On Saturday night, May 4, the Great Hall Performance foundation will welcome the Brentano String Quartet.
Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim. “Passionate, uninhibited and spellbinding,”raved the London Independent; the New York Times extolled its “luxuriously warm sound [and] yearning lyricism.”
Within a few years of its formation, the Quartet garnered the first Cleveland Quartet Award and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award; and in 1996 the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center invited them to be the inaugural members of Chamber Music Society Two, a program which was to become a coveted distinction for chamber groups and individuals.
The Quartet had its first European tour in 1997, and was honored in the U.K. with the Royal Philharmonic Award for Most Outstanding Debut. That debut recital was at London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Quartet has continued its warm relationship with Wigmore, appearing there regularly and serving as the hall’s Quartet-in-residence in the 2000-01 season. In 1999, the Quartet became the first Ensemble-In-Residence at Princeton University, where they taught and performed for fifteen years; and in 2014, the Quartet became the Resident String Quartet at the Yale School of Music, succeeding the Tokyo Quartet in that position. At Yale, they perform in concert each semester, and work closely with the students in chamber music contexts.
In recent seasons the Quartet has traveled widely, appearing all over the United States and Canada, in Europe, Japan and Australia. It has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York; the Library of Congress in Washington; the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam; the Konzerthaus in Vienna; Suntory Hall in Tokyo; and the Sydney Opera House. The Quartet has participated in summer festivals such as Aspen, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, the Edinburgh Festival, the Kuhmo Festival in Finland, the Taos School of Music and the Caramoor Festival.
In addition to performing the entire two-century range of the standard quartet repertoire, the Brentano Quartet has a strong interest in both very old and very new music, performing many musical works pre-dating the string quartet as a medium, as well as works by some of the most important composers of our time. The Quartet celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2002 by commissioning ten composers to write companion pieces for selections from Bach’s Art of Fugue, the result of which was an electrifying and wide-ranging single concert program. The Quartet has also worked with the celebrated poet Mark Strand, commissioning poetry from him to accompany works of Haydn and Webern. The Quartet has also been privileged to collaborate with such artists as soprano Jessye Norman, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, pianist Richard Goode, pianist Jonathan Biss, and pianist Mitsuko Uchida.
The Quartet is named for Antonie Brentano, whom many scholars consider to be Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” the intended recipient of his famous love confession.
“We are thrilled by the support and response of our sponsors,” said Michael Greis, Co- President of the Great Hall Performance Foundation. “Thanks to our sponsors and our loyal season-ticket holders, we are able to bring these terrific acts to Needham at a reasonable price.”
The goal of the Needham Bank Great Hall Concert Series is to provide great professional concerts close to home, while promoting the preservation of a cherished Needham landmark, driving economic growth in Needham, and elevating the stature and awareness of the Needham High School music program. Students are involved in all facets of concert series planning, production and performance; Needham High School musicians open for the featured performers. For tickets, visit www.greathallperformance.org.
