Application Deadline for Arianna CMF is March 15, 2016

June 1 - 9 APPLY NOW and kick-start your summer with the Arianna Chamber Music Festival (ACMF). The festival is open to individuals and preformed student groups in high school or college. About ACMF Hosted by the internationally acclaimed Arianna String Quartet, the festival offers an intensive learning environment that is focused on chamber music and solo repertoire. ACMF takes place on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the beautiful Touhill Performing Arts Center, voted by Best College Reviews as one of the "Top Ten Most Amazing College Campus Theaters in the U.S." ACMF features: Daily chamber music coaching and master classes with the ASQ Unconducted ACMF Chamber Orchestra Private lessons and practice time Arianna String Quartet performance Student performance opportunities Evening activities such as a chamber music reading party with the ASQ and a visit to the St. Louis City Museum Scholarships are available. To Apply Students may audition as preformed ensembles or as individuals for placement into chamber groups. To be considered for the program : Complete an online application. Submit an audition video via YouTube or DropBox. Application and video deadline: March 15, 2016. www.ariannacmf.org

You're Invited to the Annual Arianna Orchestra Festival - January 12, 2016

The Arianna String Quartet proudly presents its annual Orchestra Festival. Providing the best educational opportunities for the next generation of our best musicians has always been a primary mission of the Arianna String Quartet. This festival is certainly no exception. After a day of rehearsals, sectionals, masterclasses and touring the campus with members of the Arianna String Quartet, three of the top high school orchestras in our area will perform beginning at 6 p.m. in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall. All three orchestras will perform under the direction of UMSL's very own Dr. James Richards.

Please join us and experience what these young people are able to accomplish in a day by helping us celebrate this great night of music and the immense talent of these students.

This event is free and open to the public.

LOCATIONBlanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center
1 University Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63121 View Map

Visit Event Website

PHONE314-516-4949

EMAILticket@umsl.edu

DATE & TIME

Jan 12, 2016 6:00 PM 

Arts BHAM REVIEW

Review by:  MICHAEL HUEBNER

The Arianna String Quartet is an exemplary model for 21st-century string quartets. A full-time university residency allows it to spread its musical message far beyond its home base of St. Louis — in their case, to five continents. Its numerous education and outreach programs help ensure the progress and continuity of the art form. Recordings and festivals further heighten its visibility.

But the most apparent manifestations of such an endeavor come down to live musical performance, as  Arianna revealed Thursday in Brock Recital Hall in a concert jointly presented by the Birmingham Chamber Music Society, Davis Architects Guest Artist Series and Ted Haddin. An engaging, balanced program, coupled with playing that in many ways rivaled the world’s finest quartets, made this a memorable experience. It included Beethoven, an almost obligatory benchmark for quartets, together with a 2007 quartet by St. Louis native and Pulitzer Prize winning composer Kevin Puts, and Schumann’s piano quintet.

Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3, the third of the Razumovsky quartets, defined Arianna’s sound – scrupulously blended yet sharply transparent, with an easy fluidity. It allows each player to emerge as a soloist (they are all established as such) or merge seamlessly into the whole. The opening Allegro vivace was taken at a fast clip, which produced a few minor technical glitches in scale passages, but on the whole the movement was filled with tension and anticipation. That segued nicely to the slow second movement, which honed in on the depth of cellist Kurt Baldwin and violist Joanna Mendoza.Puts’ “Credo” immediately establishes an open tonal landscape, a minimalist atmosphere occasionally interrupted by stray dissonances but remaining ever grounded. Its extramusical narratives – a stringed instrument workshop, cityscapes in Pittsburgh and New York – aren’t readily apparent without the aid of program notes, but the work stands vividly on its own. Arianna is clearly enamored with this Americana tableau, its heartfelt melodic exchanges, furious outbursts, and plaintive solos ensuring its place in the repertoire.

For Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 114, the quartet was joined by the Isareli pianist Einav Yarden, whose chamber music sensibilities fit the quartet’s like a glove. The thick-textured opener vacillated between power and lyricism, the Scherzo by sweeping scales. Yarden clearly led the way in defining the work’s dynamic shifts in the final Allegro, leading the quintet to a brilliant conclusion.In the Menuetto, scales intersected and criss-crossed with ease and clarity. In the finale, the quartet exceeded its Allegro molto marking. Exaggerated accents and imitative entries were negotiated with blazing speed and precision, violinists John McGrosso and Julia Sakharova matching Baldwin and Mendoza in each phrase.

Full review on ArtBHAM.com

Kansas City's Online Journal of the Arts REVIEW: East meets West in fruitful collaboration

The Arianna String Quartet with the Kyo-Shin-An Arts trio   Photo: Karen Palmer

Review by:  Lee Hartman

After a day of celebrating the Royals’ World Series victory, things were decidedly more quiet at UMKC for the Conservatory Artists Series’s presentation of the Arianna String Quartet and Kyo-Shin-An Arts trio. Those who could drag themselves out of their elated stupor bore witness to a remarkable program and performance combining the Western string quartet tradition and that of Japanese Sankyoku [trio].

Kyo-Shin-An Arts began the program with Yachiyo Jishi, a traditional sankyoku dating from the middle-eighteenth century by Fujinaga Kengyo. Set in three sections, this Lion Piece depicts a lion sleeping who becomes disturbed and then executes a wild dance. Though the “wildness” of the music loses something in translation for Western ears, the piece was beautifully rendered by Yoko Reikano Kimura on shamisen (a Japanese guitar/banjo) and voice, Yumi Kurosawa on 20-string koto (zither), and James Nyoraku Schlefer on shakuhachi (flute). Kimura’s voice was rich and full-bodied and easily carried over the delicate ensemble.

The Arianna String Quartet followed with a performance of Claude Debussy’s String Quartet in G Minor unlike any I have ever heard before. Typically the playing of impressionistic Debussy is muted, wishy-washy, and polite. Arianna infused this work with a dose of pre-impressionism as befitted the time in which it was composed. As such, humor and aggression, passionate reds and playful purples, burst forth with exuberance. This performance was immediately gripping and showed artists with much to say about the music they were playing. The few intonation slips were secondary to this elucidating rendition. It was stunning work all around.

If it was possible to top the sublime Debussy, Kyo-Shin-An Arts and Arianna did so with James Nyoraku Schlefer’s Dream Corner. A fusion of Eastern traditional ensemble and Western string quartet, Dream Corner is among the most convincing, integrated, and musical fusion of the two ensembles and philosophies. Schlefer, one of the few handful of non-Japanese to ever achieve the rank of Grand Master of shakuhachi, clearly knows both idioms. All too often pieces in this genre are used for artificial timbral effects or pandering attempts at inclusivity, neither of which were present in Schlefer’s monumental eleven-movement work. Each instrument was essential, and Schlefer’s explorations of possible timbral combinations created a clear palette for each player to work musical magic as soloists, concerted, or ensemble members. Telling the story of two lovers who meet only in dreams, the piece echoed back to the two previous works in its elegance and vibrancy. Three of the standout movements were the opening shakuhachi solo Overture, the fourth movement’s energetic ensemble Dance, and “Down and Dirty,” also for the entire ensemble. “Slow,” the ninth movement, was a masterpiece in simplicity and my personal favorite. This almost-passacaglia of two declamatory attacks followed by long silences ever so gradually filled the open spaces with achingly gorgeous lines from each performer.

It’s a shame that more weren’t in attendance for this recital that will probably appear on my list of favorites at the end of the season. Both the music presented and the performances were of the highest caliber. As the only visiting artist to appear on this season of the Conservatory Artist Series, it is distressing to see the UMKC Conservatory not bringing more events like this to Kansas City as its comparable nearby public state institutions at KU and UCMO manage to do in Lawrence and Warrensburg.

Full Review on KCMetropolis.org.

Don't Miss Applying for UMSL's Eighth Annual Concerto Competition

2014 Concerto  Competition Winners

ASQ recently sent out an email announcing the application and competition guidelines for the Eighth Annual Concerto Competition.  If you missed the email we're reposting below.

