Tickets Available For Daedalus String Quartet Feb. 10 Concert

The classical music world is loaded with good string quartets. Many are emotionally ferocious. Some would like to bowl listeners over with hyper-displays of virtuosity.

Daedalus String Quartet is about clear, refined musicality, drawing an audience into performance through understatement. Soon though, the audience is stock still as the quartet goes about exposing the delicate inner workings of the music.

The quartet takes its name from the mythical Greek inventor, artist and architect celebrated for creating the art of sculpture, designing the Labyrinth and, above all, for regaining his freedom by devising wings that made it possible for him to fly. Since bursting onto the scene seven years ago, this young ensemble has been making a name for itself as one the hottest quartets around. Newtown Friends of Music will present these rising stars in performance at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown on Sunday, February 10, at 3 pm.

On the program are three magnificent string quartets: The Quinten Quartet by Haydn, “Intimate Letters” Quartet by Leos Janacek  and, after intermission, String Quartet in A minor, Opus 51 No. 2 by Johannes Brahms.

Founded in 2000 at Vermont’s world-famous Marlboro Music Festival, the ensemble has surged into the forefront of young chamber ensembles. Within its first year, it was grand prizewinner at the prestigious Banff Competition and soon thereafter was appointed by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as the Chamber Music Society quartet for two consecutive seasons. Since then, the group has toured extensively, performing in major concert halls around the world.

Comprised of sibling violinists Kyu-Young and Min-Young Kim, cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, and violist Jessica Thompson, the foursome, though young, understands ensemble playing. With no pretense or ostentation, the group offers a wash of gorgeous sound produced by polished technique, balance and interpretive unity.

An active chamber musician, violinist Min-Young Kim has toured extensively with musicians from Marlboro, American Chamber Players and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. She was named winner of the Artists International Competition and has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Cleveland and Boston.

Hailed by The Chicago Tribune for his “flawless musical and technical command,” violinist Kyu-Young Kim is an award winning soloist and chamber musician. Mr Kim has been soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, of which he served as Associate Concertmaster, and the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Poland.

Mr Kim and his wife, the cellist Pitnarry Shin, were awarded a 2002 McKnight Fellowship as Soyulla Duo. He has also been the winner of the Marcia Polayes National Young Artists Award and a Jury Commendation Award at the Michael Hill World Violin Competition in New Zealand. Mr Kim studied music at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School.

Violist Jessica Thompson was a member of the Chester String Quartet, resident ensemble of Indiana University South Bend, where she served as Associate Professor, until joining Daedalus.

Cellist Raman Ramakrishnan has given solo recitals in New York and Boston and performed chamber music at Alice Tully Hall, for Caramoor’s “Rising Stars” series, at Bargemusic, and at the Marlboro, Bravo! Vail, Charlottesville, and Four Seasons Chamber Music Festivals. He has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and performed frequently with such ensembles as the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, the International Sejong Soloists, and the contemporary chamber ensemble Proteus 5.

The quartet is active in music education for adults and children alike. In addition to their work with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the quartet has served as a resident ensemble of the Lincoln Center Institute, performing for school children throughout the New York metropolitan area. The group has twice been the recipient of educational residency grants from Chamber Music America. On the morning following the concert, the ensemble will meet with some 200 students of Mardi Smith’s string class at Reed Intermediate School and present a School Outreach Program.

An informal reception to meet and chat with the artists will be held after the concert in the town hall lobby.

Tickets for the Newtown performance are $18 for adults, and $16 for those age 65 and over. Children, when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult, are welcomed for free.

Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 426-6470, or at the town hall box office, which will open one hour before concert time. There is plenty of free parking behind Edmond Town Hall, and the facility is handicap accessible.

For further information visit NewtownFriendsOfMusic.org.