November 17, 2024, 2:00
Facing the Music: Music, Life and Death
Guest artist, Tori Tedeschi Adams, soprano
Jon Deak
The Jury
Tori Tedeschi Adams, soprano; Leslie Shank, violin; Natsuki Kumagai, violin; Sarah Switzer, viola; Laura Sewell, cello
Shostakovich
Viola Sonata
Kenneth Freed, viola; Ivan Konev, piano
Beethoven
String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135
Natsuki Kamagai, violin; Emily Switzer, violin; Kenneth Freed, viola; Tom Rosenberg, cello
Nothing clarifies mind and heart like the specter of death. A final ending, a passage to the great beyond? Looking unsparingly back upon a life, like observing from afar the earth and its inhabitants, is at once an act of reflection, judgement, and learning. One we can all take to heart. Perhaps hope for the future, perhaps not.
Shostakovich and Beethoven musically summarize their own lives and struggles in the face of death, while Jon Deak and poet Rhina Espaillat give voice to the judgement of a quartet of birds who marvel at our hubris and cruelty.
February 2, 2025, 2:00
Here Comes the Sun
Joaquin Turina
Circulo for Piano Trio
Stephanie Arado, violin; Laura Sewell, cello; Ivan Konev, piano
Jennifer Higdon
Piano Trio No. 1
Emily Switzer, violin; Tom Rosenberg, cello; Ivan Konev, piano
Terry Riley
Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector for String Quartet
Leslie Shank, violin; Emily Switzer, violin; Sarah Switzer, viola; Tom Rosenberg, cello
Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in B-flat, Op. 76, No. 4 “Sunrise”
Emily Switzer, violin; Stephanie Arado, violin; Kenneth Freed, viola; Tom Rosenberg, cello
Be warmed up on this Sunday in February by music that is inspired by the sun.
Spanish impressionist composer Turina’s piano trio starts just before the sun comes up and ends as it sets. Jennifer Higdon’s trio evokes two very different moods and colors that are often associated with the sun. Terry Riley’s landmark minimalist quartet was inspired by a conversation with a 7 year-old child of a friend who wondered about how there might be a collector who came around every sunrise and gathered up all the dreams so that they could be redistributed the next day. And finally, one of Haydn’s most famous string quartets called “Sunrise” will bring the concert to a rousing finish!
March 30, 2025, 2:00
Exploring Passion: The Fire Within Us
Guest artist, Ora Itkin, piano
Heinrich Biber
Mystery Sonata No. 10 “Crucifixion” for Violin and Continuo
Stephanie Arado, violin; Ora Itkin, piano
Alfred Schnittke
Tango in a Mad House for Violin and Piano
Stephanie Arado, violin; Ora Itkin, piano
Dmitri Shostakovitch
String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110, in C Minor
Leslie Shank, violin, Emily Switzer, violin; Sarah Switzer, viola; Tom Rosenberg, cello
Arvo Pårt
Spiegel im Spiegel for Cello and Piano
Laura Sewell, cello; Ora Itkin, piano
Johannes Brahms
Quartet for Piano and Strings No. 3, Op. 60, in C Minor
Emily Switzer, violin; Kenneth Freed, viola; Laura Sewell, cello; Ora Itkin, piano
Passion originally meant “great suffering,” but today it is more often used to connote romantic love. This program will present great works of chamber music that depict both suffering and love, as well as other emotionally-charged works ranging from ecstatic fervor, to burning desire, to utter despair.
The program will include Shostakovitch’s String Quartet No. 8, written in response to the bombing of Dresden in World War II, and Johannes Brahms’ great C Minor Piano Quartet, a work inspired by a tale of unrequited love. As an homage to the original meaning of passion, one of Biber’s Mystery Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard, subtitled “Crucifixion,” will be included as well.
May 18, 2025, 2:00
There and Back Again
George Enescu
Aubade
Emily Switzer, violin; Sarah Switzer, viola; Laura Sewell, cello
Christopher Theofanidis
Summer Verses
Emily Switzer, violin; Tom Rosenberg, cello
Antonín Dvořák
Selections from Cypresses
Leslie Shank, violin; Kenneth Freed, violin; Sarah Switzer, viola; Laura Sewell, cello
Franz Joseph Haydn
String Quartet Op. 33, No. 3, “The Bird”
Emily Switzer, violin; Leslie Shank, violin; Sarah Switzer, viola; Laura Sewell, cello
Ernest Bloch
Three Nocturnes for Piano Trio, B. 56
Kenneth Freed, violin; Tom Rosenberg, cello; Ivan Konev, piano
Experience the many moods of mother nature with a program that takes the listener out on a stroll through the countryside. Dawn breaks with a spritely Aubade from the pen of Romanian composer George Enescu, followed by the summery energy of a violin-cello duo by Christopher Theofanidis. Midafternoon shade comes via the beloved love songs of Antonín Dvořák, transcribed by the composer for string quartet in his Cypresses. The effervescence of Haydn’s “The Bird” string quartet turns the listener’s steps homeward, where the program closes with Ernest Bloch’s Three Nocturnes for Piano Trio.
Guest Musicians
