Hot Young Quartet To Close Season For Newtown Friends Of Music

The Biava String Quartet, winner of the 2003 Naumburg Chamber Music Award, is one of those hot young musical groups that are recognized for their exquisite performances, their talents, skills and presentation that make them winners at competitions and with audiences alike.

Having established an enthusiastic following in the United States and abroad, the quartet captured top prizes at the 2005 Premio Paolo Borciani and 2003 London International String Quartet Competitions, impressing audiences with its sensitive artistry and communicative powers.  What is more, they are featured guests at New Haven’s Sprague Hall where they perform and study with the renowned Tokyo Quartet.

This weekend the quartet will be the guest performers for the final concert of the 2005-06 season of events sponsored by Newtown Friends of Music. Biava Quartet will perform in the auditorium of Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, on Sunday, April 9, at 3 pm.

The Biava Quartet was founded in 1998 at the Cleveland Institute of Music and has since performed at major music halls throughout the world including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, the Library of Congress and London’s Wigmore Hall.

Members of the quartet are violinists Austin Hartman and  Hyunsu Ko,  violist Mary Persin and  cellist Jacob Braun.   They are all graduates of The Cleveland Institute and of the New England the New England Conservatory of Music.

Biava Quartet took its name from Maestro Luis Biava, who has been a mentor and inspiration to the quartet since its inception.

On the program for Sunday’s concert will be: Franz Josef Haydn’s String Quartet in G minor, Opus 74, No. 3, nicknamed “The Rider,” one of the six quartets commissioned by Count Apponyi after Haydn’s return from his lengthy sojourn in England.  These quartets were the first to be performed in large concert halls, rather than in intimate salons.

Following the Haydn will be Claude Debussy’s only string quartet, G minor, Opus 10, Written in 1893, it is typical of music that was written during the Impressionistic era.

Following intermission, Pavel Vinnitsky will join the Biava Quartet to perform Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Opus 115, a composition that is unsurpassed in displaying the clarinet’s most telling effects.

As is the custom, Newtown Friends of Music will host an informal reception in the lobby of Edmond Town Hall following the concert to give audience members a chance to speak with the artists.

Tickets are $18 for adults and $16 for seniors; students K through 12 are admitted free of charge when accompanied by a ticket holding adult.  The box office will open one hour before the start of the concert. 

Parking is free and the town hall is wheelchair accessible.

For further information and for reservations for Sunday afternoon call 426-6470 or visit NewtownFriendsOfMusic.org.