On Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m., the Chiara String Quartet (Rebecca Fischer and Hyeyung Julie Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; Gregory Beaver, cello) will perform the second concert of the 2014-2015 Hixson-Lied Concert Series in Kimball Recital Hall.
The program will feature an “All-American” program to include Gabriela Lena Frank’s "Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout for String Quartet," Irving Fine’s "String Quartet," and Jefferson Friedman’s "String Quartet No. 2."
The Chiara Quartet members are in their 10th year as Hixson-Lied Artists-in-Residence at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Glenn Korff School of Music.
The Los Angeles Times raved that Frank’s "Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout for String Quartet" (2001) is “… a luminous work that translates Andean folk music to the string quartet medium. [Gabriela Frank] has a highly refined ear, which results in string writing that is exceptionally smooth and idiomatic yet that in its imitation of panpipes and other indigenous instruments bursts with color and fresh individuality.” The Chiara Quartet released its recording of the piece in 2007.
American composer Irving Fine composed only one string quartet, which straddles the neo-classical and 12-tone compositional styles. The Chiara Quartet recently performed the quartet at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., as part of a celebration of the centenary of Fine’s birth.
Jefferson Friedman’s "String Quartet No. 2" is one of three string quartets he wrote for the Chiara Quartet. In April 2011, New Amsterdam Records released the Chiara’s recording of his Quartets Nos. 2 and 3 to great critical acclaim. Both celebrated pieces, which “already deserve to be heard as classics of this decade” (The New York Times) were commissioned by the Chiara, and are the result of a more than 10-year friendship with the composer. The New York Times called the Chiara’s performances “vital,” and the San Francisco Chronicle commented on the Chiara’s “lush ensemble sound that brings out the hidden depths of Friedman’s harmonic language.”
Tickets for the concert are $20 general, $10 seniors and $5 for students and are available in advance at the Lied Center Box Office, (402) 472-4747. Any two concerts in the series are $35 general, $16 seniors and $8 students.