The Aeolus Quartet
The 2013-14 Gustavus Artist Series concludes Friday, March 8, with a performance by the renowned Aeolus Quartet, as part of a 3-day residency at Gustavus. The Aeolus Quartet is a string quartet founded at the Cleveland Institute of Music and currently serving as the Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School of Music. They are currently on a tour which will take them, in addition to their concert at Gustavus, to the Reif Center for Performing Arts in Grand Rapids, The Cellar in Vancouver, the University of Delaware and Southwest Baptist University. Friday’s performance will be presented in Jussi Björling Recital Hall and will begin at 8:00 p.m. Tickets for the concert are available online at gustavustickets.com or by calling the Gustavus Ticket Center at 507-933-7590. Tickets will also be available at the door one hour before concert time.
The Aeolus Quartet is among the finest young string quartets performing today. Violinists Nicholas Tavani and Rachel Shapiro, violist Gregory Luce, and cellist Alan Richardson formed the Quartet in 2008 at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Since that time, this all-American quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the US and has performed across the glove with concerts “worthy of a major-league quartet.” (Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News) Luke Quinton of the Austin-American Statesman wrote, “The Aeolus Quartet is a powerful and thoughtful group of young musicians who are plotting an ascending course ….. this vibrant group shows great promise.” The Quartet is currently the Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School of Music.
In addition to the Artist Series appearance at Gustavus, the Quartet’s 2013-2014 season includes their debut performance at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, multiple performances on the Smithsonian Institute’s rare instrument collection, an educational tour of the Midwest in conjunction with the Fischoff Competition, collaborations with Guarneri Quartet violist Michael Tree, concert touring throughout the United States, and extended residencies in Florida, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. The Quartet is named for the Greek god Aeolus, who governed the four winds. This idea of a single spirit uniting four individual forces serves as an inspiration to the members of the Aeolus Quartet as they pursue their art.
For Friday’s concert the Quartet will open with the String Quartet, Op. 76, No. 5, in D major by Franz Josef Haydn, and Bela Bartok’s String Quartet No. 6. Following intermission, the Aeolus Quartet will return to the Björling Recital Hall stage to perform the String Quartet, Op. 59, No. 1, in F major by Ludwig van Beethoven.
This final performance of the 2013-14 Gustavus Artist Series season will begin at 8:00 p.m. in Jussi Björling Recital Hall on Friday, March 8. The performance is open to the public but tickets are required. Tickets are available online in advance at gustavustickets.com or by calling 507-933-7590. Tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the performance.