Miami String Quartet
Miami String Quartet
Violin Benny Kim
Violin Cathy Meng Robinson
Viola Scott Lee
Cello Keith Robinson
Event Attributes
Known for their eclectic repertoire and adventuresome approach to concertizing, the Miami String Quartet celebrates 25 years of music-making in the 2013–2014 season.
The quartet will share that celebration with Center patrons and the UMD School of Music as they present a public recital and a two-day residency with UMD chamber music students.
The quartet’s program highlights the range of possibilities in chamber music repertoire, beginning with a modern-day composer and moving back in time to the 1800s. The program opens with American composer Joan Tower’s Angels (String Quartet No.4), a piece that the Miami String Quartet premiered for Tower in 2008 and which is dedicated to the people in Tower’s life who have shown a generosity of spirit and a love of humanity.
This will be followed by Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 9, which, unlike most of Shostakovich’s work, was changed and revised several times before it was premiered in 1964 in Moscow, Russia, and is dedicated to his third wife, Irina Antonovna.
Their program will culminate with a joint performance of Mendelssohn’s Octet, Op. 20 with Excelsa, the UMD School of Music’s Graduate Fellowship String Quartet. Mendelssohn was just 16 years old when he composed the piece, which had its debut in 1836 and was written as a birthday gift for his friend and violin teacher, Eduard Rietz.
Review by The Washington Post
With its vivid progression of folk tunes, hymns, energetic dances, quiet reflection and, finally, galloping commotion, the quartet was pure fun and, although the performance emphasized clarity and balance, this never came at the expense of vigor or momentum.
– JOAN REINTHALER, The Washington Post, October 6, 2013
Review by DCMetroTheaterArts
Each musician evoked the meaning of the work deeply as they portrayed the chaos of an attack with loud dissonance, followed by the motif of a constant screech-like glissando, causing unease and tension throughout the piece.
– LISA DRISCOLL, DCMetroTheaterArts, October 6, 2013
Resources at the the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
Our neighbors at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library have compiled a list of available resources relevant to this performance: