Media Contact: Erik Elmgren, eelmgren@u.rochester.edu
The critically acclaimed New York City-based JACK Quartet returns to the Eastman School of Music to present a concert with OSSIA New Music and Musica Nova on Wednesday, February 15, at 8 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. The free concert, featuring works by Morton Feldman, Steve Reich, and Helmut Lachenmann, is part of a 20th anniversary celebration of Eastman’s student-run new music collective, OSSIA. 
Deemed “superheroes of the new music world” (Boston Globe), the JACK Quartet is “the go-to quartet for contemporary music, tying impeccable musicianship to intellectual ferocity and a take-no-prisoners sense of commitment.” (Washington Post) “They are a musical vehicle of choice to the next great composers who walk among us.” (Toronto Star)
The recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, New Music USA’s Trailblazer Award, and the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, JACK has performed to critical acclaim in concert halls on four continents, including Carnegie Hall (USA), Wigmore Hall (United Kingdom), Suntory Hall (Japan), and Teatro Colón (Argentina).
This concert will be JACK’s first performance at Eastman with its new roster comprising Eastman alumni violist Jonathan Pickford Richards (BM ’02, MM ’04) and violinist Christopher Otto (BM ’06), as well as violinist Austin Wulliman and cellist Jay Campbell.
The concert opens with Morton Feldman’s String Quartet and Orchestra, with JACK Quartet performing as the solo string quartet. Musica Nova will then perform Helmut Lachenmann’s Zwei Gefühle for speaker and large ensemble, featuring a text by Leonardo da Vinci. The concert closes with JACK Quartet playing amongst Eastman students in Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet.
OSSIA New Music is a student-run contemporary music collective that produces a complete season of concerts at Eastman each academic year. It was founded in 1997 by a group of student performers and composers interested in finding continued outlets for new music performance at the school. Many of its former members have gone on to have successful careers performing new music with groups such as JACK Quartet, Ensemble Signal, and Alarm Will Sound.
Musica Nova, directed by Brad Lubman, gives several concerts of up-to-the-minute contemporary music and 20th- and 21st-century classics each year, often with the composers present. The ensemble consistently performs a diverse variety of music by the greatest composers of our time, including Reich, Boulez, Adams, Ligeti, Birtwistle, Rihm, and Haas, in addition to some of the classic works of early 20th century literature by Schoenberg, Webern, and Varèse.
In addition to their performance with OSSIA New Music and Musica Nova, JACK Quartet will also present a talk for students, hosted by the Composition and Chamber Music departments, discussing careers in new music, specifically regarding collaboration with composers.
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