Eighth Annual Concerto Competition Junior Division, 2015 The winners of the Junior and Collegiate divisions will perform as soloists with the UMSL Orchestra or Band in spring 2016. The online application and preliminary video are due by Sunday, November 1, 2015. Click here to apply Qualifications/Eligibility: Open to high school students from participating states in the Midwest Student Exchange Program. (Residents of Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP) member states receive 150% of resident college tuition rates, a significant savings compared to out-of-state tuition rates. The following states are members: Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.) Musician must be a high school student or home school equivalent. Open to orchestral or band instruments, piano and voice. Preliminary Round: Online only. Submit up to 10 minutes of music (with accompanimental cuts) on YouTube or Dropbox. Online Application ( click here ) and video must be submitted by Sunday, November 1, 2015. Applications and videos will be reviewed by the Concerto Competition Committee Results will be announced via email by Sunday, November 8. Final Round: Friday, November 20, 2015 7-9pm in the Touhill PAC, Lee Theater. Times will be assigned in mid-November. The final round is open to the public. Requirements: The musician and his/her applied teacher must select a movement of a concerto with readily available orchestral parts. The selected concerto will be approved by the Concerto Competition committee. Reasons a concerto may not be approved for the competition include: Availability of orchestra parts Cost of music rental Memorization of the piece is required in the final round. The musician is responsible for securing an accompanist for the competition. Live piano accompaniment is required. The musician is responsible for supplying the judges with three copies of the score. Copies are acceptable. The deadline to enter the competition is Sunday, November 1. Results: One winner will be selected by a panel of three judges of highly regarded professional musicians and educators, to be named at a later time. The results will be announced the evening of the final round, after the judges' deliberation. The winner will perform their concerto movement with the UMSL Orchestra or Band on a spring concert in the Touhill Performing Arts Center Lee Theater. The judges' written evaluations will be available to contestants the evening of the competition. For more information visit www.music.umsl.edu/Concerto%20Competition/index.html or email Joanna Mendoza at mendozajo@umsl.edu.

2015-2016 Arianna String Quartet Subcription Packages are Now Available

The Arianna String Quartet's 2015-2016 season is here.  Take advantage of savings when you purchase a four or a five concert package.  For more information visit the Touhill Performing Arts Center.

Mark your calendars for Friday, September 11, Essential Arianna.

Mozart: Quartet in D minor, K.421

Kevin Puts: Credo for String Quartet

Beethoven: String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op.130

The Arianna Quartet launches their 2015-16 Touhill Concert Series with three riveting works that capture the power, grace, elegance and nuance of the art of the string quartet.  

Mozart’s impassioned Quartet in D minor, K.421 opens the ASQ’s season, striking a delicate balance between hushed utterances and operatic grandeur, luring us into the beauty of Mozart’s dark timbres.  

The ASQ is then thrilled to present Pulitzer Prize winning composer Kevin Puts’ mesmerizing Credo for String Quartet.  Originally from St. Louis, Mr. Puts has established himself as one of America’s most important composers.  

Famous for its gripping drama and unparalleled intimacy of expression, Beethoven’s revolutionary Quartet in B-flat Major, Op.130 closes this evening of essential quartet classics.

This performance features a pre-show talk with the Arianna String Quartet. Please arrive 50 minutes early for the pre-show discussion.

For more information and to purchase tickets,  visit Touhill.org.

A Week of Free Concerts - Don't Miss Out!

Did you know that the Arianna Chamber Music Festival offers a week of free concerts? Mark your calendars! You don't want to miss performances by amazing students from St. Louis, across the U.S., South America and, of course, by the Arianna String Quartet. Concerts are free. CONCERT SCHEDULE: Arianna String Quartet Tuesday, June 2, 7 pm Lee Theater ACMF Student Performance Monday, June 8, 7 pm Tavern of Fine Arts Cellissimo: Naperville Youth Cello Choir Sunday, June 7, 2 pm Lee Theater ACMF Final Student Performance Thursday, June 11, 7 pm Lee Theater www.ariannacmf.org