Verona Quartet

Jonathan Ong, Violin

Dorothy Ro, Violin

Abigail Rojansky, Viola

Jonathan Dormand, Cello

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String Quartet No. 4

Verona Quartet

Jonathan Ong, violin

Dorothy Ro, violin

Abigail Rojansky, viola

Jonathan Dormand, cello

Grażyna Bacewicz

Andante—Allegro molto (1909-1969)

Andante

Allegro giocoso

Ritus Sanitatem WORLD PREMIERE Texu Kim On Inscribing Talismans (b. 1980) On the Mysteries of Stylostixis On Byung-gut

- Intermission-

String Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106 Antonín Dvořák

Allegro moderato (1841-1904)

Adagio ma non troppo

Molto vivace

Finale: Andante sostenuto—Allegro con fuoco

The co-commissioning and world premiere of Ritus Sanitatem at Texas Performing Arts is generously supported by the Kahng Foundation.

The Verona Quartet is the recipient of Chamber Music America’s 2020 Cleveland Quartet Award. The quartet’s performance has been made possible in part by Chamber Music America and the Cleveland Quartet Award Endowment Fund.

Program Note For Ritus Sanitatem

Music has been believed to help maintain and restore mental and physical health at various times and in various cultures. One of the more exemplary instances would be the Korean shamanic healing ritual, Byung-gut. In this practice, a shaman (ordinarily female) dances, recites, chants, and sings, interacting with a small instrumental ensemble. Here, music plays a central role. Ritus Sanitatem (“rite of healing,” translated from Latin) for string quartet is a journey through several Korean folk-healing traditions in three movements. The first movement is inspired by the inscription of talismans, which I associate with chanting, one of the oldest practices of using music as medicine in diverse cultures, like in ancient Sanskrit chants of Samaveda.

The second movement addresses acupuncture in that it begins with a sharp pain (related to the injection of needles, though one is not supposed to feel any pain if it is done very well) that eventually gives relief and recovery. The concept of healing by hurting can be found in numerous medical methods and traditions, including modern-day vaccination and crucifixes.

Music plays a significant role in the Korean shaman ritual gut. (Byung-gut is one of its many types.) While exuberant rhythm comes to the fore, like in other shaman music, melodic content is also considered essential in the gut. My piece’s finale exhibits these characteristics and a quotation of the gut, interwoven with passages that would sound like tarantella, a psychedelic music and dance genre used to treat tarantism in 15th- to 17th- century Italy.

I hope this 17-minute rite gives the audience a chance to reflect on the role of music as medicine, especially after what the world went through in the last couple of years.

Ritus Sanitatem is cocommissioned by the Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin with the support of the Kahng Foundation; and for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in honor of its 2023 centennial with support from the Bill and Mary Meyer Concert Series of the National Museum of Asian Art (Smithsonian). It is dedicated to the Verona Quartet: dear friends Jon, Dorothy, Abby, and JD. – Texu Kim

About Verona Quartet

Acclaimed as an “outstanding ensemble…cohesive yet full of temperament” (The New York Times), the Verona Quartet has firmly established itself amongst the most distinguished ensembles on the chamber music scene today. The group’s singular sense of purpose most recently earned them Chamber Music America’s coveted 2020 Cleveland Quartet Award, and a reputation for its “bold interpretive strength, robust characterization and commanding resonance” (Calgary Herald). The Quartet serves on the faculty of the Oberlin College and Conservatory as the Quartet-in-Residence. In addition to its position at Oberlin, the Quartet holds residencies at Nova Scotia’s Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance and North Carolina’s Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. As committed advocates of diverse programming, the Verona Quartet curates the UpClose Chamber Music Series on behalf of the COT, electrifying audiences from concert halls to craft breweries with their “sensational, powerhouse performance[s]” (Classical Voice America).

The Verona Quartet has appeared across four continents, captivating audiences at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center (New York City), Kennedy Center, Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), Jordan Hall (Boston), Wigmore Hall (U.K.) and Melbourne Recital Hall (Australia), and has performed at festivals including La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, Caramoor, Alpenglow, and Bravo! Vail, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The 2022-23 season will see the Verona Quartet return to Carnegie Hall and Buffalo Chamber Music Society as well as debut at esteemed series including the Chamber Music Societies of Utica and Williamsburg, Clemson University’s Utsey Chamber Music Series, Feldman Chamber Music Music Society, Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City, and

Howland Chamber Music Circle. The Quartet will also participate in guest artist residencies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin.

A string quartet for the 21st century, the Verona Quartet champions the rich breadth of the string quartet repertoire from the time-honored canon through contemporary classics. Notable commissions and premieres include works by composers Julia Adolphe, Corey Dundee and Sebastian Currier as well as Michael Gilbertson’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated Quartet. In addition to the 2023 premiere of a string quartet by Derek David, the Quartet will premiere a new composition by Texu Kim and a work for string quartet and yangqin (Chinese dulcimer) by Cheng Jin Koh, commissioned and highlighted by the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery in recognition of its Centennial. The Verona Quartet’s critically acclaimed debut album, Diffusion, features works of Janacek, Ravel and Szymanowski and was praised by BBC Music Magazine for its “radiant glow” and Cleveland Classical for the “Verona’s technical precision, expressive freedom, and brilliant, dramatic phrasing”. The Quartet’s second album, SHATTER, will showcase works written for the Verona Quartet by American composers Julia Adolphe and Michael Gilbertson as well as Reena Esmail’s Ragamala, in collaboration with Hindustani vocalist Saili Oak.

