Rochester, N.Y. – In an age of growing eclecticism, classical music artists today are stretching beyond their traditional boundaries and embracing music from increasingly diverse sources. In this spirit, the Eastman School of Music celebrates some of today’s most versatile and innovative musicians with a unique new concert series, Eastman Mosaic. Each concert will take place in the School’s recently renovated Eastman Theatre.
The series kicks off with a concert by one of the most celebrated and influential ensembles of our time, the Kronos Quartet, with David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Eastman alumnus Jeffrey Zeigler (cello). The concert will take place on Wednesday, February 7 at 8 p.m., and will consist of works that range from the music of minimalist master Steve Reich to songs by the Icelandic “post-rock” group Sigur Rós to arrangements of traditional tunes from the Middle East, Scandanavia, India, and Northern Canada. Each piece on the program was written or arranged specifically for the Kronos Quartet.
For more than 30 years, the Kronos Quartet has transformed the landscape of the chamber music world. Since their inception in 1973, the highly acclaimed ensemble has performed thousands of concerts worldwide, released more than 40 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborated with many of the world’s most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioned hundreds of works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos’ work has also garnered numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and "Musicians of the Year" (2003) from Musical America.
The Eastman Mosaic series continues on Tuesday, February 27 at 8 p.m. with a solo recital by pianist Yefim Bronfman, a powerful performer who is also known as a sensitive chamber musician. His program features piano masterpieces by Beethoven, Schumann, Ravel, and Balakirev. On Sunday, April 22 at 3 p.m., Eastman welcomes Gidon Kremer, a violinist of prodigious technical capability and dazzling showmanship, accompanied by the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra, a select group of top young musicians from the Baltic region. The program will include a new look at a familiar masterwork – the Schumann Cello Concerto – transcribed for violin, as well as works by Beethoven, Korngold, and Piazzolla.
Tickets for the Kronos Quartet concert range from $12 to $25; tickets for the Yefim Bronfman and Gidon Kremer concerts range from $15 to $30. Discounts are available with a University of Rochester ID. Tickets are available at the RPO Box Office (108 East Avenue), by phone at 454-2100, online at www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts, or at Rochester-area Wegmans Home Video departments. Any unsold tickets will be available at the Eastman Theatre Box Office one hour before concert time.
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