerto Köln, and Le Concert de la Loge.
Taylor has made more than ten recordings for Alpha Classics, including albums devoted to Rameau, Forqueray, Scarlatti, and Ligeti, as well as a fortepiano recording of Mozart’s 17th Concerto. He also contributed a three-disc collection of lesser-known Bach works to Deutsche Grammophon’s *BACH 333* project. He is a founding member of the ensemble Le Consort, whose recordings and performances focus on early music.
Livestream: The concert is also available to watch online. PCMS offers its livestreamed performances on a pay-what-you-wish basis and encourages viewers to contribute to support the series.