FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sarah Snyder
ssnyder3@umd.edu
301.405.8151
April 28, 2013 – College Park, MD -- The UMD School of Music’s premier graduate fellowship chamber ensembles- Aeolus String Quartet and SIREN Woodwind Quintet- share the stage for an afternoon of French repertoire on April 28 at 3pm at the Clarice Smith Center. The program entitled French Impressions will include Ravel’s String Quartet, Poulenc’s Sextuor (featuring UMD piano professor Bradford Gowen) and Francais’s Dixtour, written for the unusual combination of both woodwind quintet and string quartet. Proceeds from this Music in Mind concert benefits the School of Music’s undergraduate scholarship fund.
Aeolus Quartet
The Aeolus Quartet, formed at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2008, is currently the graduate string quartet in Residence at UMD. Since its inception, the all-American quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the United States and has performed across the globe to great acclaim. Aeolus Quartet has been praised by Strad Magazine for their “high-octane” performances and by the Dallas Morning News for their “sophisticated and committed” music-making. The Aeolus Quartet is the Grand Prize winner of the 2011 Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the 2011 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition.
SIREN Woodwind Quintet
SIREN is UMD’s graduate woodwind chamber ensemble. The group is mentored by oboe professor Mark Hill and has been coached by other faculty members of the UMD School of Music, including Sue Heineman, James Ross, Chris Gekker and Robert DiLutis. During the spring 2012, SIREN performed Valerie Coleman’s Afro-Cuban Concerto for the Imani Winds and made their European debut in Italy at the Alba Music Festival. The group has also collaborated with musicians from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Windscape and eighth blackbird.
Graduate Fellowships in Chamber Music
The University of Maryland School of Music Graduate Fellowships in Chamber Music are designed to cultivate the careers of emerging chamber ensembles. In addition to full tuition remission and a stipend, the quartet fellows benefit from intensive chamber music study with members of the Guarneri Quartet and Left Bank Concert Society, featured performances at the Clarice Smith Center and support in professional development.
Tickets
More information can be found on our web site. Tickets for this performance are $25/$10 (Regular/Students), and can be purchased online or by calling (301) 405-ARTS (2787).
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The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland is a collaborative space shared by the School of Music (SOM), the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) and the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library. The Clarice Smith Center presents performances and programs by visiting artists as well as by students and faculty of SOM and TDPS in an environment of creative learning, exploration and growth. A national model for a performing arts center on a major research university campus, the Center enables innovative partnerships and extraordinary experiences.
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is supported by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business & Economic Development, the MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for the Maryland State Arts Council is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.