Pomona College Department of Music presents the “passionate, uninhibited and spellbinding” (The Independent, London) Brentano Quartet in a program of music by Haydn, Kurtag and Mendelssohn. The concert will be held in Bridges Hall of Music (150 E. Fourth St., Claremont) at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 23. The recital is free and open to the public.
Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim, including for their, “luxuriously warm sound [and] yearning lyricism,” according to The New York Times. The Brentano Quartet has served as artists in residence at Yale University since 2014. The Quartet also currently serves as the collaborative ensemble for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Formerly, they were artists in residence at Princeton University for many years.
The Quartet has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York; the Library of Congress in Washington; the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the Konzerthaus in Vienna; Suntory Hall in Tokyo; and the Sydney Opera House. The Quartet had its first European tour in 1997, and was honored in the U.K. with the Royal Philharmonic Award for Most Outstanding Debut.
The Brentano Quartet is known for especially imaginative projects combining old and new music. Among the Quartet’s latest collaborations with contemporary composers is a new work by Steven Mackey, “One Red Rose,” commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Other recent commissions include a piano quintet by Vijay Iyer, a work by Eric Moe (with Christine Brandes, soprano), and a new viola quintet by Felipe Lara (performed with violist Hsin-Yun Huang). In 2012, the Quartet provided the central music (Beethoven Opus 131) for the critically-acclaimed independent film A Late Quartet.
The quartet has worked closely with other important composers of our time, among them Elliot Carter, Charles Wuorinen, Chou Wen-chung, Bruce Adolphe, and György Kurtág. The Quartet has also been privileged to collaborate with such artists as soprano Jessye Norman and pianists Richard Goode, Jonathan Biss, and Mitsuko Uchida.
The Quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” the intended recipient of his famous love confession.
PROGRAM:
Haydn: .................... Quartet in Eb-Major, Op. 20, No. 1
Gyorgy Kurtag: ........ “Moments Musicaux” (2005)
Mendelssohn: ............ Quartet in E-Minor, Op. 44, No. 2
Additional Upcoming Faculty & Guest Performances
Programs are ticketless and free, with open seating.
Chamber Music Extravaganza
3 p.m. Sunday, September 25, 2016
Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont, CA 91711
The Music Department’s part-time performance faculty – Todor Pelev, violin; Maggie Parkins and Roger Lebow, cello; Rachel Rudich, flute; Francisco Castillo, oboe; Phil Keen, trombone; Stephen Klein, tuba; Mary Dropkin, harp; Gayle Blankenburg and Aron Kallay, piano; and Holly Shaw Price, soprano – offer a potpourri of chamber selections by Bloch, Burkhart, Debussy, Krenek, Tournier and others.
Genevieve Feiwen Lee*: Piano & Harpsichord
8 p.m. Saturday, October 1, 2016
Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont, CA 91711
This Grammy®-nominated performer, who has performed across the globe with her first symphony appearance with the York Symphony at the age of 12, will offer works by Francois Couperin, Ligeti, Beethoven and Debussy.
Karl Kohn at 90
8 p.m. Saturday, October 22, 2016
Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont, CA 91711
In this celebration of recently composed music, Tom Flaherty* and Eric Lindholm*, celli; Rachel Rudich*, flute; Jack Sanders*, guitar; Karl Kohn*, piano, and the Eclipse Quartet: Sarah Thornblade* and Sara Parkins, violins; Alma Lisa Fernandez, viola; and Maggie Parkins, cello, come together to bring to life seven pieces composed by Kohn since 2011, including three world premieres.
I’m worried now… but, I won’t be worried long with pianist Aron Kallay
8 p.m. Saturday, October 29, 2016
Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont, CA 91711
In this program this Grammy® nominated pianist explores the tension and uncertainty of the presidential election with classical music for piano, synthesizer, and retuned-keyboard in works by Ian Dicke, Laura Karpman, Monroe Golden, Luigi Dallapiccola, David Del Tredici, Adolphus Hailstork and Adolphus Hailstork.
Jung Trio
3 p.m. Sunday, October 30, 2016
Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont, CA 91711
The Jung Trio: Ellen Jung, violin; Julie Jung, cello; and Jennie Jung*, piano, has received rave reviews with Stereophile calling their CD, “One of the best sounding chamber music recordings that we’ve ever heard.” Their program will include music by Beethoven, Pärt and Schubert.
A Cascade of Pianos
8 p.m. Saturday, November 5, 2016
Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont, CA 91711
Pomona College’s piano faculty – Genevieve Feiwen Lee, Aron Kallay, Jennie Jung, Gayle Blankenburg, Ming Tsu and Philip Young – unite to perform Steve Reich’s Six Pianos (1973) and works by Barber, Bernstein Meredith Monk and more.
The Modern Trio Sonata
3 p.m. Sunday, November 6, 2016
Bridges Hall of Music, 150 E. 4th St., Claremont, CA 91711
Flutist Rachel Rudich*, violinist Sarah Thornblade* and pianist Gayle Blankenburg* offer Chamber music for flute and piano with by Bach, Bloch, Debussy, Kohn, Martinů and Milhaud.
*Pomona College Department of Music faculty members