Mendelssohn’s Genius Comes to Life in Omaha Chamber Music Society Concert

March 20th, 2026

When Felix Mendelssohn was just sixteen years old, he composed a work that would go on to become one of the crown jewels of chamber music.

This March, the Omaha Chamber Music Society presents Mendelssohn’s String Octet as part of its Heritage Series, a program that highlights both youthful brilliance and enduring craftsmanship.

For Thomas Klug, artistic director of the series and principal violist of the Omaha Symphony, programming this concert came with a unique challenge. In a season centered on Romantic-era repertoire, this program features neither piano nor voice, two elements that dominated much of 19th-century chamber music.

Instead, the focus turns entirely to strings, instruments that shaped musical life across Europe.

“The string quartet, the violin, viola, cello were instruments that were played by vast numbers of people,” Klug explains. “And some of the greatest music ever written was written for these instruments.”

At the heart of the program is Mendelssohn’s Octet, scored for four violins, two violas, and two cellos. The result is a rich, layered sound that bridges intimacy and grandeur.

Klug points to the composer’s deep study of Johann Sebastian Bach as a key influence, especially in the intricate counterpoint and fugal writing that runs through the piece. At the same time, Mendelssohn’s gift for melody shines through.

“There’s a lot of lyrical writing in this piece,” Klug says, “especially in the slow movement.”

All eight performers are members of the Omaha Symphony, though this marks their first time performing together as an octet. That dynamic brings a different kind of musical experience, one that relies on collaboration rather than direction.

In an orchestra, communication flows primarily from the conductor. In chamber music, it’s something else entirely.

“In a string quartet, one hundred percent of the communication comes from all four players,” Klug says. “We stop, we talk about a passage, we work on it again and again until we feel it’s right.”

That process creates a kind of musical conversation, something Anne Madison, a faculty member at the Omaha Conservatory of Music, says can even feel spontaneous in the moment.

“Sometimes we’re negotiating as we play,” she says. “There’s a push and pull, and sometimes a real sense of spontaneity.”

That sense of immediacy connects chamber music to something unexpected, the flexibility and responsiveness often associated with jazz.

The concert also reflects a broader theme within the Heritage Series, the idea of musical mentorship. Mendelssohn, who would later mentor Robert Schumann, stands at the center of a lineage that connects generations of composers and performers.

For audiences, the result is more than a performance. It’s a window into a tradition where music was not only written for concert halls, but also for living rooms, salons, and communities.

The concert takes place Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Omaha Conservatory of Music.