Bringing the World's Most ExtraordinaryClassical Musicians to Rhode Island for

Over 60 Years

All 2016-17 Concerts Take Place In McVinney Auditorium (Click here)

Seating diagram (Click here)

2016-17 SeasonEscher, Lark, Apple Hill, Dorian

Escher String Quartet ● October 19

Dorian Wind Quintet ● November 16

Apple Hill String Quartet with Jesse Holstein ● March 15

Lark String Quartet with Todd Palmer ● April 19

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Wednesday • October 19, 2016, 7:30 PM

Escher String Quartet

Photo: Sophie Zhai

Felix Mendelssohn: Quartet in D Major, Op. 44 no. 1

Béla Bartók: Quartet no. 2, Op. 17, Sz. 67

Antonín Dvořák: Quartet in G Major, Op. 106

Adam Barnett-Hart, violinAaron Boyd, violin

Pierre Lapointe, viola Brook Speltz, cello

“They hold the listener spellbound ...” -BBC Music Magazine

The Escher Quartet takes its name from Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher,inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual componentsworking together to form a whole. The ensemble has received acclaim forits profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC NewGeneration Artist, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at CadoganHall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York,the ensemble serves as Artists of The Chamber Music Society of LincolnCenter. In 2013, the quartet became one of the very few chamberensembles to be awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

Within months of its inception in 2005, the ensemble came to the attentionof key musical figures worldwide. Championed by the Emerson Quartet,the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and ItzhakPerlman to be Quartet in Residence at each artist’s summer festival. Thequartet has since collaborated with artists including David Finckel, LeonFleischer, Wu Han, Lynn Harrell, Cho Liang Lin, Joshua Bell, Vilde Frang,David Shifrin and guitarist Jason Vieaux.

The Escher Quartet has made a distinctive impression throughout Europe,with recent debuts in Amsterdam, Berlin, Geneva, London and Norway. Inthe current season they will debut in Heidelberg, Groningen and Paris ontour with pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.

Alongside its growing European profile, the Escher Quartet continues toflourish in its home country, performing at Alice Tully Hall in New York,Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the Ravinia and Caramoor festivalsas well as in California. The ensemble has also perfomed in Australia,Hong Kong, Tel Aviv and Brazil. The quartet fervently supports theeducation of young musicians and frequently gives masterclasses,including regular coaching at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

In Spring 2015, the quartet released Volume 1 of the completeMendelssohn Quartets on the BIS label, received warmly by critics withcomments such as “This is full-blooded quartet playing in the grand,classic manner: extrovert and eloquent… hugely engaging music-making”(BBC Music Magazine) and “The Eschers sound warm, relaxed andresponsive to all of Mendelssohn’s expressive nuances…” (The Guardian).The Mendelssohn series continues this season with the release of Volume2. The quartet has also recorded the complete Zemlinsky String Quartetsin 2 volumes, released on the Naxos label. Their great critical acclaiminclude 5 stars in the Guardian with “Classical CD of the Year”, aRecommendation in The Strad, “Recording of the Month” on MusicWebInternational and a nomination for a BBC Music Magazine Award

Learn more

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Wednesday • November 16, 2016, 7:30 PM

Dorian Wind Quintet

Billy Childs: Fugue in Perpetual Motion in B-flat Major (1999)

Richard Rodney Bennett: Concerto for Wind Quintet (1983)

I. Poco Allegro

Bruce Adolphe: Night Journey (1987)

George Perle: Wind Quintet No. 4 (1960) (winner of 1986 Pulitzer)

InventionScherzoPastoraleFinale

Intermission

Lee Hoiby: Diversions for Wind Quintet (1954; revised 1989)

GreetingWaltzPromenadeGambol

Anniversary Variations on a theme by Reicha (2001)

Theme - Andante graziosoVariation 1 - Con Eleganza - Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (1936-2012)Variation 2 - Four Variations - George Perle (2015-2009)Variation 3 - Variation on a Reicha Theme - Billy Childs (b. 1957) Variation 4 - DRAINO VARIATION - Bruce Adolphe (b. 1955)Variation 5 - Finale: Andeante - Lento- Allegro - Lee Hoiby (1926-2011)

All works were commissioned by the Dorian Wind Quintet.

