CHAPEL MUSIC SERIES
AIZURI QUARTET
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Artosphere: Aizuri Quartet
Program Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet, Op. 18, No. 6 I. Allegro con brio II. Adagio, ma non troppo III. Scherzo. Allegro IV. La Malinconia. Adagio V. Allegretto quasi Allegro Caroline Shaw – Blueprint Intermission Ludwig van Beethoven – String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge, Op. 133 I. Adagio, ma non troppo – Allegro II. Presto III. Andante con moto, ma non troppo. Poco scherzoso IV. Alla danza tedesca. Allegro assai V. Cavatina. Adagio molto espressivo VI. Große Fuge (Grande Fugue Op.133): Ouverture. Allegro – Meno mosso e moderato – Allegretto – Fuga. [Allegro] – Meno mosso e moderato – Allegro molto e con brio – Allegro
About
The Aizuri Quartet’s name comes from “aizuri-e,” a style of Japanese woodblock printing that primarily uses blue ink. In the 1820s, artists in Japan began to import a particular blue pigment known as “Prussian blue,” which was first synthesized by German paint producers in the early 18th century and later modified by others as an alternative to indigo. The story of aizuri-e is one of innovation, migration, transformation, craft and beauty. Blueprint, composed by Caroline Shaw for the incredible Aizuri Quartet, takes its title from this beautiful blue woodblock printing tradition as well as from that familiar standard architectural representation of a proposed structure: the blueprint. This piece began its life as a harmonic reduction—a kind of floor plan— of Beethoven’s string quartet and is also a conversation with Beethoven, with Haydn (his teacher and the “father” of the string quartet), and with the joys and malinconia of his Op. 18 No. 6.
Aizuri Quartet
Formed in 2012 and comprising of graduates from the Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music, the Aizuri Quartet have appeared worldwide with a diverse range of ensembles including Musicians from Marlboro, Musicians from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, The Knights, IRIS Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Opera Philadelphia and counter induction. Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as being “in full possession of that most elusive of string quartet qualities: the balance between charisma of the individual and cohesion of the collective,” the Aizuri Quartet was a top prizewinner in the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London. Through engaging and thought-provoking programs, the quartet has garnered critical acclaim for their explosive combination of depth, refinement and vigor. Currently the String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music, the Aizuri Quartet appears in Curtis on Tour performances throughout Europe, the U.S. and Latin America. Highlights from the 2015-16 season include debut recitals at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Schneider Concerts in New York City, Wolf Trap and multiple appearances as the Ernst Stiefel String Quartetin-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. The quartet will premiere works by composers Caroline Shaw, Paul Wiancko, Yevgeniy Sharlat and Rene Orth, in addition to collaborating with pianists Jonathan Biss and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and clarinetist Michael Rusinek. The Aizuri Quartet is passionate about creating diverse points of entry for audiences into the string quartet repertoire, working closely with Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation to develop programs and commission new works that forge connections between music and visual art. The quartet is featured throughout the Curtis-Coursera online course “The World of the String Quartet,” which reaches thousands of students from over a hundred countries. Additionally, they have performed in an eclectic array of venues including the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, World Café Live and on WRTI’s musician-hosted radio special, “Philadelphia Music Makers.” Highlights from previous seasons include performances in Bremen, Dresden, Paris and Salzburg, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, New York City’s Morgan Library & Museum with cellist Peter Wiley, and throughout Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico with violist Roberto Díaz. The quartet also enjoyed collaborations with eighth blackbird, Aeolus String Quartet, poet Denice Frohman, composers Lembit Beecher and Andrew Lipke, and being the resident ensemble at the 2014 Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute.
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Artosphere: Aizuri Quartet
Caroline Shaw
Caroline Adelaide Shaw is a New York-based musician appearing in many different guises. Trained primarily as a violinist from an early age in North Carolina, she is a Grammy®-winning singer in Roomful of Teeth. In 2013, Shaw became the youngest-ever winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music with her enigmatic composition Partita for 8 Voices, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Composition. She made her solo violin debut in 2015 with the Cincinnati Symphony (MusicNOW). Shaw was the inaugural Musician in Residence at Dumbarton Oaks in 2014 and has been the Composer in Residence for two years with Vancouver’s Music on Main. Recent and current projects include commissions for the Cincinnati Symphony, the Guggenheim Museum Words & Process Series and the Folger Library, as well as collaborations with Kanye West. “Chamber music is ultimately about conversation without words. We talk to each other with our dynamics and articulations, and we try to give voice to the composers whose music has inspired us to gather in the same room and play music.” —Caroline Shaw
SPONSORS AND FUNDERS
This project is proudly supported by:
MEDIA PARTNERS
INDIVIDUALS Bob & Becky Alexander Emily & James Bost June Carter Tom & Cynthia Coughlin Sandy Edwards Pete & Shirley Esch Hershey & Denise Garner Jeff & Lisa Gearhart Reed & Mary Ann Greenwood
Orville & Susan Hall Rick & Marybeth Hays Malcolm & Ellen Hayward Tom & Jill King Greg & Hannah Lee David & Deborah Malone Margaret & Dick Rutherford Frank & Sarah Sharp Barbara G. Taylor