Category: Uncategorized

The Spokane String Quartet finishes its 2024-25 season with an appearance by Clinton Webb, principal horn for the Spokane Symphony, at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Bing Crosby Theater.

All seats are general admission. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for under 18 and students with ID. Tickets are available at this link or at the door.

Webb will join the Quartet for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet for Horn and Strings in E-flat, K.407. He is in his second year in Spokane after stints in Tulsa and Flint, Michigan. Unlike a typical horn quintet, Mozart’s piece calls for a solo horn along with a violin, two violas and a cello. Replacing the second violin with a second viola fills out the middle range of the ensemble and melds with the horn.

Also on the program are Three Essays by contemporary Grammy-winning composer Caroline Shaw and String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 67, by Johannes Brahms.

Three centuries of chamber music, including the original setting of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” are on the program when the Spokane String Quartet takes the stage at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at the Bing Crosby Theater.

All seats are general admission. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for under 18 and students with ID. Tickets are available at this link or at the door.

Joseph Haydn’s Opus 20, No. 3 String Quartet utilizes many of the formal conventions and aesthetic values that coalesced into and defined “The Classical Era String Quartet.” The four-movement quartet form has fast outer movements, with a dance and adagio (slow) inner movements. Haydn recognized the perfect sound balance and clarity when a cello, viola, and two violins seamlessly play together in rich four-part harmony and counterpoint. Haydn’s quartets feature a more democratic intimate conversation among equals, often including Haydn’s musical wit and humor. Collectively, these characteristics are among the reasons why Haydn is known as “the Father of the String Quartet.”

Russian-born Polina Nazaykinskaya continues to be inspired by the Russian folk songs that she heard in childhood, filled with polyphonic melodies and harmonic dissonance. For Nazaykinskaya, “Each piece of music that I write comes from the depth of my heart, from the inner ocean of emotions and possibilities that are carried by the waves of memories.” She considers herself a Neo-Romantic, using juxtaposed melodies to achieve color and emotionality with sound.

When Samuel Barber was composing his Op. 11 String Quartet, he wrote to a colleague: “I have just finished the slow movement of my quartet today – it is a knockout! Now for a Finale.” Barber struggled to achieve the ultimate version of the third movement Finale. Meanwhile, he arranged a “stand alone” string orchestra version of the Quartet’s second movement Adagio. This string orchestra “Adagio for Strings” was premiered by the legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini with resounding success. Despite the universal reverence for Barber’s Adagio for Strings, there are those who prefer the transcendent intimacy of his Opus 11 String Quartet.

Three centuries of chamber music, including the original setting of Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings,” are on the program when the Spokane String Quartet takes the stage at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at the Bing Crosby Theater.

All seats are general admission. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for under 18 and students with ID. Tickets are available at this link or at the door.

From the 18th century comes Franz Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet No. 33 in G Minor; from the 20th century, Samuel Barber’s String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11; and from the 21st century, the world premiere of Polina Nazaykinskaya’s Adagio from Symphony for Strings.

Barber’s Adagio for Strings is frequently performed during periods of mourning, such as the funeral of John F. Kennedy and by the Spokane Symphony in their first concert after 9/11. The original piece was in the middle movement of Barber’s Op. 11 Quartet composed in 1935-36 and revised several times, including as a choral arrangement in 1967. The Quartet was last performed by the SSQ in November 2014.

Cellist Michal Palzewicz joins the Spokane String Quartet for Glazunov’s String Quintet in A Major at the SSQ’s next concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, at The Fox Theater.

Click here to buy tickets.

Palzewicz has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, both as a soloist and ensemble player. He has performed to great acclaim at prestigious venues such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City and Wigmore Hall in England. He attended Warsaw Conservatory of Music in Poland and then The Manhattan School of Music, where his quartet received full scholarships as well as artist-in-residence status. He currently teaches cello at Southern Oregon University. He joins the SSQ for this concert for a cello quintet by Alexander Glazunov. Also on the program are works by Shostakovich and Beethoven.

Program:
Dmitri Shostakovich
String Quartet No. 7 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 108

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3

Alexander Glazunov
String Quintet in A Major, Op. 39

All seats are general admission. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for under 18 and students with ID.

Pianist YunJung Park will perform with the Spokane String Quartet at its next concert Sunday, Nov. 10, at The Fox Theater.

The concert, which features music by Haydn, Brahms and Schumann, begins at 3 p.m. Click here to buy tickets.

YunJung Park opens the concert with Haydn’s Sonata in C Major No. 48 for solo piano, composed towards the end of Haydn’s nearly 30 years of service to the Esterhazy family as Court Composer and Conductor. Under Prince Nikolaus’ patronage, Haydn received an income, commissions, and musical resources (such as the Court Orchestra and Choir) to nurture his creativity. Besides performing at Esterhazy country estates, Haydn visited Vienna with the Prince’s retinue, where he became Mozart’s friend based on mutual esteem and supportive explorations of music. The opening andante of Sonata No. 48 highlights a defining musical characteristic of Haydn, in which larger structures are built from transformations of a simple melodic idea. 

The concert continues with Park and Mateusz Wolski performing Brahms’ Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 108. Brahms wrote this Sonata at the peak of his creative powers. He had achieved international recognition with his large-scale symphonies and concertos. Having successfully emerged from the long shadow of Beethoven’s legacy, Brahms decided to focus his last years composing songs, and chamber music. Opus 108 is Brahms’ third and final Sonata for Violin and Piano, elegantly balancing the lyrical nature of the violin with the powerful chordal harmony of the piano. 

