Texas Performing Arts Presents Menahem Pressler with the Miró Quartet, 10/18

Legendary pianist Menahem Pressler joins the world-renowned Miró Quartet for an exceptional evening of chamber music on Oct. 18 at 8pm.

"Menahem Pressler's joyous pianism-technically faultless, stylistically impeccable, emotionally irrepressible-is from another age and is a virtually forgotten sensibility. He is a National Treasure." - Los Angeles Times

"The quartet played a gorgeous interpretation. And they were exciting to watch, working with great cohesion, cueing one another as they paused at times, lifting their bows for a second of silence, before landing back on the strings simultaneously. The effect was very dramatic." - Cincinnati Enquirer

Menahem Pressler, founder of the Beaux Arts Trio, ranks with the world's great pianists. He fled Nazi Germany in 1939 and launched his career post-war with first prize at the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco, followed by his American debut with Eugene Ormandy's Philadelphia Orchestra. In 2011 the International Classical Music Awards recognized Pressler with lifetime achievement honors.

After nearly a decade of an illustrious and praised solo career, the 1955 Berkshire Music Festival saw Menahem Pressler's debut as a chamber musician, where he appeared as pianist with the Beaux Arts Trio. This collaboration quickly established Pressler's reputation as one of the world's most revered chamber musicians. With Pressler at the Trio's helm as the only pianist for nearly 55 years, The New York Times described the Beaux Arts Trio as "in a class by itself" and the Washington Post exclaimed that "since its founding more than 50 years ago, the Beaux Arts Trio has become the gold standard for trios throughout the world." The 2007-2008 season was nothing short of bitter-sweet, as violinist Daniel Hope, cellist Antonio Meneses and Menahem Pressler took their final bows as The Beaux Arts Trio, which marked the end of one of the most celebrated and revered chamber music careers of all time. What saw the end of a one artistic legacy also witnessed the beginning of another, as Pressler continues to dazzle audiences throughout the world, both as piano soloist and collaborating chamber musician, including performances with the Juilliard, Emerson, American, and Cleveland Quartets, among many others.

Founded in 1995 at the Oberlin Conservatory and hailed by The New York Times as possessing "explosive vigor and technical finesse," the dynamic Miró Quartet, one of America's highest-profile chamber groups enjoys its place at the top of the international chamber music scene. Now in its second decade, the Miró Quartet is the Faculty String Quartet-in residence at the Butler School of Music. Their honors include a 2005 Cleveland Quartet Award, as well as being the first ensemble to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant.

PROGRAM

Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47 Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856)
William Fedkenheuer, violin
Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
The Musicians will provide program commentary from the stage.

For more information on the UT Butler School of Music, please visit http://texasperformingarts.org/season/menahem-pressler-miro-quartet-austin.

Tickets ($32 / $10 student tickets / discounted tickets available for UT faculty & staff, seniors and Military) are on sale now at authorized ticket outlets, which include the Bass Concert Hall Ticket Office and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at TexasPerformingArts.org, or by calling (512) 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO.

Photo Credit: Alain Barker