Gretchen Pusch, fluteGerard Reuter, oboe

Benjamin Fingland, clarinetAdrian Morejon, bassoon

Karl Kramer-Johansen, horn

“Breathtaking…” -The London Times“Extraordinary accuracy and spirit…” -The New York Times

“One of chamber music’s most sparkling andeloquent ensembles…"

-TIME Magazine

Recognized by critics, audiences, and professional musicians alike for itsuniquely polished and passionate performances, The Dorian Wind Quintetis known worldwide as one of chamber music’s preeminent and longestcontinuously-active ensembles. The Quintet has literally been around theworld – concertizing in the United States and Canada, touring Europeeighteen times, and playing throughout the Middle East, India, Africa andAsia. The Dorian made history as the first wind quintet to appear atCarnegie Hall.

Since its formation at Tanglewood in 1961, the Quintet has collaboratedwith numerous well-known artists, commissioned nearly 40 new works ofwind chamber music, and held residencies at some of the world’s most

prestigious music festivals and educational institutions. The members ofthe Dorian Wind Quintet are each associated with other prominentperforming ensembles, venues, and musical institutions, and have unitedin the group out of their passion for the wind chamber music repertoire.

“Chamber music as it was meant to be..." -Los Angeles Times

Learn more

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Wednesday • March 15, 2017, 7:30 PM

Apple Hill String Quartet with Jesse Holstein

Anthony Green: "Chance"

W. A. Mozart: Viola Quintet in D major, K. 593 (with Jesse Holstein, viola)

Pavel Haas: String Quartet No. 2 "From the Monkey Mountains" Op. 7

Elise Kuder, violinColleen Jennings, violin

Mike Kelley, violaRupert Thompson, cello with Jesse Holstein, viola

Since its founding in 2007, the Apple Hill String Quartet has earned praisearound the world for its concerts presenting interpretive mastery oftraditional repertoire – including Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann,Beethoven, and Ravel – as well as for world premieres and commissionedpieces. As resident musicians at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music,the Quartet is featured in the summer concert series held every Tuesdaynight at the Center in Nelson, N.H. These concerts attract hundreds ofvisitors and have become a mainstay of the Monadnock area summermusic offerings.

Education is an integral part of the Quartet’s mission. For three months inthe summer, the Quartet comprises the core faculty for five separate 10-day summer workshops held at Apple Hill and attended by 300participants. During the regular concert season, the Quartet conductsmini-residencies in embassies, communities, schools, and universities fromthe Monadnock region to major U.S. cities and around the world as part ofApple Hill’s Playing for Peace program.

As 21st-century musicians, members of the Quartet are deeply committedto the performance of new works. Recent premieres include "Traces" bySyrian composer Kareem Roustom, commissioned by Apple Hill,Dartmouth College, and Arizona State University, featuring Israeli pianistSally Pinkas, Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and the Apple Hill StringQuartet; Crossroads by John Harbison, co-commissioned by Apple Hill and15 music organizations throughout the U.S., featuring soprano KendraColton, oboist Peggy Pearson, string bassist Susan Hagen, and the AppleHill String Quartet; and Quartet No. 1 by Daniel Sedgwick, commissionedby Apple Hill. The Quartet’s project, “Around the World with Playing forPeace,” features the rich multicultural repertoire of countries visitedthrough the Playing for Peace program. Featured composers have includedVictor Ullman and Erwin Schulhoff, both of whom perished in Naziconcentration camps (as did Pavel Haas); Turkish composer Ekrem ZekiÜn; Armenian composers Alan Hovhaness and A. Zohrabian; Syriancomposer Kareem Roustom; and American composers Roger Sessions,John Harbison, Tom Oboe Lee, Meredith Monk, Lawrence Siegel, andCharles Ives.

Jesse Holstein, violinist & violist, was a founding member of the ProvidenceString Quartet and has been a resident musician since 2001. Prior tostudying with Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin and James Buswell at the NewEngland Conservatory, he worked with Philipp Naegele in Northampton,MA. Aside from being an active recitalist and chamber musician, he hasserved as Concertmaster of the New Bedford Symphony since 2003. Eachsummer Jesse teaches and performs at the Apple Hill Center for ChamberMusic in New Hampshire, and is on the faculty at the Greenwood MusicCamp, where he studied as a teenager. In 2009, Jesse was a ViolinProfesseur at L’Ecole de Musique, Dessaix Baptiste in Jacmel, Haiti. In2012, an interview with Jesse was published in Strings Magazine about histeaching philosophy. He is on the faculty at Brown University, where heteaches chamber music.

