{"id":9740,"date":"2021-04-06T12:12:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T19:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperf.wpengine.com\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=9740"},"modified":"2021-12-03T09:22:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T16:22:20","slug":"aizuri-quartet","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/event\/aizuri-quartet\/","title":{"rendered":"Aizuri Quartet"},"content":{"rendered":"

About the Event<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Praised by\u00a0<\/span>The Washington Post\u00a0<\/span><\/i>for \u201ccaptivating\u201d performances that draw from the musicians\u2019 notable \u201cmeld of intellect, technique and emotions,\u201d the\u00a0<\/span>Aizuri<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Quartet<\/span>\u00a0was awarded the Grand Prize and the CAG Management Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, along with top prizes at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan and the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String\u00a0<\/span>Quartet<\/span>\u00a0Competition in London. The\u00a0<\/span>quartet<\/span>\u2019s critically acclaimed debut album,\u00a0<\/span>Blueprinting<\/span><\/i>, featuring new works written for the\u00a0<\/span>Aizuri<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Quartet<\/span>\u00a0by five American composers, was released by New Amsterdam Records and nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY\u00ae in the category of Best Chamber Music\/Small Ensemble Performance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Through its engaging and thought-provoking programs\u2014branded by\u00a0<\/span>The New York Times<\/span><\/i>\u00a0as \u201cgenuinely exciting\u201d and \u201cimaginative\u201d\u2014the\u00a0<\/span>quartet<\/span>\u00a0has garnered critical acclaim for bringing \u201ca technical bravado and emotional power\u201d to bold new commissions and for its \u201cflawless\u201d (<\/span>San Diego Union-Tribune<\/span><\/i>) performances of the great masterpieces of the past. In the 2019\u201320 season the group toured extensively across North America, giving debut appearances at Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall as part of\u00a0<\/span>CAG<\/span>\u00a0Winners Series.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Based in New York City, the\u00a0<\/span>Aizuri<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Quartet<\/span>\u00a0was the 2017\u20132018\u00a0<\/span>MetLiveArts<\/span>\u00a0String\u00a0<\/span>Quartet<\/span>-in-Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the musicians presented five unique programs throughout the season, leading\u00a0<\/span>The New York Times<\/span><\/i>\u00a0to applaud them as \u201ca\u00a0<\/span>quartet<\/span>\u00a0of expert collaborators, who cogently traverse a range of repertoire staples and modern works.\u201d Previous residency engagements include the 2015\u201316 Ernst Stiefel String\u00a0<\/span>Quartet<\/span>-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, resident ensemble of the 2014 Ravinia Festival\u2019s Steans Music Institute, and, from 2014\u20132016, the String\u00a0<\/span>Quartet<\/span>-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>quartet<\/span>\u00a0has performed extensively throughout North America, as well as in Europe, Japan, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, and Abu Dhabi, and it has commissioned and premiered new works by Pulitzer Prize-winner Caroline Shaw, Lembit Beecher, Paul\u00a0<\/span>Wiancko<\/span>, Yevgeniy\u00a0<\/span>Sharlat<\/span>, Gabriella Smith, Rene Orth, Michi\u00a0<\/span>Wiancko<\/span>, and Alyssa Weinberg.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Program for\u00a0<\/span><\/b>What\u2019s Past is Prologue<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hildegard von Bingen (1098\u20131179):\u00a0<\/span>Columba\u00a0aspexit<\/span><\/i>, arr. Alex Fortes (7 minutes)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Strozzi (1619\u20131677):\u00a0<\/span>L’usignuolo<\/span><\/i>, arr. Alex Fortes (5 minutes)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nina C. Young (b. 1984):\u00a0<\/span>Memento mori – Phase I<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(2013) (8 minutes)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Strozzi (1619\u20131677):\u00a0<\/span>L’amante\u00a0modesto<\/span><\/i>, arr. Alex Fortes (5 minutes)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Gabriella Smith (b. 1991):\u00a0<\/span>Carrot Revolution<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(2015) (11 minutes)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Intermission\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhiannon Giddens (b.1977):\u00a0\u201cAt the Purchaser\u2019s Option\u201d\u00a0(2016) (4 minutes)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eleanor Alberga (b. 1949): String Quartet No. 1 (1993) (21\u00a0minutes)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>I. D\u00e9tach\u00e9et martellato e zehr lebhaft und swing it man<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

