DATE: October 14 2007, 3 PM

SITE: The Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts 

PROGRAM

• Haydn: String Quartet in C Major, Op 74, No.1
• David Del Tredici:  Magyar Madness 
• Golijov: "Kvakaraat" for Clarinet and Quartet
• Beethoven: String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2

The Orion String Quartet is one of the most sought after ensembles in the United States. They remain on the cutting edge of programming with numerous commissions from composers Chick Corea, Alexander Goehr, John Harbison, Leon Kirchner, Marc Neikrug, Peter Lieberson and Wynton Marsalis, and enjoy a creative partnership with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. With over fifty performances this year, the members of the Orion String Quartet - violinists Daniel Phillips and Todd Phillips (brothers who share the first violin chair equally), violist Steven Tenenbom and cellist Timothy Eddy - have worked with such legendary figures as Pablo Casals, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman, Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Serkin, András Schiff, members of TASHI and the Beaux Arts Trio, as well as the Budapest, Végh, Galimir and Guarneri String Quartets. Their repertoire this season includes cycles of Beethoven and Mozart, in addition to mixed programs of Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Dvoják, Bartók, Zwilich and Schulhoff. The Orion serves as Quartet-in-Residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and New York's Mannes College of Music and are Artists in Residence at Indiana University.

The Orion String Quartet gained immediate attention in the classical music world when its founding members, each with distinguished solo and chamber music careers, officially formed the ensemble in 1987. The Quartet chose its name from the Orion constellation as a metaphor for the unique personality each musician brings to the group in its collective pursuit of the highest musical ideals.

"The persuasive power of the performance came from the exquisiteness and eloquence the four players brought to their lines. But it also came from how all of them phrased together -- and, it seemed, breathed together." The New York Times

"The group's playing and interpretation was consistently beguiling and technically impeccable. The four extremely virtuosic and accomplished players of the Orion Quartet seem to have been born to be together." The Los Angeles Times

Artist Website: www.orionquartet.com

Internationally acclaimed clarinetist David Krakauer redefines the notion of a concert artist. Known for his mastery of myriad styles including classical chamber music, Eastern European Jewish klezmer music, and avant-garde improvisation, Krakauer lies way beyond "cross-over". His best-selling classical and klezmer recordings further define his brilliant tone, virtuosity and imagination.

As one of the foremost musicians of the vital new wave of klezmer, David Krakauer tours the globe with his celebrated Klezmer Madness! Ensemble. While firmly rooted in traditional klezmer folk tunes, the band "hurls the tradition of klezmer music into the rock era" (Jon Pareles, The New York Times). With Klezmer Madness!, Krakauer has forged alliances among his genre of world music and jazz, rock, funk and hip-hop. It simultaneously shouts out to those who remember "yesterday's" klezmer and to the hard dance clubbers and world music enthusiasts of today.

Krakauer is also in demand worldwide as a guest soloist with the finest ensembles. Recent collaborations have included the Tokyo String Quartet, the Kronos Quartet, the Lark Quartet, Eiko and Koma, the Orquesta Sinfonica de Barcelona and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra. He had an 8 year tenure with the Naumburg Award-winning Aspen Wind Quintet, and has also has enjoyed enduring relationships with Summer festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival.

Krakauer has had major profiles in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The International Herald Tribune, and Downbeat, Jazz Times, Jazziz and Chamber Music magazines. The performance of Krakauer's Klezmer Madness! at Joe's Pub on April 30th 2005 was picked one of the best performances of the year in AllAboutJazz- New York's Best of 2005. David is on the clarinet and chamber music faculties of the Mannes College of Music of the New School University, the Manhattan School of Music and the Bard Conservatory of Music.

Artist Website: David Krakauer