Bringing the World's Most Extraordinary Classical Musicians to Rhode Island for Over 60 Years All 2016-17 Concerts Take Place In McVinney Auditorium (Click here) Seating diagram (Click here) 2016-17 Season Escher, Lark, Apple Hill, Dorian Escher String Quartet ● October 19 Dorian Wind Quintet ● November 16 Apple Hill String Quartet with Jesse Holstein ● March 15 Lark String Quartet with Todd Palmer ● April 19 ___________________________________________________ Wednesday • October 19, 2016, 7:30 PM Escher String Quartet Photo: Sophie Zhai Felix Mendelssohn: Quartet in D Major, Op. 44 no. 1 Béla Bartók: Quartet no. 2, Op. 17, Sz. 67 Antonín Dvořák: Quartet in G Major, Op. 106 Adam Barnett-Hart, violin Aaron Boyd, violin Pierre Lapointe, viola Brook Speltz, cello “They hold the listener spellbound ...” -BBC Music Magazine The Escher Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole. The ensemble has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as Artists of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2013, the quartet became one of the very few chamber ensembles to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Within months of its inception in 2005, the ensemble came to the attention of key musical figures worldwide. Championed by the Emerson Quartet, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet in Residence at each artist’s summer festival. The quartet has since collaborated with artists including David Finckel, Leon Fleischer, Wu Han, Lynn Harrell, Cho Liang Lin, Joshua Bell, Vilde Frang, David Shifrin and guitarist Jason Vieaux. The Escher Quartet has made a distinctive impression throughout Europe, with recent debuts in Amsterdam, Berlin, Geneva, London and Norway. In the current season they will debut in Heidelberg, Groningen and Paris on tour with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor. Alongside its growing European profile, the Escher Quartet continues to flourish in its home country, performing at Alice Tully Hall in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the Ravinia and Caramoor festivals as well as in California. The ensemble has also perfomed in Australia, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv and Brazil. The quartet fervently supports the education of young musicians and frequently gives masterclasses, including regular coaching at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In Spring 2015, the quartet released Volume 1 of the complete Mendelssohn Quartets on the BIS label, received warmly by critics with comments such as “This is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand, classic manner: extrovert and eloquent… hugely engaging music-making” (BBC Music Magazine) and “The Eschers sound warm, relaxed and responsive to all of Mendelssohn’s expressive nuances…” (The Guardian). The Mendelssohn series continues this season with the release of Volume 2. The quartet has also recorded the complete Zemlinsky String Quartets in 2 volumes, released on the Naxos label. Their great critical acclaim include 5 stars in the Guardian with “Classical CD of the Year”, a Recommendation in The Strad, “Recording of the Month” on MusicWeb International and a nomination for a BBC Music Magazine Award Learn more _____________________________________________________ Wednesday • November 16, 2016, 7:30 PM Dorian Wind Quintet Billy Childs: Fugue in Perpetual Motion in B-flat Major (1999) Richard Rodney Bennett: Concerto for Wind Quintet (1983) I. Poco Allegro Bruce Adolphe: Night Journey (1987) George Perle: Wind Quintet No. 4 (1960) (winner of 1986 Pulitzer) Invention Scherzo Pastorale Finale Intermission Lee Hoiby: Diversions for Wind Quintet (1954; revised 1989) Greeting Waltz Promenade Gambol Anniversary Variations on a theme by Reicha (2001) Theme - Andante grazioso Variation 1 - Con Eleganza - Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012) Variation 2 - Four Variations - George Perle (2015-2009) Variation 3 - Variation on a Reicha Theme - Billy Childs (b. 1957) Variation 4 - DRAINO VARIATION - Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955) Variation 5 - Finale: Andeante - Lento- Allegro - Lee Hoiby (1926-2011) All works were commissioned by the Dorian Wind Quintet. Gretchen Pusch, flute Gerard Reuter, oboe Benjamin Fingland, clarinet Adrian Morejon, bassoon Karl Kramer-Johansen, horn “Breathtaking…” -The London Times “Extraordinary accuracy and spirit…” -The New York Times “One of chamber music’s most sparkling and eloquent ensembles…" -TIME Magazine Recognized by critics, audiences, and professional musicians alike for its uniquely polished and passionate performances, The Dorian Wind Quintet is known worldwide as one of chamber music’s preeminent and