Special Winter Concert with the Ying Quartet

The Festival is pleased to present the Grammy Award-winning Ying Quartet on February 12, 2018 in Studzinski Recital Hall on the Bowdoin College campus. Artistic Directors David Ying and Phillip Ying bring their Quartet to Brunswick for a special concert in partnership with Bowdoin College. The program begins with Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 74, composed amid the tumultuous invasion of Vienna by Napoleon’s army, and nicknamed the “Harp” after the frequent pizzicato figures bounced between the players. This is followed by Conference of the Birds, commissioned by the Ying Quartet with funds from the Institute of American Music and freshly composed by Christopher Theofanidis, who was nominated for a 2017 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The program closes with Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 11, a work commissioned by a Viennese ensemble in which Dvořák pays tribute to the quartet tradition of that city, but not without evoking his Czech heritage in the folk music gestures of the exuberant Finale.

The Ying Quartet occupies a position of unique prominence in the classical music world, combining brilliantly communicative performances with a fearlessly imaginative view of chamber music. Now in its second decade as a quartet, the Quartet has established itself as an ensemble of the highest musical qualifications in its tours across the United States and abroad. Their performances regularly take place in many of the world’s most important concert halls. The Quartet’s belief that concert music can be a meaningful part of everyday life has drawn the foursome to perform in settings as diverse as the workplace, schools, juvenile prisons, and the White House.

“We are thrilled to partner with Bowdoin College to bring the Ying Quartet to Brunswick this winter. We hope this concert will bring together the Festival, college, and town communities for an inspiring evening of music. The Festival and Ying Quartet are eager to involve the college community and as such, provided over 100 free tickets to the college and scheduled a masterclass for college students during this mini-residency,” says the Festival’s Executive Director, Daniel Nitsch.

To order tickets visit bowdoinfestival.org or call 207-373-1400.

Sponsored by Bath Savings.