II. Espressivo, with wonder and yearning<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 III. Frantically driven yet playful<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About the Program<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cWhat\u2019s\u00a0past is\u00a0prologue\u201d was famously spoken by Antonio in Shakespeare\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>The Tempest<\/span><\/i>\u00a0and has become a modern shorthand for the notion that history sets the context for the present. For this\u00a0Aizuri\u00a0Quartet program,\u00a0<\/span>What\u2019s Past is Prologue<\/span><\/i>\u00a0refers to music of the present moment that has sprung forth from the past.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first half features pieces from the 12th and 17th centuries\u2014by Hildegard von Bingen and Barbara Strozzi,\u00a0respectively\u2014paired with new music that draws inspiration from old music. Hildegard von Bingen\u2019s plainchant\u00a0<\/span>Columba\u00a0aspexit<\/span><\/i>\u00a0and Barbara Strozzi\u2019s madrigals\u00a0<\/span>L\u2019usignuolo<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(<\/span>The Nightingale<\/span><\/i>) and\u00a0<\/span>L\u2019amante\u00a0modesto<\/span><\/i>\u00a0(<\/span>The Modest Lover<\/span><\/i>) are illustrative of their bold, original approaches to vocal composition. They are heard here in new arrangements by Alex Fortes that were commissioned by the\u00a0Aizuri\u00a0Quartet.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contemporary American composers Nina C. Young and Gabriella Smith reflect on the work of those who came before them as they push the string quartet medium toward the future. In\u00a0<\/span>Memento mori – Phase I<\/span><\/i>, Young uses the first five notes of the D minor subject of Bach\u2019s Art of Fugue as the musical material from which the piece is spun. An artistic reminder of the inevitability of death, she describes her\u00a0<\/span>Memento mori\u00a0<\/span><\/i>as \u201ca meditation on life and the perception of time. In our daily activities, the constant influx of information, sensations, and stimuli saturates our consciousness. By stepping out of time, we can zoom in and out of our perceptual systems, allowing us to focus on their intricacies and beauty.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Carrot Revolution<\/span><\/i>, written for the\u00a0Aizuri\u00a0Quartet in 2015, ushers the quartet through a collage of styles, playfully drawing grooves and flashes of melody out of a wide array of extended techniques. Inspired by the vast art collection of Dr. Albert C. Barnes and his unique approach to displaying paintings, metal objects, furniture,\u00a0and pottery in unusual combinations,\u00a0Smith\u00a0writes: \u201cI envisioned the piece as a celebration of that spirit of fresh observation and of new ways of looking at old things, such as the string quartet\u2014a 200-year-old genre\u2014as well as some of my even older musical influences (Bach,\u00a0Perotin, Gregorian chant, Georgian folk songs, and Celtic fiddle tunes). The piece is a patchwork of my wildly contrasting influences and full of strange and unexpected juxtapositions and intersecting planes of sound, inspired by the way Barnes’ ensembles show old works in new contexts and draw connections between things we don\u2019t think of as being related.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhiannon Giddens makes a psychological journey into a troubled part of America\u2019s past with her song\u00a0\u201cAt the Purchaser\u2019s Option\u201d\u00a0(from her album\u00a0<\/span>Freedom\u00a0Highway<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0and\u00a0arranged for string quartet by Jacob\u00a0Garchik). The song was inspired by a 19th-century advertisement Giddens found for a 22-year-old female slave whose baby was also available for sale (\u201cat the purchaser\u2019s option\u201d). Giddens, a musical historian, imagines the interior world of the slave whose soul is out of reach to her captors.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the British, Jamaican-born composer Eleanor Alberga draws inspiration from the scale and energy of the ancient, physical world. Her String Quartet No. 1 launches into outer space and explores the galaxy with brightness, virtuosity, and a sense of wonder. Alberga writes, \u201cIn the case of the first quartet I was propelled into an intense burst of creativity by a lecture on physics. The details of this lecture\u2014who gave it, where it was given, and so on\u2014are now lost to my memory, but what grabbed me was the realization that all matter\u2014including our physical bodies\u2014is made of the same stuff: star dust.\u00a0So\u00a0the first movement might be called \u2018a fugue without a subject,\u2019 as particles of this stardust swirl around each other, go their separate ways, collide, or merge. The second movement might be described as \u2018stargazing from outer space,\u2019 while the finale re-establishes gravity and earthbound energy.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

World Class Partner<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Virginia G. Piper Concert Series supported by the Dayton Fowler Grafman Endowment for Classical Music<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The GRAMMY\u00ae-nominated Aizuri Quartet presents engaging, thought-provoking programs\u2014branded by The New York Times as \u201cgenuinely exciting\u201d and \u201cimaginative.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":9761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"tags":[],"tribe_events_cat":[16,34],"acf":[],"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Scottsdale Center For The Performing Arts","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/9740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9740"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsdaleperformingarts.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=9740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}