Juilliard String Quartet Set Pair of Detroit Area Concerts, 12/11-12

The Juilliard String Quartet, celebrating its 70th season in 2015-2016, will perform concerts on consecutive evenings on two Chamber Music Society of Detroit series: Friday, December 11, 8 PM on the Opening the 2015-16 Midtown Series at Wayne State University's Schaver Recital Hall in Detroit, and Saturday, December 12, 8 PM on the Signature Chamber Series at Seligman Performing Arts Center in Beverly Hills.

On Friday evening the quartet devotes most of the evening to Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 1. Among the Juilliard's proudest achievements is its recordings of the complete string quartets of Carter. The Juilliard Quartet members were not only long-time champions of the composer (who died in 2012 at age 103), they were his Manhattan neighbors, Juilliard School faculty colleagues, and decades-long friends. Audiences will become more familiar with the composer and the piece through discussion, demonstration and a performance that will reflect the quartet's enthusiastic advocacy of one of the 20th century's most prominent composers.

Also on the program is the Wayne State University Concert Chorale under its new director, Noah Horn, performing two early choral works by Carter set to poems of Emily Dickinson, "Musicians Wrestle Everywhere" and "Heart Not So Heavy as Mine."

Following the performance, Detroit Free Press music critic Mark Stryker will join the Juilliard String Quartet members onstage to moderate a discussion and take questions from the audience.

The concert takes place at Schaver Music Recital Hall, located at 480 W. Hancock (just west of Cass Avenue), on the Wayne State University campus. The Chamber Music Society's new partnership with Wayne State University will bring all four of its Midtown concerts to Schaver Hall this year. Tickets priced at $30 for adults and $15 for students are available by phone at 248-855-6070 or online at www.ChamberMusicDetroit.org. Student rush tickets priced at $5 are available one hour prior to performance.

The 8 PM Saturday, December 12 concert at Seligman Performing Arts Center is devoted to music of Mozart and Schubert, highlighted by a performance of Schubert's String Quintet in C major, D. 956, scored for two violins, viola and two cellos. The ensemble is joined for the Quintet by cellist Astrid Schween, who will become the Juilliard Quartet's new cellist beginning with the 2016-17 season, succeeding cellist Joel Krosnick when he retires after 42 seasons. This performance marks Ms. Schween's first public concert with the quartet, and one of only three appearances with the quartet this season.

Joel Krosnick and Astrid Schween will join CMSDetroit President Steve Wogaman for a pre-concert conversation onstage beginning at 6:45 PM; the talk is open to ticket-holders free of charge.

Seligman Performing Arts Center is located at 22305 West 13 Mile Road (at Lahser Road), on the campus of Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills. Tickets priced at $32 - $64 for adults and $16 - $32 for students are available online at www.ChamberMusicDetroit.org or by phone at 248-855-6070.

The Juilliard String Quartet, widely known as the quintessential American string quartet, celebrates its 70th season with concert tours in North America, Europe and Asia. Founded in 1946, the Juilliard String Quartet was the first ensemble to play all six Bartok quartets in the United States, and its performances of Schoenberg's quartets helped establish the works as cornerstones of the modern string quartet literature. The Quartet's recordings of the Bartok and Schoenberg Quartets, as well as those of Debussy, Ravel and Beethoven won Grammy Awards, and in 2011 the Quartet became the first classical music ensemble to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. In 2014 Sony Classical reissued the Quartet's landmark recordings of the first four Elliott Carter String Quartets together with the recently recorded Carter Quartet No. 5, making a complete historical document.

A mixed ensemble of approximately 20 voices, the Wayne State University Concert Chorale performs music of the 16th through 21st centuries, including compositions with orchestra and works in contemporary formats. The Concert Chorale strives, through its diverse and demanding repertoire, to offer a wide spectrum of great choral literature performed with the highest possible artistry and professionalism. The Concert Chorale has performed and recorded internationally, including featured performances at festivals in Central and Eastern Europe.

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