Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts, New York City, announces Spring 2026 season of its free POP-UP CONCERTS - March, April, May 2026.
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
Miller Theatre’s hour-long, musician-curated Pop-Up Concerts—free, informal, and intimate—bring the audience right onto the stage. Spring 2026 programme attached.
We have received the following press release;
Miller Theatre announces Spring 2026 season of its free POP-UP CONCERTS (3/31 - 5/18)
Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts announces the spring season of POP-UP CONCERTS
Free & informal “happy hour” concerts with the audience onstage
Tuesday, March 31
Alexis Gerlach
Bach’s Cello Suites
Monday, April 6
Eleonore Oppenheim
Bass Pairs
Tuesday, April 28
Alice Teyssier and Friends
Adventures of La Maupin
Monday, May 18
Imani Winds
The French Connection
Free admission • Doors at 5:30PM, music at 6PM
at Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th Street)
Pop-Up Concerts
Onstage seating is first-come, first-served
Concerts start at 6PM and doors open at 5:30PM
Miller Theatre’s hour-long Pop-Up Concerts—free, informal, and intimate—bring the audience right onto the stage, inches from virtuoso performers who share not only their music but the stories behind it. The unique setting “feels closer to a loft party than a formal concert” (ODEA). One loyal audience member calls it “the greatest hour of culture in New York.”
“Some concerts are better shorter. That’s the premise behind this intimate happy-hour pop-up series, in which audience members can fortify themselves with a drink,
sit onstage with the musicians, and listen…”
— New York Magazine
“Even after the weekend’s over, if you’re craving world-class music, you can hear some for free at neighborhood gem The Miller Theater at Columbia University.”
— West Side Rag
Tuesday, March 31
Alexis Gerlach
Bach’s Cello Suites
A familiar presence on the Miller stage, the expressive cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach makes her Pop-Up Concerts debut with an intimate recital of Bach’s timeless Cello Suites.
Program:
J.S. Bach Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007
J.S. Bach Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011
Monday, April 6
Eleonore Oppenheim
Bass Pairs
Eleonore Oppenheim, bass; Cameron Mesirow, voice
Jessie Montgomery, violin; Ashley Bathgate, cello
Nathan Koci, accordion
In Bass Pairs, adventurous bassist Eleonore Oppenheim curates an intimate evening of duo performances that reimagine the double bass in conversation. Collaborating with extraordinary musicians, the program moves fluidly from Romantic lyricism to bold contemporary soundscapes.
Program:
Julia Wolfe Retrieve (2016) for cello and double bass
Giovanni Bottesini arr. Oppenheim Elegy No. 1 in D Major
Bottesini arr. Oppenheim Elegy No. 3
big dog little dog set of original compositions
Glasser duo arrangements
Tuesday, April 28
Alice Teyssier and Friends
Adventures of La Maupin
Alice Teyssier, voice; Michael Weyandt, baritone
Peter Evans, trumpet; Benjamin Katz, harpsichord
Alice Teyssier presents a new cantata-style work inspired by the life and legend of La Maupin, the late-17th-century queer opera singer and swordswoman renowned for her rapturous voice and fabled adventures. Joined by a small ensemble, Teyssier embodies La Maupin at the end of her life, conjuring the arias La Maupin might have sung, the duels she may have fought, and her fearless displays of passion.
Monday, May 18
Imani Winds
The French Connection
Brandon Patrick George, flute; Mekhi Gladden, oboe; Mark Dover, clarinet
Kevin Newton, French horn; Monica Ellis, bassoon
Renowned for their electrifying performances and adventurous programming that bridges tradition and innovation, the Grammy-winning quintet Imani Winds presents a program spotlighting three composers shaped by French culture, jazz, and folk traditions.
Program:
Valerie Coleman Suite: Portraits of Josephine Baker (2016)
Lalo Schifrin La Nouvelle Orleans (1987)
Henri Tomasi Cinq Danses Profanes et Sacrées (1959)
About the Artists
Alexis Gerlach
Cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach has been lauded in the press for her “gripping emotion” and “powerful artistry,” qualities which have led to a career as a solo artist and chamber musician, with performances across the U.S. and in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. As the founding cellist of Trio Solisti, Gerlach performed for 19 years at major American venues and series, recorded extensively, and gave the premieres of many new works. In addition, she was a founding member of the sextet Concertante, with whom she toured for 15 years throughout the U.S., and recorded much of the string sextet repertoire. A frequent collaborator with dancers, Gerlach collaborated as solo cellist with the Paul Taylor Dance Company on tour in India and at New York’s City Center, and in a duo with New York City Ballet principal dancer, Damian Woetzel. She has performed at many chamber music festivals including Marlboro, Aspen, Caramoor, Bridgehampton, and La Musica di Asolo, and as a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. With Musicians From Marlboro, she has toured both in the U.S. and internationally. Gerlach studied cello at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division, and at The Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School.
