Hagen Quartet to Make Segerstrom Center Debut, 10/28

Following the highly successful and internationally celebrated milestone of its 30th anniversary, the critically acclaimed Hagen Quartet makes its Segerstrom Center debut on Tuesday, October 28 at 8 p.m. in Samueli Theater. The evening's program includes pieces spanning three centuries that display this talented quartet's versatility and virtuosity. Mozart's Quartet in G Major, K. 387 opens the program, followed by Shostakovich's Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110 and Brahms' Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 67l. The Hagen Quartet includes Lukas Hagen, violin; Rainer Schmidt, violin; Veronika Hagen, viola and Clemens Hagen, cello.

Violinist Rainer Schmidt says of the program, "All three 'musics' are defined, concise and clear, yet they point to something which goes far beyond the written notes. It took us some time to 'build' this program with compositions that are very dear to each of us in the quartet."

Tickets for Hagen Quartet start at $29 and will go on sale Sunday, September 14 at 10 a.m. PST. Tickets will be available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746. A free Preview Talk with musicologist and author Herbert Glass will take place at 7:15 p.m. in Samueli Theater.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds the Colburn Foundation for its support of the Chamber Music Series. Kia is the Official Automotive Partner of the Center and United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Center. Classical KUSC is the Media Partner of the Chamber Music Series.

The Center's 2014 - 2015 Chamber Series continues next with the Szymanowski String Quartet featuring pianist Joseph Kalichstein, Calder Quartet and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. To learn more, visit www.scfta.org/chamber.

The upcoming season of the Hagen Quartet, recognized as "undoubtedly the world's most famous quartet," (Neue Zu?rcher Zeitung) comes on the heels of its 30th season, which was devoted to the complete Beethoven string quartets. The Hagen Quartet starts their extensive touring in the 2014 - 2015 season with a Mozart cycle, featuring Mozart's 10 major string quartets in the most important musical centers throughout Europe and Asia.

The quartet's 30th anniversary was lauded as a "grandiose culmination" (Neue Zu?rcher Zeitung) and "the highest art of existence" (DiePresse.com). This milestone was also celebrated with two new recordings, released on Myrios Classics, of works by Mozart, Webern, Beethoven, Grieg and Brahms (clarinetist Jo?rg Widmann joined the quartet for the Brahms). Both recordings received outstanding reviews from the international press. In its review, the German magazine FonoForum wrote of the "world-class ensemble ... [having] advanced even further. Its new vision is breathtaking and can become addictive.... The richness of colors and emotions is spellbinding."

The Hagen Quartet was recognized with the prestigious ECHO Klassik award as Ensemble of the Year 2011. In 2012, the quartet was named Honorary Member of Vienna's Konzerthaus.

The unprecedented three-decade career of the Hagen Quartet began in 1981. Its early years, marked by a series of prizes in chamber music competitions and an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon that was to produce around 45 CDs over the following 20 years, enabled the group to work its way through the virtually unlimited quartet repertoire from which the distinctive profile of the Hagen has emerged.

Collaborations with artistic personalities such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gyo?rgy Kurta?g are as important to the Hagen Quartet as its concert appearances with performers including Maurizio Pollini, Mitsuko Uchida, Sabine Meyer, Krystian Zimerman, Heinrich Schiff and Jo?rg Widmann.

The group's concert repertoire and discography feature attractive and intelligently arranged programs that embrace the entire history of the string quartet, from its pre-Haydn beginnings right through to Kurta?g. The Hagen Quartet also works closely with composers of its own generation, whether by reviving existing works or by commissioning and premiering new pieces.

For many young string quartets, the Hagen Quartet is a model in terms of sound quality, stylistic plurality, ensemble playing and serious commitment to the works and composers of its chosen genre. As teachers and mentors at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Hochschule in Basel, as well as in international master classes, the quartet's members pass on their wealth of experience to their younger colleagues.

Since mid-2013, the Hagen Quartet has been performing on instruments made by Antonio Stradivari, known as the "Paganini" quartet, generously on loan by the Nippon Music Foundation.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is unique as both an acclaimed arts institution and as a multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center traces its roots back to the late 1960s when a dedicated group of community leaders decided Orange County should have its own world-class performing arts venue.

As Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization, Segerstrom Center for the Arts owns and operates the 3,000-seat Segerstrom Hall and intimate 250-seat Founders Hall, which opened in 1986, and the 2,000- seat Rene?e and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, which opened in 2006 and also houses the 500-seat Samueli Theater, the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge Education Center's studio performance space and Boeing Education Lab. A spacious arts plaza anchors Segerstrom Center for the Arts and is home to numerous free performances throughout the year as part of Segerstrom Center for the Arts' ongoing Free for All series.

The Center presents a broad range of programming each season for audiences of all ages from throughout Orange County and beyond, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events. It offers many education programs designed to inspire young people through the arts. These programs reach hundreds of thousands of students of all ages with vital arts-in-education programs, enhancing their studies and enriching their lives well into the future.

In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independent acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

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