The Parker Quartet
For thirteen year, artistic director and founder David Carter has brought the Bridge Chamber Music Festival to Northfield and with it a series of concerts which include internationally acclaimed artists and some of the region’s finest talent. This summer, season 14, which opens August 20 with the Parker String Quartet, will not disappoint. Gustavus pianist Esther Wang and Justin Knoepfel, viola, will perform as part of the Bridge Chamber Players in the festival’s second concert on August 22.
Northfield’s 2013 Bridge Chamber Music Festival opens with the Grammy-winning string quartet Parker Quartet on August 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Urness Recital Hall. The quartet is, in the words of artistic director David Carter, known for their “stunning accuracy and breathtaking musicality….. and a dynamic force in bringing the music to new audiences and venues.” While in Northfield, the members of the quartet will also be performing for the young people in the Summer Ventures program. For the evening performance on August 20, the quartet will open with Mozart’s String Quartet in E-flat major, K. 428 and follow with Bartok’s 3-movement String Quartet #3, Sz 85. The concert will conclude with the String Quartet in C major, Op. 61 by Antonin Dvorak.
Esther Wang, piano
The Chamber Festival’s second concert, on August 22 at 7:30 p.m., includes Esther Wang, piano and Justin Knoepfel, viola as members of the Bridge Chamber Players. The concert opens with the Tarantelle for Flute, Clarinet and Piano, Op. 6 by Camille Saint-Saens. with Kay Sahlin, flute and Jo Anne Polley, clarinet and Lori Folland, piano. It continues with the Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano, Op. 40 by Johannes Brahms and features Minnesota Orchestra musician Herbert Winslow, horn, Francesca Anderegg, violin and Esther Wang, piano. Following a short intermission, Minnesota Orchestra violinist Taichi Chen will join Ms. Anderegg. Justin Knoepfel, viola, Charles Gray, viola and David Carter, ‘cello to present Antonin Dvorak’s String Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 97, written just a short distance from Northfield in Spillville, Iowa, in 1893.
Justin Knoepfel, viola
New to BCMF this year are two jazz concerts, developed in consultation with David Hagedorn. The programs feature pianist Laura Caviani on August 23 and Snowblind on August 26. Laura’s program “Bach to Bop” explores the many similarities between jazz and art music. Snowblind will present a program of music by English-born bassist David Holland. The Festival’s Young Artist Recital, on August 25, again features a variety of young musicians from across southern Minnesota. Pianist Lori Folland will assist at this recital as the Festival continues its tradition of providing performance and educational opportunities to young musicians by presenting master classes by visiting artists and these Young Artist Recitals.
The final concert on August 27 brings Susanna Perry Gilmore, concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony, to perform with two musicians well-known to the Bridge Chamber Music Festival audiences: Sabina Thatcher, viola and Anthony Ross, principal ‘cellist of the Minnesota Orchestra. Joining them will be pianist Nicola Melville, Francesca Anderegg, Charles Gray and David Carter. The concert offers two major works, Mozart’s Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat major, K. 493, and Johannes Brahms’ Sextet for Strings in Bb major, Op. 18.
The Bridge Chamber Music Festival is supported by an Arts and Cultural Heritage Grant, through the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council. Additional information regarding Festival concerts, times and venues is available online at Bridge Chamber Music Festival.