longest continuously-active ensembles. The Quintet has literally been around the world – concertizing in the United States and Canada, touring Europe eighteen times, and playing throughout the Middle East, India, Africa and Asia. The Dorian made history as the first wind quintet to appear at Carnegie Hall. Since its formation at Tanglewood in 1961, the Quintet has collaborated with numerous well-known artists, commissioned nearly 40 new works of wind chamber music, and held residencies at some of the world’s most prestigious music festivals and educational institutions. The members of the Dorian Wind Quintet are each associated with other prominent performing ensembles, venues, and musical institutions, and have united in the group out of their passion for the wind chamber music repertoire. “Chamber music as it was meant to be..." -Los Angeles Times Learn more _____________________________________________________ Wednesday • March 15, 2017, 7:30 PM Apple Hill String Quartet with Jesse Holstein Anthony Green: "Chance" W. A. Mozart: Viola Quintet in D major, K. 593 (with Jesse Holstein, viola) Pavel Haas: String Quartet No. 2 "From the Monkey Mountains" Op. 7 Elise Kuder, violin Colleen Jennings, violin Mike Kelley, viola Rupert Thompson, cello with Jesse Holstein, viola Since its founding in 2007, the Apple Hill String Quartet has earned praise around the world for its concerts presenting interpretive mastery of traditional repertoire – including Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven, and Ravel – as well as for world premieres and commissioned pieces. As resident musicians at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music, the Quartet is featured in the summer concert series held every Tuesday night at the Center in Nelson, N.H. These concerts attract hundreds of visitors and have become a mainstay of the Monadnock area summer music offerings. Education is an integral part of the Quartet’s mission. For three months in the summer, the Quartet comprises the core faculty for five separate 10- day summer workshops held at Apple Hill and attended by 300 participants. During the regular concert season, the Quartet conducts mini-residencies in embassies, communities, schools, and universities from the Monadnock region to major U.S. cities and around the world as part of Apple Hill’s Playing for Peace program. As 21st-century musicians, members of the Quartet are deeply committed to the performance of new works. Recent premieres include "Traces" by Syrian composer Kareem Roustom, commissioned by Apple Hill, Dartmouth College, and Arizona State University, featuring Israeli pianist Sally Pinkas, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and the Apple Hill String Quartet; Crossroads by John Harbison, co-commissioned by Apple Hill and 15 music organizations throughout the U.S., featuring soprano Kendra Colton, oboist Peggy Pearson, string bassist Susan Hagen, and the Apple Hill String Quartet; and Quartet No. 1 by Daniel Sedgwick, commissioned by Apple Hill. The Quartet’s project, “Around the World with Playing for Peace,” features the rich multicultural repertoire of countries visited through the Playing for Peace program. Featured composers have included Victor Ullman and Erwin Schulhoff, both of whom perished in Nazi concentration camps (as did Pavel Haas); Turkish composer Ekrem Zeki Ün; Armenian composers Alan Hovhaness and A. Zohrabian; Syrian composer Kareem Roustom; and American composers Roger Sessions, John Harbison, Tom Oboe Lee, Meredith Monk, Lawrence Siegel, and Charles Ives. Jesse Holstein, violinist & violist, was a founding member of the Providence String Quartet and has been a resident musician since 2001. Prior to studying with Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin and James Buswell at the New England Conservatory, he worked with Philipp Naegele in Northampton, MA. Aside from being an active recitalist and chamber musician, he has served as Concertmaster of the New Bedford Symphony since 2003. Each summer Jesse teaches and performs at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music in New Hampshire, and is on the faculty at the Greenwood Music Camp, where he studied as a teenager. In 2009, Jesse was a Violin Professeur at L’Ecole de Musique, Dessaix Baptiste in Jacmel, Haiti. In 2012, an interview with Jesse was published in Strings Magazine about his teaching philosophy. He is on the faculty at Brown University, where he teaches chamber music. Learn more about Apple Hill _____________________________________________________ Wednesday • April 19, 2017, 7:30 PM Lark Quartet with Todd Palmer, clarinet Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor George Gershwin: Three Songs (Note change in