The Left Bank Quartet will be joined by faculty member Larissa Dedova on piano for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57. Written in 1940, it is one of his most-beloved chamber pieces. This will be balanced by two string quartets by Czech composers, Antonín Dvořák’s charming and lyrical 10th Quartet in E-flat Major and String Quartet No. 1 by Erwin Schulhoff. By turns hauntingly beautiful and rhythmically driving, Schulhoff’s 1924 quartet shows the influence of jazz rhythms, yet craftsmanship inspired by Dvořák—his first teacher of composition!

All faculty at the School of Music, The Left Bank Quartet’s repertoire encompasses an eclectic range, with quartets of composers such as Chavez, Crumb, Durkó, Dutilleux, Ginastera, Jalbert, Kirchner, Kurtág, Korngold, Ligeti, Meriläinen, Nancarrow and Revueltes augmenting the standard fare. Compositions written for and premiered by the quartet include Mark Wilson’s Time Variations (Capstone Records) and String Quartet No. 4 by Lawrence Moss, released on the Innova label. Gramophone Magazine’s review praised the composition for its “charm” and “dazzle,” stating “Moss uses the instruments with idiomatic mastery, ranging from kittenish endearments to electric flashes of energy...played by The Left Bank Quartet with brilliant focus and timbral variety.”