Learn more about Apple Hill

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Wednesday • April 19, 2017, 7:30 PM

Lark Quartet with Todd Palmer, clarinet

Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor

George Gershwin: Three Songs (Note change in program)

He Loves, She LovesFascinating RhythmClap Yo' Hands

Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Deborah Buck, violin 1Basia Danilow, violin 2

Kathryn Lockwood, violaCaroline Stinson, cello

with Todd Palmer, clarinet

“Impressive… Breathtaking… Brilliant……"– Laurence Vittes (Gramophone Magazine)

The Lark Quartet continues to delight audiences with its energy,passionate commitment and artistry since its inception in 1985. The Larkhas performed in many of the world’s great cultural centers includingCarnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, London’s WigmoreHall, L’Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, and appeared at international festivalsincluding Lockenhaus, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Mostly Mozart,Istanbul Festival, Wolftrap and the Beethoven Festival in Moscow.Promising to deliver “a performance of grace, proportion and burnishedbrilliance” (The Washington Post), The Lark Quartet offers audiences newinsights into the art of chamber music through programs that begin withthe ensemble virtuosity of the western tradition and continue into recentmusic from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, all whileregularly sharing the stage with dynamic collaborators.

The Lark has a distinguished tradition of working closely with the country’smost celebrated composers and commissioning new works, many of whichhave become mainstays of the chamber music repertoire. This historyincludes works such as Billy in the Darbies by William Bolcom with StephenSalters, baritone; Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams by Jennifer Higdon withGary Graffman, piano; Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis and Quartet no. 2Musica instrumentalis (winning the 1997 Pulitzer Prize) by Aaron JayKernis; Piano Quintet by Paul Moravec with Jeremy Denk, Quartet no. 2 InMemoriam and Piano Quintet no. 2, by Peter Schickele; Early ThatSummer by Julia Wolfe; Viaggio in Italia by Giovanni Sollima; Intarsio byGlen Velez and Big Time by Nico Muhly (commissioned by the CentralVermont Chamber Music Festival) for Lark and Yousif Sheronick,percussion. The Quartet continues to build on its commitment to providingfree concerts of great music presented with intelligence and vitalitythrough its series Lark About Town. These family concerts, free to all andopen to the public, will be held throughout the city of New York,Westchester and New Jersey.

With a discography comprising more than a dozen CDs, the Lark hasrecorded for the Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Bridge, ERI, Endeavor, Koch,Point and New World labels. Lark Quartet: Composing America, comprisingworks by Adams, Bolcom, Moravec and Copland, was released on BridgeRecords in 2014 to international acclaim. WQXR of New York said of thequartet’s 2013 release of An Exaltation of Larks: Music of JenniferHigdon: “the strings soar as a single entity” and chose it as Album of theWeek upon its release in March of 2013. The Lark served as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst from 2004-08and has performed and taught as part of residencies across the UnitedStates. The Lark Quartet members, Deborah Buck and Basia Danilow,violins, Kathryn Lockwood, viola and Caroline Stinson, cello, all live in theNew York City area with their families.

Clarinetist Todd Palmer has appeared as soloist, recitalist, chamber musiccollaborator, educator, arranger, and presenter in a variety of musicalendeavors around the world. A three time Grammy nominated artist, hehas appeared as soloist with the Atlanta, Houston, BBC Scotlandorchestras; St. Paul, New York, Cincinnati, Montréal, and Metamorphosenchamber orchestras, as well as many others. He has collaborated withmany of the world’s finest string ensembles such as the St. Lawrence,Brentano, Borromeo, Pacifica, Daedalus and Ying quartets. He was awinner of the Young Concert Artist International Auditions, and hasparticipated in numerous music festivals in the US and abroad including 18years at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, 5 years at the MarlboroFestival and the Tanglewood Institute, where he was awarded the LeonardBernstein Fellowship. He has also held principle clarinet positions in theMinnesota Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Lukes,the Gotham Chamber Opera and the Grand Teton Festival. In 2008 he

premiered David Bruce’s Gumboots, a Carnegie Hall commission that waswritten especially for him and the St. Lawrence Quartet, and for two yearsappeared in Lincoln Center’s revival of South Pacific. Last season heappeared as soloist in Robert Lepage’s staging of Stravinsky’s TheNightingale and Other Fables at BAM – dressed as a Cossack. This seasonhe performed the Mozart clarinet concerto as a part of Great Performers atLincoln Center’s What Makes It Great series.

