San Francisco’s Alexander String Quartet closes out this season’s Bridges festival with a program of California composers plus a Beethoven classic.

SAN FRANCISCO featuring Alexander String Quartet
Monday, May 5, 2008 | 8pm at New Hazlett Theater

Special performance by the Montgomery Fellowship Quartet at 7:30PM

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Program:

John Adams — John’s Book of Alleged Dances (selections)
Wayne Peterson — Jazz Play
Terry Riley — Mythic Birds Waltz
Beethoven — Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR INTERACTIVE PROGRAM NOTES, WHERE YOU CAN LISTEN TO SOME OF THE MUSIC ON THE PROGRAM.

Just click on the titles of the works to hear mp3s, and click on the composer’s names to be taken to their websites for more info.

We’ve arranged for free parking on the street outside of the New Hazlett, and also next door in the Children’s Museum lot P1 (the one with the three giant fish in it).

Our concert Monday night with the Takács Quartet and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet was out of this world. The reviews are in today, and you can read them here:

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

I didn’t have my camera with me, so no photos (darn!).

Our final concert at Carnegie Music Hall this season is a blockbuster – the stellar Takács Quartet with thrilling pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. And the repertoire – particularly Franck’s Quintet – is dynamite.

MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2008 | 8PM AT CARNEGIE MUSIC HALL

There is no pre-concert talk for this event
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PROGRAM:

Haydn — Quartet No. 59 in G minor, Op. 74, No. 3 “The Rider”
Brahms — Quartet No. 3 in B-flat major, Op. 67
Franck — Piano Quintet in F minor, M. 7

I was lucky enough to talk with Takács violinist Edwin Dusinberre about this inspired program.

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Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society
and The St. Barts Music Festival Present

Igor Stravinsky’s

The Soldier’s Tale

Featuring an all-star cast for one very special performance

Also: The Debussy Trio and the Prokofiev Quintet in G minor, Opus 39

Date and Time: 12 May 2008, 7 PM

Venue: Shady Side Academy

Click the image above for more info on the performers.

Tickets available at www.proartstickets.org
or call 412-394-3353

On Monday, April 7 PCMS presents London featuring the Belcea Quartet.
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Here during their U.S. tour, Belcea brings us the music of Benjamin Britten, a graduate of the Royal College of Music just like Belcea’s musicians, and Haydn, inventor of the string quartet. While The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra is perhaps one of Britten’s best known works, you’ll find that his compositions for string quartet are perhaps some of his most nostalgic and passionate.

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Monday night saw the Shanghai Quartet give another phenomenal performance on our Bridges Festival of String Quartets. Here’s the review from Andrew Druckenbrod at the Post-Gazette:

The Shanghai offered such mastery, delivering staccato runs or chordal bursts with uncanny precision, that at times one fixated on the sheer musicianship.

Read the whole thing here.

By the way, the floor is checkered because Dance Alloy is currently in the midst of a run at the New Hazlett Theater with a show based on Alice in Wonderland. I think it looks pretty cool.

Tonight, our landmark Bridges Festival of String Quartets continues with the Shanghai Quartet.

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Monday, March 31, 2008 | 8pm at New Hazlett Theater

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Program:

Yi-Wen Jiang — traditional Chinese folksongs: Yao Dance, Shepherd’s Song, Harvest Celebration
Zhou Long — Song of the Chi’in
Bright Sheng — String Quartet No. 4 “Silent Temple”
Ravel — String Quartet in F major

The Shanghai Quartet is known for elegantly melding the delicacy of Eastern music with Western repertoire, traveling genres from traditional Chinese folk music to Brahms and Schubert. In this concert they perform music from Zhou Long and Bright Sheng, survivors of Mao’s Cultural Revolution who have achieved international success, alongside traditional Chinese folk music and Ravel’s only string quartet, tinged with Far East exoticism.

www.shanghaiquartet.com

GET TICKETS FOR MARCH 31, 2008:

Click “Add to Cart” to add one ticket to your shopping cart. You will be assigned best available seats at time of purchase. Click “View Cart” at any time to begin checkout. If you would like to purchase more than one ticket for this concert, you can indicate the quantity of tickets you would like when you view your cart.

Regular Price Tickets: $20

This close to the concert, tickets are available for will-call pickup only, any time after 7PM on Monday the 31st at the theater.

Student Price: $10

This close to the concert, tickets are available for will-call pickup only, any time after 7PM on Monday the 31st at the theater.

Click here for a preview of what’s coming.

More soon . . .

The Florestan Trio, made up of three sublime musicians from the U.K., joins PCMS on Monday, March 10. Get tickets!

The name “Florestan” was taken from one of Robert Schumann’s alter egos, which he used in his positive and carefree moods. He used the name “Eusebius” when he was in his more temperamental moods. The Florestan Trio chose the former name for its representation of spirit and color.

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“If there is a string quartet currently in circulation that produces a more beautiful sound than the Shanghai Quartet, the name doesn’t immediately come to mind.”
~The New York Times

The Shanghai Quartet roars into town Monday, March 31 at 8PM at the New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. Get tickets!

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