Project Creator Alisa Weilerstein
Director Elkhanah Pulitzer
Set/Lighting Designer Seth Reiser
Costume Designer Molly Irelan
Artistic Producer/Advisor Hanako Yamaguchi
Hair & Makeup Heather Sterling
Technical Director William Knapp
In early December of 2020, during one of the many lockdowns that stretched through the Covid-19 pandemic, I found myself scribbling ideas on paper, imagining the moment we could gather again in the concert hall. I longed to create an experience that felt visceral, emotional, and deeply personal—one that spoke to the world we live in while embracing the intellectual and aesthetic depth that makes concert music such a singular form of human expression. But more than anything, I wanted to strip away expectation. What if we could simply listen first?
From that initial spark, FRAGMENTS has grown into a six-part cycle that weaves together all of Bach’s cello suites with 27 newly commissioned works in original, multisensory productions.
Each Fragment unfolds in an unbroken journey of sound and meaning, performed without pauses, immersing the audience completely. Program details are shared only after the performance, inviting listeners to experience the music on its own terms—without preconceptions, without a map, discovering as they go.
Since its inception, FRAGMENTS has taken on a life of its own, shaped both by its core concept and by the collaboration with extraordinary artists: director Elkhanah Pulitzer, lighting and set designer Seth Reiser, costume designer Molly Irelan, technical director William Knapp, and artistic advisor Hanako Yamaguchi.
I hope this experience invites reflection, connection, and discovery. Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure.
-Alisa Weilerstein
Featured Composers
Alan Fletcher, Allison Loggins-Hull, Ana Sokolović, Andy Akiho, Carlos Simon, Caroline Shaw, Courtney Bryan, Daniel Kidane, Gabriel Kahane, Gabriela Lena Frank, Gabriella Smith, Gerard McBurney, Gili Schwarzman, Gity Razaz, Jeffrey Mumford, Jessie Montgomery, Joan Tower, Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Hallman, Mathilde Wantenaar, Matthias Pintscher, Missy Mazzoli, Osvaldo Golijov, Paul Wiancko, Reinaldo Moya, Tania Leon, Thomas Larcher, Chen Yi
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Rudolfinum, Dvorak Hall, Prague, Czech Republic – March 8, 2026
FRAGMENTS 1: Wonder
FRAGMENTS 2: Tumult
Virginia Arts Festival, Williamsburg, VA – April 12, 2026
FRAGMENTS 5: Lament
Carnegie Hall, New York, NY – April 14, 2026
FRAGMENTS 5: Lament
The Purcell Room, Southbank Center, London, UK – May 17, 2026
FRAGMENTS 3: Emergence
The Purcell Room, Southbank Center, London, UK – May 17, 2026
FRAGMENTS 4: Labyrinth
Erholungshaus Leverkusen, Leverkusen, Germany – May 19, 2026
FRAGMENTS 1: Wonder
Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Dresden, Germany – May 21, 2026
FRAGMENTS 1: Wonder
FRAGMENTS 2: Tumult
PAST PERFORMANCES
Leadership support is generously provided by Joan and Irwin Jacobs. Patron support is provided by Judy and Tony Evnin, Clara Wu Tsai and Paul Sekhri.
Commissioning support from The San Diego Symphony, Spoleto Festival, UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures, Carnegie Hall, Celebrity Series of Boston, The Royal Conservatory of Music for the 21C Festival, and Washington Performing Arts.
Additional support is provided by the Alphadyne Foundation, the Musicians Advocacy Fund, the Steinsieck Foundation, and the Cheswatyr Foundation. FRAGMENTS was supported by New Music USA’s Organization Fund in 2024-25.
Special thanks to Martha Gilmer for her leadership and counsel, and to Celebrity Series of Boston, San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Aspen Music Festival and School for their continued support and in-kind contributions.
FRAGMENTS is made possible by generous contributions from individuals and institutions.
To make a tax-deductible gift, please see ways to give here:
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
“The most awesome classical-music event this season, intertwining 27 new works by living composers with J.S. Bach’s Six Cello Suites, was Alisa Weilerstein’s FRAGMENTS… Weilerstein crafted her FRAGMENTS into a creation you literally had to see. …Maybe there was extra exhilaration in the writing or in Weilerstein’s playing. Or perhaps she had taught us how to listen along the way.”
–Perry Tannenbaum, Classical Voice North America
(review of the complete FRAGMENTS cycle at the Spoleto Festival)
“As Weilerstein skilfully and with her customary emotional intelligence started to relax into this fiendishly hard music, the intensity did not let up. There was everything here; sonic colours and textures that brought to my mind a fractal in multi-dimensions: history, future, the now … A project like this, humble yet bursting with human creativity and imagination, makes us…think: all is not lost.”
–Clemency Burton-Hill, Financial Times
(on FRAGMENTS 4: Labyrinth)
“Weilerstein’s performance throughout was riveting. She is one of, if not the, pre-eminent cellists of the Millennial generation, and her exquisite tone, fierce concentration, and theatricality were enthralling…”
–Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union Tribune
(on FRAGMENTS 1: Wonder)
“If Weilerstein’s response was a common one to a common crisis, the result of her reflections shines with uncommon ambition, so much so that it is hard to think of many soloists of a similar stature who would dare to bring anything like it to the stage.”
–David Allen, The New York Times
(Profile of FRAGMENTS)
For more information about booking, please contact:
Opus 3 (North America)
Scott Mello: [email protected]
Askonas Holt (Europe, Asia, and Australia)
Emma Beecham: [email protected]
Additional booking and contact information available at www.alisaweilerstein.com.