Ralph Farris News

The Hermitage Artist Retreat announced that world-renowned and Grammy Award-winning string quartet ETHEL will headline the Hermitage’s signature fall fundraising event, “The Artful Lobster: An Outdoor Celebration!” on Saturday, November 11th from 11:30am to 2pm at the Hermitage campus on Manasota Key.

In their first Back Deck appearance since 2021, the string quartet ETHEL will bring their particular brand of contemporary music to Morris Museum on July 18.

GatherNYC, the revolutionary weekly concert experience founded and directed by cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd, announces the groundbreaking string quartet ETHEL as the second guest artist of its Spring 2022 season, held at the series’ new home at Museum of Arts and Design (MAD).

Snidero took the opportunity to enhance the 2001 tracks in spots, adding the masterful bowed bass of David Finck.

ETHEL invites early-career music creators to submit their scores for Round V of ETHEL's HomeBaked commissioning initiative. This iteration of HomeBaked calls for works for flute and string quartet, as ETHEL will partner in collaboration with their longtime friend, flutist, composer, and producer Allison Loggins-Hull.

BWW Review: THANKFUL: A BENEFIT ALBUM FOR JERAD BORTZ Provides Broadway inspiration on Rock-It Science Records

 Faced with the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, the unique contemporary music festival founded in 2013 by composer, conductor, and bassist Peter Askim, acted quickly to address the needs of musicians by forming a new component: Next Fest Connects. 

After the overwhelming feedback Henning Rübsam received upon releasing his 2015 work 'And there was Morning' online via his YouTube channel DanceArtJoy this past Sunday,  he decided to make one archival work of his company SENSEDANCE public for free on every Sunday during the current crisis.

a?oeETHEL's Documerica,a?? presented by the Lakewood Cultural Center at 7:30 p.m. on March 13, is a multimedia concert that melds multiple-screen video projections with original music by some of today's top composers, performed with electrifying virtuosity by the indie-classical quartet ETHEL. The projections showcase evocative imagery from a?oeProject Documerica,a?? a massive archive of photographs commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1970s, soon after the agency was established in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution. Through new music, ETHEL explores this compelling snapshot of a tumultuous era that powerfully connects to today's environmental and social issues.

2019-20 Artists-in-Residence Kinds of Kings present Real Loud, the first of four concerts in their Equilibrium and Disturbance series String quartet ETHEL presents fourth chapter of their HomeBaked Project, an initiative showcasing emerging composers, Canadian Brass presents 50th anniversary of their annual holiday celebration

The WYO Theater welcomes New York based contemporary string quartet ETHEL and award-winning Native American artist Robert Mirabal to the stage Friday, November 22 at 7:30pm when they present their inspired collaboration, The River.

Bang on a Can and the Jewish Museum's 2018-2019 concert season, pairing innovative music with the Museum's exhibitions and showcasing leading female performers and composers, continues today, February 28, 2019 at 7:30pm. The acclaimed string quartet ETHEL performs the complete string quartets of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe: Dig Deep, Early that Summer, Four Marys, and Blue Dress. This is the first performance of all of Wolfe's string quartets at one time, on one stage.

Grammy-winner and world-renowned pianist/composer/arranger Laurence Hobgood will release his new album  t e s s e t e r r a  on April 26th, 2019. 

Bang on a Can and the Jewish Museum's 2018-2019 concert season, pairing innovative music with the Museum's exhibitions and showcasing leading female performers and composers, continues on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 7:30pm. The acclaimed string quartet ETHEL performs the complete string quartets of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe: Dig Deep, Early that Summer, Four Marys, and Blue Dress. This is the first performance of all of Wolfe's string quartets at one time, on one stage.  

Bang on a Can and the Jewish Museum's 2018-2019 concert season, pairing innovative music with the Museum's exhibitions and showcasing leading female performers and composers, continues on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 7:30pm. The acclaimed string quartet ETHEL performs the complete string quartets of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe: Dig Deep, Early that Summer, Four Marys, and Blue Dress. This is the first performance of all of Wolfe's string quartets at one time, on one stage.

ETHEL is comprised of Ralph Farris (viola), Kip Jones (violin), Dorothy Lawson (cello) and Corin Lee (violin) but when they come together their strings of a feather breathe as one. Perhaps two decades together has birthed such camaraderie, consistency and maturity with a good dash of daring and rebellious nature present in any typical twenty year old. Their sense of playfulness (with each other and the audience) is alive and well, but only becomes profound when teamed with their remarkable discipline and skill. Much like the circus artists -- they merely make it look easy when it is anything but.

String quartet ETHEL, known for its enlivened playing and consistently groundbreaking redefinition of concert music, announces their landmark 20th anniversary season. Described as “an adventurous quartet with a rock band's zest” by The New York Times and deemed “a genre unto itself” by the Village Voice, ETHEL continues to set the standard for contemporary concert music. Celebrations begin with a June 20th benefit gala hosted by New Sound's John Schaefer, honoring ETHEL as well as fellow new music champions: Bang on a Can founders Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe. ETHEL's 2018-19 season offers the New York premiere of Circus: Wandering City at the 2018 BAM Next Wave Festival, along with continued touring of the group's signature works: The River and Documerica. (Please scroll below for more details and complete 2018-19 schedule of events.)

String quartet ETHEL, known for its enlivened playing and consistently groundbreaking redefinition of concert music, announces their landmark 20th anniversary season. Described as "an adventurous quartet with a rock band's zest" by The New York Times and deemed "a genre unto itself" by the Village Voice, ETHEL continues to set the standard for contemporary concert music. Celebrations begin with a June 20th benefit gala hosted by New Sound's John Schaefer, honoring ETHEL as well as fellow new music champions: Bang on a Can founders Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe. ETHEL's 2018-19 season offers the New York premiere of Circus: Wandering City at the 2018 BAM Next Wave Festival, along with continued touring of the group's signature works: The River and Documerica. (Please scroll below for more details and complete 2018-19 schedule of events.)

Molissa Fenley and Company, in collaboration with percussionist Frank Cassara and violist Ralph Farris, will present an evening of dance and live music, with scores by four contemporary composers. The program features four dances from Fenley's Water Table, three of which are New York premieres. The program also includes a new configuration of Fenley's 1979 work Mix. Performances are June 21–23 (Thursday–Saturday) at 8pm, at Danspace Project, 131 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003.

On Today, January 13, 2018, the National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) will honor Tarell Alvin McCraney - Academy Award-winning playwright, 1999 YoungArts Winner in Theater and YoungArts master teacher - with the 2018 Arison Alumni Award at the organization's annual Backyard Ball on the YoungArts Campus (2100 Biscayne Boulevard).