Pittsfield — After more than 40 years of guiding South Mountain Concerts, Lou Steigler will step down as director at the end of the 2025 season. Steigler, who took the reins in 1987, has been the driving artistic force behind the series, quietly transforming it into one of the nation’s most respected chamber music venues. Under his leadership, South Mountain became a destination for many of the world’s most celebrated musicians—and a beloved tradition for a devoted audience.
Beginning in January 2026, the series will enter a new chapter under the direction of cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, who have been named artistic co-directors.
David Finckel and Wu Han said in a joint statement:
We are deeply honored to have been selected to preserve and carry forward the legacy of South Mountain Concerts. Having had the privilege to perform on this series more than sixty times between us, we have grown to increasingly value South Mountain’s unwavering commitment to presenting only the finest music performed by the world’s best artists. The extraordinary hall, in its unique setting, is admired by musicians worldwide, and the vision of the founder is today more important to revere and sustain than ever before. We therefore pledge to honor South Mountain’s traditions and respect the history and quality to which its audience has been accustomed over decades.
Located on a 59-acre hilltop in Pittsfield, South Mountain Concerts has upheld a legacy of world-class chamber music since its founding in 1918 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, one of the most influential patrons of classical music in American history. Inspired by a summer festival in Blue Hill, Maine, and with a seasonal home in the Berkshires, Coolidge established the series and appointed Dutch-born cellist Willem Willeke, of the Kneisel Quartet, as its first director. Then called the Berkshire Festival of Chamber Music, the series was later renamed South Mountain Concerts.
Willeke led the festival until his death in 1950, after which his second wife, Sally Willeke, took over. In 1987, leadership passed to Lou Steigler, a longtime church music director and organist with decades of experience. Under Steigler’s guidance, the concert series was revitalized, earning a reputation for artistic excellence and cultivating a devoted audience.
In 2026, with the endorsement of Steigler and the South Mountain board, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han will become the fourth directors in the series’ more-than-a-century-long history.
Built in 1918 by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge using timber from a dismantled textile mill, the 440-seat Concert Hall at South Mountain Concerts was christened “The Temple of Chamber Music.” Nestled on her mountain property in the Berkshires, the hall is renowned for its exceptional acoustics and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Behind its classic New England exterior lies a rustic yet intimate performance space, where audience members sit on cushioned antique church pews.
Distinguished artists of international stature—including Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein, Gary Graffman, Menahem Pressler, Leontyne Price, Rudolf Serkin, and Peter Serkin—have performed at South Mountain Concerts. Pianist Menahem Pressler made his debut at the hall in 1955 with the Beaux Arts Trio and returned more than 50 times. Leading string quartets such as the American, Borromeo, Brentano, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Orion, St. Lawrence, and Tokyo have been frequent guests. Esteemed piano trios have included the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and the ensemble of Wu Han, David Finckel, and Philip Setzer. Other notable ensembles have featured members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, St. Martin in the Fields, and Wu Han & Friends.
A composer in her own right, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge was a devoted patron of new music. Over the years, South Mountain Concerts has commissioned works by major 20th-century composers, including Ernest Bloch, Arnold Schoenberg, Francis Poulenc, Maurice Ravel, and Igor Stravinsky. In more recent seasons, the series has continued that legacy with commissions from Paul Epstein, Ned Rorem, Ezra Laderman, Joan Tower, David Del Tredici, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, among others.
In addition to serving a devoted audience each season, South Mountain Concerts supports the next generation of musicians by awarding scholarships to young performers from Berkshire County.
In 2016, South Mountain Concerts received the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service to Chamber Music, presented to Director Lou Steigler on stage at Alice Tully Hall in New York City.
Founders and artistic co-directors of Music@Menlo since 2003 and artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 2004, David Finckel and Wu Han have helped shape the field of chamber music through wide-ranging work as performers, record producers, educators, and mentors. Their leadership also includes roles at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach and La Musica Chamber Music Festival in Sarasota, where Wu Han serves as artistic director.
Named Musical America’s Musicians of the Year, the duo has performed worldwide and produced more than 150 recordings through their ArtistLed label, as well as Music@Menlo LIVE and CMS Live. Their discography includes landmark recordings of the complete Beethoven cello sonatas, as well as works by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Shostakovich, and Dvořák—alongside music by living composers who have written works specifically for them. Dedicated to nurturing the next generation of chamber musicians, they mentor young artists through the Bowers Program at CMS and the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo.