In addition to promoting contemporary music, the Quartet strives for a dynamic, imaginative approach to collaboration and programming that champions cross-cultural and interdisciplinary enterprises. The Verona Quartet looks forward to collaborations with pianists Anne-Marie McDermott and David Fung, violist Masumi Rostad, cellist Joshua Roman and world-renowned pipa player Wu Man. Past projects include a live-performance art installation with artist Ana Prvački, performances with dancers from Brooklyn’s Dance Heginbotham, artistic exchanges with traditional Emirati poets in the UAE, and a collaboration with GRAMMYwinning folk trio I’m With Her. Drawing from the mentorship of the celebrated Cleveland, Juilliard and Pacifica Quartets, the Verona Quartet’s rapid rise to international prominence was fueled by top prize wins at the Wigmore Hall, Melbourne, M-Prize and Osaka International Chamber Music Competitions, as well as the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition. The ensemble’s “vibrant, intelligent” (The New York Times) performances emanate from the spirit of storytelling; the Quartet believes that this transcends genre and therefore the name “Verona” pays tribute to William Shakespeare, one of the greatest storytellers of all time.

The Verona Quartet are D’Addario Artists and The Violin Channel Artists. To find out more visit the Verona Quartet on Facebook and Instagram @veronaquartet

The Verona Quartet appears by arrangement with Dinin Arts Management & Consulting

About Texu Kim

punchy bass lines, snappy brass fanfares, and suave... solos”

(San Diego Story), Kim’s music is at times “explosively virtuosic”

(Wall Street Journal) but always uplifting and rewarding for both listeners and performers.

Texu Kim (b.1980) is “one of the most active and visible composers of his generation” (San Francisco Classical Voice), writing music that’s fun, sophisticated, and culturally connected. Drawing on his personal affinity for humor, his background in science, and his fascination with everyday experiences, Kim’s work radiates positivity, offering “major-league cuteness” (Broadway World) while demonstrating “surprising scope.” (San Diego Story) As a Korean-American, Kim explores the localization of imported traditions, incorporating crosscultural elements into his work in “impressive and special” ways so that “many orchestras and conductors around the world are taking an interest in [his] music.” (KPBS) By highlighting the interaction between folk culture and external influences, Kim creates meaningful depth while maintaining a signature playfulness and exuberance that is listener-friendly and engaging. Characterized by “exuberant, colorful washes of sound…

Kim’s work has enjoyed an impressive international performance history from a roster of top orchestras and ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Oakland Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Korea, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Alarm Will Sound, Ensemble Reconsil Vienna, New York Classical Players, Ensemble 212, AsianArt Ensemble Berlin, Ensemble Mise-en, Fear No Music, Ensemble TIMF, Northwestern University New Music Ensemble, Indiana University New Music

Ensemble, C4: Choral Composer/ Conductor Collective, NOTUS, Red Clay Saxophone Quartet, the Verona Quartet, and more. Having served as the Composer-in-Residence of the Korean Symphony Orchestra (2014-18), Kim has appeared at Yeowoorak Festival, Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival, PyeongChang Music Festival and School, Bruckner Festival, SONiC Festival, Mizzou International Composers Festival, June in Buffalo, Aspen Music Festival, SCI National Conferences, Composers

Conference, and Oregon Bach Festival. The Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and the Piece & Piano Festival featured Kim’s balanced and well-crafted arrangements, which may also be heard on numerous commercial albums. A frequent collaborator with choreographers, filmmakers, and educators, Kim has received awards and honors from the Barlow Prize, American Modern Ensemble, Copland House, SCI/ ASCAP, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, and Isang Yun International Composition Prize, to name a few, in addition to winning a Silver Medal in the 1998 International Chemistry Olympiad (Melbourne, Australia).

Kim’s recent/upcoming projects include the world premiere of fffanfare!! commissioned by the San Francisco Opera in September 2022; performances of Dub-Sanjo by the Korean National Symphony Orchestra during their Europe tour in October 2022; the world premiere of Ritus Sanitatem by the Verona Quartet in March 2023, co-commissioned by Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin with support of the Kahng Foundation and the National Museum of Asian Art of the Smithsonian Institute; and a new sinfonietta commissioned by the Barlow Endowment that will be premiered in 23-24 season by Alarm Will Sound, the London Sinfonietta, the Oakland Symphony, and The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. An assistant professor of music at San Diego State University, Kim formerly taught at Syracuse University, Portland State University, and Lewis & Clark College. Kim is the Artist-of-theYear of the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra and the director of the Korean Symphony Orchestra’s Composers’ Atelier program, educating and commissioning up-and-coming composers; he has also served as co-director of Ensemble 212’s ‘New Music for Young Audience’ series, and acted as a curator and board member for the Korean Cultural Society of Boston’s ‘New Music Symposium.’ Having earned his D.M. from Indiana University and prior degrees from Seoul National University, Kim’s greatest mentors include Unsuk Chin, David Dzubay, Sven-David Sandstrom, Claude Baker, and Sangjick Jun.

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