Raleigh September Prelude Concert
DATE: September 7 2008, 3 PM
SITE: The Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts
PROGRAM
Mestizaje: Harmony of Differences
music by composers immersed in more than one culture
The Chiara Quartet (Rebecca Fischer, Julie Yoon violin; Jonah Sirota, viola; Gregory Beaver, cello) has forged a new path for the string quartet medium. In the concert hall and in intimate galleries and clubs, the Chiara embraces a "no-holds-barred" approach (The Strad). The group presents exhilarating contemporary works through their club tours and New Voice Singles recordings to a growing circle of newcomers and committed chamber music fans alike, while exploring more established repertoire with fresh ears. The Chiara Quartet has been praised for a range that encompasses "glowing warmth to hard-edged acerbity" (The New York Times), and for possessing a "potent collective force" (Strings Magazine).
The Chiara Quartet was recently named the Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University, a post they will begin in the fall of 2008, in addition to their ongoing artist residency at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Recently awarded with the Guarneri Quartet Residency Award for artistic excellence by Chamber Music America, the Quartet's other honors include a top prize at the Paolo Borciani International Competition, winning the Astral Artistic Services National Audition, and winning First Prize at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
In addition to performing in concert halls such as Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the American Academy in Rome, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, and Harris Hall in Aspen, Colorado, the Chiara devotes much of its performance season to reaching new audiences through concerts in non-classical venues. The Quartet has performed at Caffe Vivaldi in New York's West Village, Kansas City's The Brick, Houston's Mucky Duck, Lincoln's The Chatterbox, Wichita's The Artichoke, and Chicago's The Hideout, among many others.
Chiara (key-ARE-uh) is an Italian word, meaning "clear, pure, or light."
More information about the Chiara Quartet can be found online at MySpace at myspace.com/chiarastringquartet.