ROCHESTER, N.Y.— Known as much for its commitment to performing and expanding the works of living composers as for its performances of traditional quartet repertoire, the St. Lawrence String Quartet—Geoff Nuttall, violin; Barry Shiffman, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; and Christopher Costanza, cello—will perform at Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music Sunday, April 2 at 3 p.m.
Ensemble in Residence at Stanford University, the Quartet has established itself among the world-class chamber ensembles of its generation. In 1992, they won the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Young Concert Artists Auditions, which helped launch a career that has brought them to venues throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.The Quartet’s initial recording, Schumann’s first and third quartets, received acclaim in Germany and Canada and was awarded the BBC’s highest rating. Their 2002 CD, featuring the works of Argentinean-American composer Osvaldo Golijov, received two Grammy nominations.
In their upcoming Kilbourn Hall concert, the Quartet will give the Rochester premiere of Golijov’s Yiddishbuk. The work’s title refers to a book of apocryphal psalms known only through fragments transcribed by Franz Kafka. Golijov was also inspired by the poems and drawings of three children interned by the Nazis at the ghetto of Terezin, before being sent to their deaths at Auschwitz. The concert will also include works by Haydn and Schumann.
Highlights of the Quartet’s 2005/06 season include stops at New York’s Lincoln Center, Boston, Palm Beach, Detroit, Cleveland, Atlanta, Baltimore, Houston, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, La Jolla, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa. They will visit Europe in the fall and return there in July for festivals in France and Germany. Their season will conclude with a 20-concert tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Tickets for the St. Lawrence String Quartet range from $5 to $15 and are available at the RPO Box Office (108 East Avenue), online at www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts or at Rochester-area Wegmans Home Video departments. Any unsold tickets will be available at the Kilbourn Box Office one hour before concert time.
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Note: Photos and detailed program information are available on request.