A WORLD CUP OF MUSIC
Published in the July 11, 2026 edition.
At a certain point, when you’ve run a festival for so long and it’s been so successful, you no longer have to work too hard recruiting the bright lights to show up and play.
Because the hosts, Rebecca Hang and Brian Schuldt, are gracious and humble and it’s about music and not ego.
Because the audiences are appreciative.
And because it’s Mammoth Lakes and it’s beautiful and the air-conditioning is au naturel.
Here’s an example of humility. I’m looking at the festival poster and nowhere does it state what year of the festival it is.
So I text Brian, and he replies “25th!” Every other festival producer on Earth would be hyping/marketing that to the hilt.
Rebecca Hang would much rather spend ten minutes talking about how she and Brian came to feature the work of a relatively obscure composer named Louise Héritte Viardot (1841-1918) for the July 17 “Enchanted Forests” concert.
Hang explains that Viardot’s grandfather taught her how to write music by tossing coins down to street performers. The street performers would then play songs and grandfather would have young Louise write the score by ear.
One of many fabulous stories which you can find via Google scholar, where there is an English translation of her memoirs.
This year, the special guests of note for the first weekend include violinist Jason Issokson, violist Ben Ullery, and Amy Jo Rhine, who plays the French Horn.
Rhine and Issokson will team up to play a Brahms piece, Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano, opus 40, at the July 17 performance.
Ullery is a last-minute addition and is not even listed in the program. His partner, however, is. That would be Cellist Dahae Kim.
*These musicians like to pair off.
Ullery was just named the principal violist of the LA Philharmonic, and will play on July 17 and 19.
Speaking of promotions, Issokson was just named the new concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony.
Lunch: Forgive my ignorance. What is a concertmaster?
Schuldt replied that a concertmaster is in essence the person who leads the orchestra – the team captain amongst the instrumentalists – second to the conductor.
This position is a competitive one and requires several rounds of auditions.
Issokson was a member of the LA Chamber Orchestra prior to landing this prestigious position.
He is not new to the Unbound Festival, having been a last-minute fill-in last year for Alex Woods, who broke his pinkie while playing in a pool with his children a week before the event.
Barring a similar mishap, Woods will perform on opening night, July 15.
On Sunday, July 19, Hang noted that a piece by Jessie Montgomery will be performed. Montgomery was named the 2025 Classical Woman of the Year, and is a violinist and composer who was born in New York City, attended Julliard, and was the artist-in-residence last year at the Kaufman Music Center (also New York City).
Arianna Pope, a former student of Hang’s who is now playing in the festival for her second consecutive year, had played the piece by Montgomery previously and recommended it.
“I love it when younger colleagues make suggestions,” said Hang.
Again. Humility.
“Each program is a little gem … it’s tempting to slot the Germans [more frequently], but we have a nice mix this year.”
“It’s a World Cup of music,” deadpanned Schuldt.
If you really like the Germans, they’re showcased on July 24. But we’ll talk about that in next week’s preview.
For tickets and more information, please see the ad on page 9 or visit chambermusicunbound.org.
