Carya String Quartet Announces 2021/2022 Season: Mixed Media
Quartet Returns to Live Performances
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8/16/2021
Season opens with a Gala performance on September 24, 2021, 7pm at the TXRX Labs
Programs explore intersection of art and music
Carya String Quartet welcomes two new members
Houston, TX-- Carya String Quartet’s 2021/2022 Season: Mixed Media delves into the connection between visual and musical art worlds. Taking inspiration from four genres of classical painting - Landscape, Portrait, History, and Genre - each program explores the cross pollination of life, art, and music.
The season will open in September with “Landscape,” a program focused on nature, both planned and wild, complete with a special nod to the Impressionist School. This dreamy program opens with Caroline Shaw’s “Plan and Elevation,” which depicts the grounds of Dumbarton Oaks. It also includes Debussy’s impressionist masterpiece, “Quartet in G minor, Op. 10,” and Margaret Brouwer’s “Crosswinds,” inspired by the impressionist paintings of John H. Twatchmann.
The second program offered, “Portrait,” was developed specially to complement John Slaby’s solo exhibition at Archway Gallery in October. It is a potpourri of self-reflective works and pieces that seek to showcase individuals or specific scenes. It will include movements from Smetana’s “From My Life” quartet depicting his life as a young artist, Dvorak’s “American Quartet,” and Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 3, as well as a reprise of Brouwer’s “Crosswinds” and John Corigliano’s poignant “Snapshot: Circa 1909.”
The series will continue with a look backwards. “History” takes its inspiration from Classical History Paintings, memorializing important moments or ideas. This program features Saint-Saens first String Quartet, written near the end of his life as his contribution to the string quartet repertoire, a necessity to cement his legacy as a great composer. The Saint-Saens will be paired with Prokofiev’s String Quartet No. 2, which is a musical memorialization of the Kabardino-Balkar culture.
The last program of the season, “Genre” focuses on works depicting everyday life and the human condition. Opening with Jesse Montgomery’s catchy “Strum,” the program features Mozart’s famous “Dissonance” Quartet, evoking his famous comic operas that brilliantly show the foibles of mankind, and Janacek’s “Kreutzer” quartet, based on the Tolstoy novella “The Kreutzer Sonata,” which centers its plot of love and jealousy on Beethoven’s violin work by the same name.
As the Carya String Quartet enters their fourth season, they welcome Claire Niederberger, violin, and Yuliya Kim, cello. Originally from Pittsburgh, Niederberger is a fierce advocate of new music and recent Performance Certificate recipient from the University of Houston. Dr. Kim joins the quartet after recently finishing her DMA at Michigan State University. Previously, she was the principal cellist of the State Orchestra of the Opera Studio (Uzbekistan), a section cellist in the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, and a member of the Tashkent Piano Trio.
“As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, we are excited and energized to continue our work, to bring people together with their neighbors and communities around music,” says Rainey Weber, violist. “Our digital programming last season helped us reach new audiences and the feedback we received confirmed the incredible power that music has to heal and bring us together. We look forward to seeing our audiences in person and sharing the music live and together.”
The return to live concerts will begin with a Gala performance of “Landscape” on September 24th at TXRX Gallery in the East End Maker Hub. “Landscape” will be reprised at Webster Presbyterian Church and at Emmanuel Episcopal Church. A complete schedule can be found at www.caryaquartet.org. The Carya String Quartet aims to bring these programs to as many people as possible in the region through neighborhood concerts. Anyone interested in hosting or sponsoring a performance can email caryaquartet@gmail.com.
###
Now in their fourth season, the Carya String Quartet strives to create community through performances of new and old chamber music from around the world. Drawn together by Houston’s international and inclusive arts culture, the members - Laura Cividino, Claire Niederberger, Rainey Weber, and Yuliya Kim - hail from Italy, the United States, and Uzbekistan. As the only all-women string quartet in the greater Houston area, Carya aims to bring attention to women composers in their musical and educational programs. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, their Meditations on Bach project paired Bach chorales with works of visual art and gained international attention. The 2021-2022 season will continue to explore this connection between visual art and music through programs titled Landscape, Portrait, History, and Genre. Highlights will include works by Debussy, Brouwer, Prokofiev, and Montgomery, among others. In addition to presenting traditional concerts, the Carya String Quartet has launched “Inspirations,” an interactive and educational series focused on exploring how and why music is created and what can inspire composers, performers, and audience members alike.
Formed in 2018, the Carya String Quartet draws its name from the official state tree of Texas: the pecan tree, Carya Illinoinensis.
The Carya Quartet is a sponsored project of Fresh Arts, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in support of the Carya Quartet must be made payable to Fresh Arts and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Instagram: @caryaquartet
Facebook: @caryaquartet
YouTube: bit.ly/YouTubeCarya