St. Lawrence String Quartet Return To The Soraya This Month

Sitting onstage just feet from world-class performers is an exhilarating experience, even more with the St. Lawrence String Quartet, an exciting ensemble that plays with what the Boston Globe calls "irresistible exuberance" and a sense of joy.

In their return to the intimate Onstage Chamber Music Performances at The Soraya on Thursday, March 24 and Friday, March 25 at 8PM, the St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ) performs John Adams: "Second Quartet" Second Movement; Osvaldo Golijov's two new arrangements for the quartet: Astor Piazzolla's Escualo and the traditional Yiddish song, Arum dem Fayer; and Doug Balliet's 2019 composition for SLSQ "Zefiro Tornado", performed with Purcell: Fantasia on One Note. Please note, facemasks are required for all indoor areas at The Soraya.

Tickets for St. Lawrence String Quartet start at $76 and are available at www.thesoraya.org and by calling 818-677-3000. The Soraya is located at 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330.

"Modern," "dramatic," "superb," "wickedly attentive," "with a hint of rock 'n roll energy" are just a few ways critics describe the musical phenomenon that is the St Lawrence String Quartet. The SLSQ is renowned for the intensity of its performances, its breadth of repertoire, and its commitment to concert experiences that are at once intellectually exciting and emotionally alive. Alex Ross said in The New Yorker, "The St. Lawrence are remarkable not simply for the quality of their music making, exalted as it is, but for the joy they take in the act of connection."

Established in Toronto in 1989, the SLSQ quickly earned acclaim at top international chamber music competitions and was soon playing hundreds of concerts per year worldwide. It established an ongoing residency at Spoleto Festival USA, made prize-winning recordings for EMI of music by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Golijov, earning two Grammy nominations and a host of other prizes before being appointed ensemble-in-residence at Stanford University in 1998.

Recent highlights include performances with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic and Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony in John Adams's Absolute Jest for string quartet and orchestra, and the European premieres of Adams's Second String Quartet. Fiercely committed to collaboration with living composers, the SLSQ's fruitful partnership with Adams, Jonathan Berger, Osvaldo Golijov and many others has yielded some of the finest additions to the quartet literature in recent years.

The Quartet is also especially dedicated to the music of Haydn, and are recording his groundbreaking set of six Op. 20 quartets in high-definition video for a free, universal release online in 2018. According to The New Yorker, "...no other North American quartet plays the music of Haydn with more intelligence, expressivity, and force..."

At Stanford, the SLSQ is at the forefront of intellectual life on campus. The SLSQ directs the music department's chamber music program, and frequently collaborates with other departments including the Schools of Law, Medicine, Business and Education. The Quartet frequently performs at Stanford Live, hosts an annual chamber music seminar, and runs the Emerging String Quartet Program through which it mentors the next generation of young quartets.

The Soraya's Onstage Chamber Music St. Lawrence String Quartet program includes John Adams: "Second Quartet" Second Movement; Doug Balliet: "Zefiro Tornado" with Henry Purcell "Fantasia Upon One Note" (composed in 2019 for St. Lawrence String Quartet); Osvaldo Golijov: two new arrangements for the SLSQ -- Astor Piazzolla's Escualo and the traditional Yiddish song, Arum dem Fayer.

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