Learn more about the Lark Quartet

Learn more about Todd Palmer

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Wednesday • April 19, 2017, 7:30 PM

Lark Quartet with Todd Palmer, clarinet

Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor

George Gershwin: He Loves, She Loves

Fascinating RhythmClap Yo' Hands

Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Deborah Buck, violin 1Basia Danilow, violin 2

Kathryn Lockwood, violaCaroline Stinson, cello

with Todd Palmer, clarinet

“Impressive… Breathtaking… Brilliant……"– Laurence Vittes (Gramophone Magazine)

The Lark Quartet continues to delight audiences with its energy,passionate commitment and artistry since its inception in 1985. The Larkhas performed in many of the world’s great cultural centers includingCarnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, London’s WigmoreHall, L’Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, and appeared at international festivalsincluding Lockenhaus, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Mostly Mozart,Istanbul Festival, Wolftrap and the Beethoven Festival in Moscow.Promising to deliver “a performance of grace, proportion and burnishedbrilliance” (The Washington Post), The Lark Quartet offers audiences newinsights into the art of chamber music through programs that begin withthe ensemble virtuosity of the western tradition and continue into recentmusic from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, all whileregularly sharing the stage with dynamic collaborators.

The Lark has a distinguished tradition of working closely with the country’smost celebrated composers and commissioning new works, many of whichhave become mainstays of the chamber music repertoire. This historyincludes works such as Billy in the Darbies by William Bolcom with StephenSalters, baritone; Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams by Jennifer Higdon withGary Graffman, piano; Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis and Quartet no. 2Musica instrumentalis (winning the 1997 Pulitzer Prize) by Aaron JayKernis; Piano Quintet by Paul Moravec with Jeremy Denk, Quartet no. 2 InMemoriam and Piano Quintet no. 2, by Peter Schickele; Early ThatSummer by Julia Wolfe; Viaggio in Italia by Giovanni Sollima; Intarsio byGlen Velez and Big Time by Nico Muhly (commissioned by the CentralVermont Chamber Music Festival) for Lark and Yousif Sheronick,percussion. The Quartet continues to build on its commitment to providingfree concerts of great music presented with intelligence and vitalitythrough its series Lark About Town. These family concerts, free to all andopen to the public, will be held throughout the city of New York,Westchester and New Jersey.

With a discography comprising more than a dozen CDs, the Lark hasrecorded for the Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Bridge, ERI, Endeavor, Koch,Point and New World labels. Lark Quartet: Composing America, comprisingworks by Adams, Bolcom, Moravec and Copland, was released on BridgeRecords in 2014 to international acclaim. WQXR of New York said of thequartet’s 2013 release of An Exaltation of Larks: Music of JenniferHigdon: “the strings soar as a single entity” and chose it as Album of theWeek upon its release in March of 2013. The Lark served as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst from 2004-08and has performed and taught as part of residencies across the United

States. The Lark Quartet members, Deborah Buck and Basia Danilow,violins, Kathryn Lockwood, viola and Caroline Stinson, cello, all live in theNew York City area with their families.

Clarinetist Todd Palmer has appeared as soloist, recitalist, chamber musiccollaborator, educator, arranger, and presenter in a variety of musicalendeavors around the world. A three time Grammy nominated artist, hehas appeared as soloist with the Atlanta, Houston, BBC Scotlandorchestras; St. Paul, New York, Cincinnati, Montréal, and Metamorphosenchamber orchestras, as well as many others. He has collaborated withmany of the world’s finest string ensembles such as the St. Lawrence,Brentano, Borromeo, Pacifica, Daedalus and Ying quartets. He was awinner of the Young Concert Artist International Auditions, and hasparticipated in numerous music festivals in the US and abroad including 18years at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, 5 years at the MarlboroFestival and the Tanglewood Institute, where he was awarded the LeonardBernstein Fellowship. He has also held principle clarinet positions in theMinnesota Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Lukes,the Gotham Chamber Opera and the Grand Teton Festival. In 2008 hepremiered David Bruce’s Gumboots, a Carnegie Hall commission that waswritten especially for him and the St. Lawrence Quartet, and for two yearsappeared in Lincoln Center’s revival of South Pacific. Last season heappeared as soloist in Robert Lepage’s staging of Stravinsky’s TheNightingale and Other Fables at BAM – dressed as a Cossack. This seasonhe performed the Mozart clarinet concerto as a part of Great Performers atLincoln Center’s What Makes It Great series.