The concert concludes with Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet, Opus 47, the last work of a six-month creative outpouring that produced his finest chamber music. He prepared for this surge by studying Bach’s counterpoint (the art of combining many melodies simultaneously) with his beloved wife Clara. They also studied the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Opus 47 represents an homage combining Schumann’s Romantic spirit with the techniques pioneered by these earlier masters.

All seats are general admission and are available at foxtheaterspokane.com or at the door. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for persons under 18 and students with ID.

Pianist YunJung Park will perform with the Spokane String Quartet at its next concert Sunday, Nov. 10, at The Fox Theater.

The concert, which features music by Haydn, Brahms and Schumann, begins at 3 p.m. Click here to buy tickets.

Yun has extensive experience in performance as a solo pianist, chamber musician and church musician, as well as in teaching and in research. She served on the piano faculty at Kyungpook National University and also worked as a research assistant at Seoul National University in South Korea. Yun has performed in numerous solo piano recitals and chamber music concerts in Frankfurt, Aachen, Kӧln, Düsseldorf (Germany), Maastricht (the Netherlands), Salzburg (Austria), Seoul and Daegu (South Korea) and in the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Spokane areas in the United States.

While serving as the music director at Swarthmore United Methodist Church, she frequently collaborated with professional local musicians. In 2020, upon relocating to Spokane, Yun performed multiple solo recitals and chamber concerts at Steinway Gallery in Spokane, Gonzaga University and St. John’s Cathedral. She has often been invited to perform live on KPBX radio. 

The Spokane String Quartet opens its 2024-25 season Sunday, Oct. 13, with a concert featuring music by Beethoven, Dvořák and Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Tate. The concert begins at 3 p.m. at The Fox Theater.

Click here to buy tickets.

Season tickets as well as tickets for individual concerts are now on sale for the Spokane String Quartet’s 2024-25 concert season. Links to the secure purchase sites are on our Concerts page, https://www.spokanestringquartet.org/concerts/.

All seats are general admission. Tickets for individual concerts are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for persons under 18 and students with ID. Season tickets, which give you five concerts for the price of four, are $100 for adults and $80 for seniors.

The new season opens at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, at The Fox Theater with a concert featuring works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Tate and Antonín Dvořák.

The season continues at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at The F0x Theater with the SSQ and guest artist YunJung Park, piano. The program includes works by Franz Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann.

After a break for the holidays, the Quartet welcomes 2025 with a concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, at The Fox Theater featuring guest artist Michal Palzewicz, cello. The program includes works by Dmitri Shostakovich, Ludwig van Beethoven and Alexander Glazunov.

Next up at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 16, at the Bing Crosby Theater is a concert featuring works by Polina Nazaykinskaya, Franz Joseph Haydn and Samuel Barber.

The season closes at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Bing Crosby Theater with the SSQ and guest artist Clinton Webb, horn. The concert features works by Caroline Shaw, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johannes Brahms.

Dates have been announced for the Spokane String Quartet’s 2024-25 subscription season at the Fox Theater and the Bing Crosby Theater. Look for your season brochure in the mail in early August. Season tickets are also available to order online at spokanestringquartet.square.site.

The season opens Sunday, Oct. 13, at the Fox Theater with works by Beethoven, Jerrod Tate and Dvorak. This will be followed Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Fox with pianist YunJung Park performing works by Haydn, Brahms and Schumann.

The calendar rolls over to 2025 with a Sunday, Feb. 9, concert at the Fox featuring cellist Michal Palzewicz. He is scheduled to perform String Quintet in A Major by Alexander Glazunov.

The season concludes with two concerts at the Bing Crosby Theater. On Sunday, March 16, the Quartet will present works by Nazaykinskaya, Haydn and Barber. On Sunday, May 18, Spokane Symphony hornist Clinton Webb joins the SSQ in a concert featuring works by Caroline Shaw, Mozart and Brahms.

All concerts begin at 3 p.m. All seats are general admission. Ticket prices are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for persons under 18 and students with ID.

The Spokane String Quartet concludes its 2023-24 season Sunday, May 19, with a concert featuring music by Joseph Haydn, Benjamin Britten and Edward Elgar. The concert begins at 3 p.m. at The Bing Crosby Theater.

Click here to buy tickets.

The concert opens with Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No. 2, and Britten’s 3 Divertimenti for String Quartet (1933). After the intermission the concert concludes with Elgar’s String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 83.

Other composers wrote earlier string quartets, but Joseph Haydn is regarded as the “father of the string quartet” based on structural and textural changes pioneered in his six quartets of Opus 20. No longer were string quartets considered light entertainment where the first violin was predominant and the remaining quartet members played subordinate accompaniment. Opus 20, No. 2 highlights that change from the very first measure as the cello introduces the melody, accompanied by the viola and second violin. Thus, the string quartet became a more democratic conversation between four equal voices able to convey deep musical thought and emotions with four-part harmony and counterpoint.

Edward Elgar composed “patriotic” works at the beginning of World War I followed by creative withdrawal as the war’s incomprehensible destruction unfolded. At age 61, he and Lady Elgar moved back to the Sussex countryside where Elgar regained creative strength from nature, though on quiet days they could hear cannon fire from France during the war’s conclusion. The E Minor String Quartet is one of three chamber masterpieces composed at this time, along with working on his beloved Cello Concerto. Lady Elgar described the second movement as “captured sunshine,” yet this work is no pastoral idyll as Elgar powerfully and introspectively faces a changed world.

Benjamin Britten, at age 20 in 1933, composed a suite of three musical portraits of Britten’s school friends, which was extensively revised into the 3 Divertimenti for String Quartet (1936). Unlike Elgar’s Late Romantic Style, one can hear the modern influences of Stravinsky and Bartok in Britten’s delightful composition. 

All seats are general admission and are available through TicketsWest or at the door. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and free for persons under 18 and students with ID.