Aeolus Quartet
The UVA Department of Music presents the Aeolus Quartet on Tuesday, November 19th, 2024 in Old Cabell Hall. This free event is sponsored by the UVA Arts Council | Enriching the Arts on Grounds and by the Eleanor Shea Music Trust.
With performances acclaimed for both “high-octane” excitement (Strad) and “dusky lyricism” (New York Times), the Aeolus Quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the United States and performed across the globe with showings "worthy of a major-league quartet" (Dallas Morning News). Formed in 2008, the Quartet is comprised of violinists Nicholas Tavani and Rachel Shapiro, violist Caitlin Lynch, and cellist Jia Kim. Mark Satola of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes, “The quartet has a rich and warm tone combined with precise ensemble playing (that managed also to come across as fluid and natural), and an impressive musical intelligence guided every technical and dramatic turn.” The Aeolus Quartet has performed in venues ranging from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series to Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, to Dupont Underground, a subterranean streetcar station in DC's Dupont Circle. They were the 2013-2015 Graduate Resident String Quartet at the Juilliard School and are currently Quartet-in-Residence at Musica Viva NY.
Recently garnering praise by the Wall Street Journal for their “vibrant” performance in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Aeolus Quartet’s 2023-24 season also includes featured performances presented by Carnegie Hall Citywide at Madison Square Park, Chamber Music Detroit, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. The Quartet serves as the Artistic Directors for the Charles Wadsworth Piano Competition, an innovative competition with an emphasis on chamber music and a commitment to creating equal access for all applicants.
Concert Program: Homeward
Jessie Montgomery "Strum"
Paul Wiancko LIFT
--- intermission ---
Felix Mendelssohn: Quartet in F minor, Op.80
I. Allegro vivace assai
II. Allegro assai
III. Adagio
IV. Finale. Allegro molto
Homeward Program Note:
Montgomery’s ‘Strum’ takes us on a textural journey that layers voice after voice over a pizzicato underpinning, a “fleeting nostalgia that transforms into ecstatic celebration.” Exploring the line where light and shadow meet, Wiancko’s exuberant, modern-day masterpiece LIFT is “an investigation of elation and journey of a soul.” The program is anchored by Mendelssohn’s darkly tragic and tenderly nostalgic Quartet in F minor, Op 80. Written in the wake of his beloved sister Fanny’s death, this music traces Mendelssohn’s journey through grief as he explores love, loss, and a sense of home in this richly expressive work.
The Aeolus Quartet will hold a public masterclass at 5:30pm on Monday, 11/18 in the UVA Chapel.
11/25/24 Post Residency quotes from patrons and students:
From David P.:
"Rosalyn and I wanted to thank you for reminding us about the Aeolus quartet coming to UVA. We very much enjoyed the concert. It was a nice blend of modern and traditional pieces. We thought their performance of the Mendelssohn was quite exceptional, easily up to the level that we hear from the Tuesday Evening Concert series that we regularly attend.
We were also touched by the enthusiasm the students who had apparently attended master classes with them exhibited by bringing flowers to the group after the performances. And we noted the group came out and were chatting up those same students as we left the hall. A lovely evening and performance."
From Sarah R-H:
"I am incredibly grateful for the experience to work with the Aeolus Quartet this past weekend at our chamber masterclass, and to see them in action the following evening at their breathtaking performance.
Each member of the group gave inspirational feedback that harnessed our strengths as a group to refine our musical intentions. They gave both open-ended and concrete techniques to help us reach this goal. Outside of being brilliant musicians and teachers, they are just wonderful people to be around, and the joy with which they shared both their knowledge and their music with us was infectious!"
From Amina S:
"I had an incredible time with the Aeolus quartet. They were so kind and generous with their time and energy, and I couldn't have asked for a more positive experience. Their musical ideas were beautiful, but more importantly, they communicated their ideas so effectively. If I had an opportunity to play for them again, I would absolutely jump at the opportunity. They were genuinely some of the most kind and impressive people that I've ever met."
Old Cabell Hall is located on the south end of UVA’s historic lawn, directly opposite the Rotunda (map). Parking is available in the central grounds parking garage on Emmet Street, in the C1 parking lot off McCormick Rd, and in the parking lots at the UVA Corner. Handicap parking is available in the small parking lot adjacent to Bryan Hall.
All programs are subject to change.
For more information, please call the Department of Music at 434.924.3052 or send a message to music@virginia.edu.
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This event is supported by the Eleanor Shea Music Trust. Sponsored by the UVA Arts Council | Enriching the Arts on Grounds.
