Chamber Music Concerts (CMC) presents the Szymanowski String Quartet on Friday, October 31st at 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 1st at 3 p.m. Both performances take place at the Southern Oregon University Music Recital Hall. Tickets are $26/$30, with a special $5 ticket for youth 22 and under. Friday’s performance features Bela Bartok’s Folk Dances; Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet no. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110; Haydn’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77 no. 1; and Szymanowski’s Nocturne and Tarantella, Op. 28. Saturday’s concert includes Beethoven’s String Quartet in G Major, Op. 18 no. 2; Szymanowski’s String Quartet no.2, Op. 56; and Schubert’s String Quartet in D Minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden.” Season tickets are still available at a discount, with packages starting at only $100. Please visit CMC’s web site at www.ChamberMusicConcerts.org or call the office at 541-552-6154 for details.
Since its founding in Warsaw in 1995, the Szymanowski Quartet has developed into one of the most charismatic string quartets of the younger generation. In May 2001 they were selected by BBC Radio 3 to participate in the New Generation Artists Scheme for the next seasons, which, in addition to frequent studio recordings for the BBC, includes concerts in various BBC series. Awards at well-known competitions, including the "Premio Vittorio Gui" in Florence and the 1997 "In Memoriam Dmitri Shostakovich" in Hanover, soon confirmed the extraordinarily high standards of the Quartet. In 1999 they won both the second prize and the audience prize at the International Chamber Music Competitions in Osaka and Melbourne. The last few seasons have included invitations to renowned festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Würzberg Mozart Festival, Bregenzer and Schwetzinger Festspiele, Niedersächsische Musiktage and the Festivals of Chester, Huddersfield, Luxembourg and Lockenhaus. The Quartet has performed concerts in Paris, Lyon, Grenoble and Bremen, and made an Australian tour of ten concerts under the auspices of Musica Viva.
The Szymanowski Quartet has made debuts at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Perth Festival, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the BBC Proms and the GrĂĽnewald Hall in Stockholm. They were invited back to perform at London's Wigmore Hall, The City of London and Chester Festivals, and concerts in Manchester, Winterthur, Bonn, Hanover and Santiago di Compostela. The Szymanowski Quartet made its debut at the Bath Festival in May 2004. Since the fall of 2000, the Szymanowski Quartet has been "Quartet in Residence" and teaching chamber music at the Musikhochschule Hanover. "This Warsaw foursome has superb technical control, innate musicality and an extraordinary sense of ensemble. Couple that with a deep understanding of their repertoire and an involvement that communicates itself electrifyingly to an audience, and the Szymanowski Quartet bears the hallmark of greatness. I guarantee you will be hearing a lot more from this gifted young group" enthused Paul Cutts, The Strad. For more information on the Szymanowski Quartet, please visit www.szymanowski-quartet.com/home_engl.htm.
Chamber Music Concerts thanks Jim Collier, Season Sponsor, and Jean Conger, Anne Decker, Bob & Jane Hall of BioMed Diagnostics, Tom & Karen O’Rourke, Russy & Anita Sumariwalla, and Cynthia White, Associate Sponsors of the Szymanowski Quartet. The Educational Outreach Program is sponsored by the Darling Family in memory of William G. Darling and Lithia, America’s Car & Truck Store. CMC is supported in part by a grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. CMC is an affiliate of the Southern Oregon University Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
