The College of Music's resident string quartet, the Tak谩cs, premiered a piece commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Shriver Hall this fall. Left to right: Edward Dusinberre, Andr谩s Fej茅r, Geraldine Walther and Karoly Schranz.
CU-Boulder鈥檚 quartet-in-residence, the听, capped off the Fall 2015 semester in style, premiering a piece by up-and-coming composer听听in two famous East Coast concert halls.
The quartet鈥檚 November and December performances of 鈥�,鈥� a multi-movement piece co-commissioned by Baltimore鈥檚 Shriver Hall and Carnegie Hall, were met with widespread acclaim.
The official premiere performance took place at Shriver Hall, where 鈥渢he Tak谩cs Quartet (performed) clearly, vividly and commandingly,鈥澨�.
In Baltimore, the Boulder-based quartet met with Andres in person for the first time.
鈥淚n rehearsals we had been going a certain direction with it, and it turned out to be different direction than what Timo had in mind,鈥� Tak谩cs Quartet violist Geraldine Walther says. 鈥淗e liked our ideas, though, and so the piece ended up really evolving with each concert.鈥�
The piece got its second premiere at New York City鈥檚 iconic Carnegie Hall. 鈥�(The performance) was a delight,鈥� writes New York writer Harry Rolnick on the classical music website听ConcertoNet.com.
After the premieres, the quartet took 鈥淪trong Language鈥� to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Boston.
鈥淭he Tak谩cs Quartet 鈥� is known for many things: its expressive unanimity, its rhythmic acuity, its robust yet nuanced sound,鈥澨�. 鈥淲hen such a group champions a living composer, you pay attention.鈥�
Walther describes 鈥淪trong Language鈥� as a unique piece made up of three movements that are by turns refreshingly simple, tense and avant garde, and truly beautiful.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 really refreshing about (Timo) is that he doesn鈥檛 take himself too seriously,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut he also has something to say and he鈥檚 not afraid to say it; he doesn鈥檛 try to water it down for the audience.鈥�
The Tak谩cs Quartet has achieved international recognition for its recordings of centuries-old classical music, but it still finds time to collaborate regularly with contemporary composers. The group has commissioned pieces from CU-Boulder composers听Daniel Kellogg听补苍诲听Carter Pann.
鈥淭he wonderful thing about contemporary composers is that they give a unique view of here and now, of our culture, of the world as they see it,鈥� Walther says. 鈥滻t鈥檚 sort of like a moment in time, as is any piece by Beethoven or Mozart or Haydn.鈥�
In addition to the successful premieres, the Tak谩cs Quartet has yet another triumph to celebrate this holiday season: a Grammy nomination. Its latest disc of Shostakovich pieces, recorded with pianist Marc-Andr茅 Hamelin, is听听in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance category.
The quartet returns to CU-Boulder in 2016 for two performances on Jan. 10 and 11 in Grusin Music Hall. The group will play selections by Beethoven, Jan谩膷ek and Elgar. For more information, visit听.
