"Musical Landscapes: Evocations of the Pastoral,"
complementing the NCMA's paintings by American artists
DATE: April 10, 2005, 3 PM
SITE: NC Museum of Art Map
2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh
TICKETS: $10 General Public; $8 NCMA Members & Students.
INFORMATION & TICKET SALES
- NCMA Box Office (919) 715-5923
- Raleigh Chamber Music Guild (919) 821-2030
PROGRAM
The Ciompi Quartet has a distinguished past stretching back to its founding in 1965 by the renowned Italian violinist Giorgio Ciompi. The group currently travels widely to destinations throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, while it continues to play a leading role in the cultural life of its home state of North Carolina.
Performances by the Ciompi Quartet are known for their intelligence and musical sophistication, and for a unified sound that leaves room for the players' individual voices. With a rare maturity and insight born of its considerable experience on the concert stage, the Ciompi Quartet projects the heart and soul of the music, in a repertoire that ranges from well-known masterpieces to works by today's most communicative composers.
Recent tours have taken the Ciompi Quartet as far afield as China, Germany, Italy, and Albania. In the US they have appeared from coast to coast. During the summer the Quartet has been engaged at Monadnock Music in New Hampshire, North Carolina's Eastern Music Festival, and the Highlands Chamber Music Festival. The Ciompi members excel as communicators and are a frequent choice for residencies, in settings that range from Dartmouth and St. Lawrence Universities, to inner city and rural schools.
In the past two years alone musical collaborations have included the distinguished talents of pianist Menahem Pressler, cellist Ronald Leonard, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, soprano Susan Narucki, and jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon. The latter three performed world premieres with the Ciompi Quartet, reflecting the Quartet's commitment to creative programming, which often mixes the old and the brand new in exciting ways. The Quartet's extensive record of commissions includes many strong works that it continues to play on tour. A recent commission from composer Paul Schoenfield yielded a major new work for quartet; Scott Lindroth's song cycle on text by the poet Rumi, written for the Ciompi and Ms. Narucki, is an exciting addition to the repertoire for quartet and voice; two works by the versatile young Mark Kuss have brought together the Ciompi Quartet with well-known jazz artists Marsalis and Freelon.
2004 saw the release of the Quartet's latest CDs: of 20th century music for quartet and voice, featuring Ms. Narucki and tenor Steven Tharp; and a recording of the quartets of Paul Schoenfield including the popular "Tales of Chelm." Numerous other discs by the Ciompi Quartet are on the CRI, Arabesque, Albany, Gasparo, and Sheffield Lab labels, with music from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, up through the present.
Members of the Ciompi Quartet are: Eric Pritchard and Hsiao-mei Ku, violins, Jonathan Bagg, viola, and Fred Raimi, cello.
Allan Ware was born in Raleigh, NC, and studied for a BA in religion at Davidson College. He studied clarinet at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, then at UNC-CH, where he received his Master's degree. He was then awarded a Fulbright grant for two years to study in Germany. He is the winner of numerous prizes in international music competitions, including the "Grand Prix" at the 4th International Chamber Music Competition in Paris and prizes at the Carnegie Hall Concert Artist's Guild Competition and in the International Brahms Chamber Music Competition in Hamburg. In 1983, he was selected as a member of the McKenzie-Ware Duo by the "Arts America" program of the NEA to represent American musical culture abroad. With this program, Ware has performed concerts, radio and television broadcasts and has given master classes in more than 30 countries. He is a regular soloist/recitalist with the Salzburger Soloists, the Saint-Clair Trio and the Bremen Clarinet Quartet. Ware also performs as a soloist with orchestras and is Associate Professor for Clarinet and Chamber Music at the City Conservatory of Osnabrück and teaches master classes in the US and Europe.
Artist Website: www.ciompi.org
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