MOMENTA FESTIVAL XI Will Present Two Concerts at Music of the Americas
The New York City-based quartet will perform at Americas Society with works by Matthew Greenbaum, Gordon Beeferman, Christopher Forbes, and Aruán Ortiz.
Momenta Festival XI will present two concerts at Americas Society as part of the venue's Music of the Americas series, running October 7 and 8 at 7:00 pm at Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue, New York.
The October 7 concert, titled 'Momenta Festival XI: French Connection,' will feature Julián Carrillo's String Quartet #9, Gabriel Fauré's Piano Quintet #2, Op. 115, and the world premiere of Matthew Greenbaum's In Transit, written for Momenta. The performance will be given by the Momenta Quartet — Emilie-Anne Gendron and Alex Shiozaki on violins, Stephanie Griffin on viola, and Michael Haas on cello — with pianist Steven Beck.
The October 8 concert, 'Momenta Festival XI: Keys to Creativity,' will include a new work by Gordon Beeferman written for Momenta Quartet, three viola/piano improvisations by Beeferman and Stephanie Griffin ('Get Got,' 'Path,' and 'Vertical'), Christopher Forbes's Still Life With Viola, written for Stephanie Griffin, a viola/piano improvisation by Forbes and Griffin, Aruán Ortiz's Three Short Stories About the Big Bang Enigma, and a viola/piano improvisation by Ortiz and Griffin. This performance will feature the Momenta Quartet with Gordon Beeferman, Christopher Forbes, and Aruán Ortiz on piano.
About the Artist
'Momenta': the plural of 'momentum'—four individuals in motion towards a common goal. This is the idea behind the Momenta Quartet (Emilie-Anne Gendron, Alex Shiozaki, Stephanie Griffin, and Michael Haas), whose eclectic vision encompasses contemporary music of all aesthetic backgrounds alongside great music from the recent and distant past. The New York City-based quartet has premiered over 200 works, collaborated with over 250 living composers and was praised by The New York Times for its 'diligence, curiosity and excellence.' In the words of The New Yorker's Alex Ross, 'few American players assume Haydn's idiom with such ease.'
The quartet came into being in November 2004, when composer Matthew Greenbaum invited violist Stephanie Griffin to perform Mario Davidovsky's String Trio for events celebrating Judaism and culture at New York's Symphony Space and Temple University in Philadelphia. A residency through the composition department at Temple University ensued, and the rehearsals and performances were so satisfying that the players decided to form a quartet. Through this residency, Momenta gave two annual concerts highlighting the talents of Temple University student composers alongside twentieth-century masterworks and works from the classical canon, repeating the programs at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. From the outset, Momenta treated all music equally, devoting as much time, care, and commitment to the student works as to the imposing musical monuments.
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