Alice Teyssier
http://www.aliceteyssier.com
“An arresting soprano, in all senses” (Los Angeles Times), Brooklyn-based Alice Teyssier has appeared as a soloist with the San Diego Symphony, International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, San Francisco New Music Players, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, the 21st Century Consort, Bourbon Baroque, and Bach Collegium San Diego, among others, and is also a regular performer on Los Angeles’ renowned Monday Evening Concerts series. A core ensemble member of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Teyssier performs frequently with Peter Evans and his ensembles SYMPHONY and Being & Becoming, the quartet Trinket, and The Atelier. This season, she appears at the Museum of Modern Art, Symphony Space, Tenri Cultural Institute, the Museum of the City of New York, Bohemian National Hall, the Century Club, Miller Theatre at Columbia University, Roulette Intermedium, and Pioneer Works, among other New York City venues. She will premiere new works by Iceberg New Music composers Camila Agosto, Joshua Biggs, Rick Burkhardt, Modney, David Sanford, Nina Young, and Jue Wang, and will also present and record her own compositions. Since 2018, much of her creative life has been shaped by her role as a mother; through her Thresholds project, she composes, devises, and collaborates around themes of life transitions. In 2021, Teyssier co-founded MATRICALIS, a project and community hub reflecting on the impact of motherhood on individual musicians through resources, open forums, and advocacy. She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (B.M., M.M.), the Conservatoire de Strasbourg (Specialization Diploma), and the University of California, San Diego (D.M.A.), and serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Performance in the Music Department at New York University.
Eleonore Oppenheim
http://www.eobass.com
Eleonore Oppenheim is a genre surfing musical polyglot. Her current projects include big dog little dog (a duo with composer/violinist Jessie Montgomery), an acoustic trio with art-pop auteur Glasser and multi-instrumentalist Robbie Lee, and the avant folk-jazz supergroup The Hands Free (with James Moore, Caroline Shaw, and Nathan Koci), among others. Oppenheim has an exciting repertoire of commissioned solo pieces and has also worked with established composers including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Meredith Monk, in composer-led ensembles like Missy Mazzoli’s “all-star, all female” bandsemble Victoire and Florent Ghys’ low strings and drums powerhouse Bonjour, with the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and with many other artists from the indie rock, jazz, and folk worlds. In addition to writing and arranging music, she has established herself as a go-to chamber musician, soloist, recording artist, and large ensemble player. Oppenheim enjoys working in the theater as well and spent the better part of 2019 and 2020 performing in Daniel Fish’s groundbreaking reimagining of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! off- and on Broadway. Also a music educator, she currently runs a new music program for teens called Face the Music at the Kaufman Music Center and teaches and manages ensembles at Special Music High School. She is an alumna of The Juilliard School, the Yale School of Music, and Stony Brook University.
Imani Winds
http://www.imaniwinds.com
Celebrating nearly three decades of transformative music-making, the Grammy-winning and four-time Grammy-nominated Imani Winds has led both a revolution and an evolution of the wind quintet. Their repertoire bridges the traditional and the contemporary—featuring core chamber works, reimagined arrangements, and newly commissioned pieces by both renowned and rising composers. Imani Winds’ programming reflects the urgency and diversity of our times, amplifying stories and voices too often left unheard. Their 2024 release, BeLonging—a collaboration with composer Andy Akiho exploring the issue of mass incarceration—earned a 2025 Grammy nomination. Other recent highlights include a double quintet by Arturo Sandoval, featuring Boston Brass; Jessie Montgomery’s work inspired by her great-grandfather’s migration north; and Carlos Simon’s tribute to African American icons. These works are part of the ensemble’s ongoing Legacy Commissioning Project, encompassing dozens of world premieres. Now in their 29th touring season, Imani Winds regularly appears on major chamber music series and at leading performing arts centers and summer festivals, including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Chamber Music Northwest, Banff Centre, and the Chautauqua Institution. Internationally, their reach extends across Asia, Europe, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2019, Imani Winds founded the Imani Winds Foundation, followed by the creation of Imani Winds Media—a record label spotlighting artists of color.
Miller Theatre
http://www.millertheatre.com
One of New York City’s most vital music venues, Miller Theatre at Columbia University is a thriving home for contemporary and early music that serves audiences, composers, and musicians. Founded in 1988, Miller’s mission is to develop new audiences; foster enthusiasm for the arts by pioneering new programming approaches; educate the public by presenting specialized programs to a broad audience; discover diverse repertoire and commission new works; and share the University’s intellectual riches with the public. Led by Executive Director Melissa Smey, Miller Theatre sparks engagement and personal connections to music through distinctive live performances and is deeply committed to fostering collaborative relationships with the composers and musicians who make this possible.
Miller Theatre’s 2025-26 Season is supported by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and the Howard and Sarah D. Solomon Foundation.
Support for contemporary music at Miller Theatre is provided by the Aaron Copland
Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, and the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program with funding from the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund.
Columbia University’s Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall.
Directions and information are available online at http://www.millertheatre.com or via the Miller Theatre Box Office, at 212/854-7799.