Learn more about the Lark Quartet

Learn more about Todd Palmer

____________________________________________________

Wednesday • April 19, 2017, 7:30 PM

Lark Quartet with Todd Palmer, clarinet

Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor

George Gershwin: He Loves, She Loves

Fascinating RhythmClap Yo' Hands

Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Deborah Buck, violin 1Basia Danilow, violin 2

Kathryn Lockwood, violaCaroline Stinson, cello

with Todd Palmer, clarinet

“Impressive… Breathtaking… Brilliant……"– Laurence Vittes (Gramophone Magazine)

The Lark Quartet continues to delight audiences with its energy,passionate commitment and artistry since its inception in 1985. The Larkhas performed in many of the world’s great cultural centers includingCarnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, London’s WigmoreHall, L’Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, and appeared at international festivalsincluding Lockenhaus, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Mostly Mozart,Istanbul Festival, Wolftrap and the Beethoven Festival in Moscow.Promising to deliver “a performance of grace, proportion and burnishedbrilliance” (The Washington Post), The Lark Quartet offers audiences newinsights into the art of chamber music through programs that begin withthe ensemble virtuosity of the western tradition and continue into recentmusic from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, all whileregularly sharing the stage with dynamic collaborators.

The Lark has a distinguished tradition of working closely with the country’smost celebrated composers and commissioning new works, many of whichhave become mainstays of the chamber music repertoire. This historyincludes works such as Billy in the Darbies by William Bolcom with StephenSalters, baritone; Scenes from the Poet’s Dreams by Jennifer Higdon withGary Graffman, piano; Quartet no. 1 Musica celestis and Quartet no. 2Musica instrumentalis (winning the 1997 Pulitzer Prize) by Aaron JayKernis; Piano Quintet by Paul Moravec with Jeremy Denk, Quartet no. 2 InMemoriam and Piano Quintet no. 2, by Peter Schickele; Early ThatSummer by Julia Wolfe; Viaggio in Italia by Giovanni Sollima; Intarsio byGlen Velez and Big Time by Nico Muhly (commissioned by the CentralVermont Chamber Music Festival) for Lark and Yousif Sheronick,percussion. The Quartet continues to build on its commitment to providingfree concerts of great music presented with intelligence and vitalitythrough its series Lark About Town. These family concerts, free to all andopen to the public, will be held throughout the city of New York,Westchester and New Jersey.

With a discography comprising more than a dozen CDs, the Lark hasrecorded for the Decca/Argo, Arabesque, Bridge, ERI, Endeavor, Koch,Point and New World labels. Lark Quartet: Composing America, comprisingworks by Adams, Bolcom, Moravec and Copland, was released on BridgeRecords in 2014 to international acclaim. WQXR of New York said of thequartet’s 2013 release of An Exaltation of Larks: Music of JenniferHigdon: “the strings soar as a single entity” and chose it as Album of theWeek upon its release in March of 2013. The Lark served as Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst from 2004-08and has performed and taught as part of residencies across the UnitedStates. The Lark Quartet members, Deborah Buck and Basia Danilow,violins, Kathryn Lockwood, viola and Caroline Stinson, cello, all live in theNew York City area with their families.

Clarinetist Todd Palmer has appeared as soloist, recitalist, chamber musiccollaborator, educator, arranger, and presenter in a variety of musicalendeavors around the world. A three time Grammy nominated artist, hehas appeared as soloist with the Atlanta, Houston, BBC Scotlandorchestras; St. Paul, New York, Cincinnati, Montréal, and Metamorphosenchamber orchestras, as well as many others. He has collaborated withmany of the world’s finest string ensembles such as the St. Lawrence,Brentano, Borromeo, Pacifica, Daedalus and Ying quartets. He was awinner of the Young Concert Artist International Auditions, and hasparticipated in numerous music festivals in the US and abroad including 18years at Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, SC, 5 years at the MarlboroFestival and the Tanglewood Institute, where he was awarded the LeonardBernstein Fellowship. He has also held principle clarinet positions in theMinnesota Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Lukes,the Gotham Chamber Opera and the Grand Teton Festival. In 2008 he

premiered David Bruce’s Gumboots, a Carnegie Hall commission that waswritten especially for him and the St. Lawrence Quartet, and for two yearsappeared in Lincoln Center’s revival of South Pacific. Last season heappeared as soloist in Robert Lepage’s staging of Stravinsky’s TheNightingale and Other Fables at BAM – dressed as a Cossack. This seasonhe performed the Mozart clarinet concerto as a part of Great Performers atLincoln Center’s What Makes It Great series.

Learn more about the Lark Quartet

Learn more about Todd Palmer

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