Monday, February 4, 2013, 8:00PM | at Caruth Auditorium

ELGAR:  Serenade in E minor

BRIDGE:  Sextet in E-flat

BRAHMS:  G Major Sextet, Op. 36

After more than a decade before the public Concertante has established itself as a chamber ensemble that combines in equal measure world class virtuosity and an adventurous willingness to explore and enhance contemporary and classical chamber music repertoire. The group performs in varied combinations of instrumentalists in a wide array of repertoire, ranging from works by established masters to less commonly performed composers. As solo performers who have won important national and international music competitions, they have appeared in such major venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Royal Festival Hall and Shanghai’s Grand Theatre. In addition to its adventurous One Plus Five commissioning project Concertante has always had a strong commitment to new music, and in his review of the final performance in the One Plus Five Series, Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote:

“The ensemble closed its concert with a beautifully focused account of the Brahms String Sextet No. 1 in B flat. Its reading of the slow movement – an exquisite set of variations – was particularly magical.” (May 19, 2010)

Since its founding it has performed the works of such noted contemporary composers as Josef Bardanashvili, Justine Chen, Tina Davison, Steven R. Gerber, David Ludwig, Jan Radzynski, Sheila Silver, and Oded Zehavi. It has also offered infrequently performed chamber works by such celebrated composers as Enesco, John Adams, Schoenberg, Martinu, Korngold, and Frank Bridge, among others. Throughout its career, Concertante has been active in the recording studio and has received high critical praise for its CDs on the internationally distributed Helicon label. Its most recent recording for this label features Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s String Sextet in D Major, Op. 10 and Frank Bridge’s String Sextet in E-Flat Major (1912). For the 2010-11 Season Concertante returns to perform its regular series at New York’s Merkin Hall and in Harrisburg, PA at the Rose Lehrman Arts Center.