String Quartets Strike A New Chord

Three quartets of Westmont string students perform an Instrumental Chamber Concert Friday, April 11, at 8 p.m. in Deane Chapel on lower campus. The free concert features new and rarely heard gems alongside traditional repertoire pieces.

The Manly Monday Quartet, so called because the all-male ensemble rehearses on Mondays, will premiere “A Quartet for Strings” by composition student Becky Roubos. They will also play Franz Schubert’s “String Quartet in D minor: Death and the Maiden.”

Quartet 150:4 will perform selections from Schubert’s “String Quartet in A minor: Rosamunde,” Piotr Tchaikovsky’s “String Quartet in D, Op. 11,” and Antonin Dvorak’s “String Quartet in F, Op. 96: American.” The quartet’s name refers to a Psalm about music.

The Siloam Quartet, formed from two pairs of sisters, will present an excerpt from Dmitri Shostakovich’s “String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110” and three movements from the very rarely-heard “Quintet in G-minor” by Enrique Granados. Spanish influences in Granados’s work make the piece accessible and easy to listen to.

All three quartets are coached by violin professor Philip Ficsor, who recently completed a national tour with his own ensemble, American Double.

For information call (805)565-7140 or e-mail dgalvan@westmont.edu.