Bloomsburg, a Commonwealth University
Parker Quartet to Perform at Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg
Bloomsburg, PA (01/30/2023) — BLOOMSBURG - The Parker Quartet will perform at Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg on Friday, Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Arts in Bloom series.
The performance, in Carver Hall, K.S. Gross Auditorium, will include:
Antonin Dvorak: Cypresses (1,3,5,11)
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in C major, Op. 59 No. 3
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132
Tickets and information are available at bloomu.edu/arts-in-bloom.
The Quartet is comprised of Daniel Chong, violin; Ken Hamao, violin; Jessica Bodner, viola, and Kee-Hyun Kim, cello. This season, the Grammy Award-winning quartet marks its 20th anniversary with The Beethoven Project, a multi-faceted initiative that includes performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven's string quartets; the commissioning of six composers to write encores inspired by Beethoven's quartets; the creation of a new video library spotlighting each Beethoven quartet; and bringing Beethoven's music to non-traditional venues around the Quartet's home base of Boston, including homeless shelters and youth programs.
The Quartet is committed to working with today's composers - recent commissions include works by Augusta Read Thomas, Felipe Lara, Jaehyuck Choi, and Zosha di Castri. Celebrating the process of creation, the Quartet recorded three new commissions by Kate Soper, Oscar Bettison, and Vijay Iyer as part of Miller Theatre's Mission: Commission podcast.
The Quartet regularly collaborates with a diverse range of artists, including pianists Menahem Pressler, Orion Weiss, Shai Wosner, Billy Childs, and Vijay Iyer; members of the Silk Road Ensemble; clarinetist and composer Jorg Widmann; clarinetists Anthony McGill and Charles Neidich; flutist Claire Chase; and violist Kim Kashkashian, featured on their recent Dvorak recording. The Quartet also continues to be a strong supporter of Kashkashian's project Music for Food, participating in concerts throughout the United States for the benefit of various food banks and shelters.
Recording projects continue to be an important facet of the Quartet's artistic output. Described by Gramophone Magazine as a "string quartet defined by virtuosity so agile that it's indistinguishable from the process of emotional expression," their newest release for ECM Records features Dvorak's Viola Quintet as well as Gyorgy Kurtag's Six Moments Musicaux and Officium breve in memoriam. The Strad also declared the album as "nothing short of astonishing." Under the auspices of the Monte Carlo Festival Printemps des Arts, they recorded a disc of three Beethoven quartets. The Quartet can also be heard playing Mendelssohn on Nimbus Records, Bartok on Zig-Zag Territoires, and the complete Ligeti Quartets on Naxos, for which they won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance.
The members of the Parker Quartet serve as Professors of the Practice and Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University's Department of Music. The Quartet also holds a visiting residency at the University of South Carolina and spends its summers on faculty at the Banff Centre's Evolution: Quartet program.
Founded and currently based in Boston, the Parker Quartet's numerous honors include winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at France's Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, and Chamber Music America's prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award.
The integration of Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield universities under the banner of Commonwealth University is a bold investment in the communities and people of Pennsylvania. Our mission is to expand high-quality, affordable academic opportunities to support the needs of all learners. We're building a powerful tomorrow by boldly changing the trajectory of public higher education to position ourselves for growth, increased access, and to meet economic and workforce development needs. Together we're honoring our history, investing in today, and building a powerful tomorrow. That's the power of three.
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PHOTO CREDIT ©2022 BEOWULF SHEEHAN
Bloomsburg, a Commonwealth University
Tom McGuire, 570-389-5134, tmcguire@bloomu.eduShare this Story
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