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Shriver Hall Concert Series Announces Spring Virtual Season: Quicksilver, Daniil Trifonov, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Jennifer Koh, and Calidore Quartet
Contact: Katy Salomon | Morahan Arts and Media
katy@morahanartsandmedia.com | 863.660.2214
SHRIVER HALL CONCERT SERIES ANNOUNCES
SPRING 2021 VIRTUAL SEASON
Digital Spring Season Features Performances by Quicksilver, Pianist Daniil Trifonov,
Cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, Violinist Jennifer Koh, and the Calidore String Quartet
Baltimore, Maryland (January 11, 2021) — Shriver Hall Concert Series (SHCS) — Baltimore’s premier presenter of chamber music ensembles and solo recitalists — today announces its updated spring programming, featuring a five-concert virtual series, each a digital world premiere recording. The season opens with Baroque ensemble Quicksilver on January 31 in a program of virtuosic works from the 17th century; followed by the return of world renowned Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov in a program of Szymanowski, Debussy, and Brahms on February 21; the SHCS mainstage debut of rising star Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan with pianist Armine Grigoryan in works by Beethoven, Schumann, Franck, and Armenian composers Eduard Bagdasarian and Alexander Grigori Arutiunian on March 14; violinist Jennifer Koh in Bach and selections from her critically acclaimed Alone Together project on April 11; and a recital by the Calidore String Quartet on May 2 , featuring a program of Dvorák, Schubert, and the world streaming premiere of a new quartet by composer Hannah Lash.
Executive Director of Shriver Hall Concert Series, Catherine Cochran, says, “We are thrilled that we have the opportunity to present our Spring 2021 concerts, although a bit differently than planned. We have made every effort to honor our commitments and retain the engagements we had planned for the 2020-21 season, and our exceptional artists have rallied in extraordinary ways, coming together in superb performance spaces on two continents to capture their concert recordings so we can all share the ‘front row.’”
Baroque ensemble Quicksilver makes its Baltimore debut on Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 5:30pm ET with the world premiere recording of Violini a due: A European Journey, a program that explores sublime and dramatic works spanning the 17th century, from the birth of the virtuoso violin in northern Italy through its rich development in the courts of Germany. The concert was recorded at the DiMenna Center in New York City and features Quicksilver violinists Robert Mealy and Julie Andrijeski, harpsichordist Avi Stein, and lutist Charles Weaver.
Pianist Daniil Trifonov returns virtually to perform for SHCS audiences for the third time on Sunday, February 21, 2020 at 5:30pm ET in the premiere of a solo recital to include Szymanowski’s Sonata No. 3, Op. 36; Debussy’s Pour Le Piano; and Brahms’ Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5. Trifonov recorded the concert at the 92nd Street Y in New York.
Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan makes his SHCS mainstage debut on Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 5:30pm ET in a premiere recital he recorded in Yerevan, Armenia. Accompanied by pianist Armine Grigoryan, the concert features Beethoven’s Seven Variations in E-flat Major on Mozart's "Bei Männern", WoO 46; Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro; and Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano; plus two works by Armenian composers – Eduard Bagdasarian’s Nocturne and Alexander Grigori Arutiunian’s Impromptu. Hakhnazaryan and Grigoryan recorded the concert at Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall in Yerevan, Armenia.
Violinist Jennifer Koh returns to SHCS on Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 5:30pm ET for a virtual concert featuring Bach’s Partitas and Sonatas and selections from her critically acclaimed project Alone Together. In response to the coronavirus pandemic and the financial hardship it has placed on many in the arts community, Alone Together was an online commissioning project in which 20 composers agreed to donate a new, micro-works for solo violin, while also recommending a fellow freelance composer to write their own 30-second solo violin work on paid commission from the artist-driven nonprofit ARCO Collaborative. Koh premiered the works in spring 2020. The micro-works featured on this concert are written by Katherine Balch, Vijay Iyer, Patrick Castillo, Hanna Benn, Ellen Reid, Andrew Norman, Kati Agócs, Angelica Negrón, Darian Donovan Thomas with electronics by Ian Chang, George Lewis, Cassie Wieland, Rajna Swaminathan, and Layale Chaker.
On Sunday, May 2, 2021 at 5:30pm ET, SHCS presents the Calidore String Quartet in Dvorák’s String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96. "American" and Schubert’s String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887, as well as the streaming world premiere of composer Hannah Lash’s (b. 1981) String Quartet No. 1. The concert was recorded in a private home in New York. Hannah Lash's String Quartet No. 1 is commissioned for the Calidore String Quartet by Elizabeth and Justus Schlichting for Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ Chamber Music Series, by the Shriver Hall Concert Series, and by the Fonds Kleine Zaal of the Royal Concertgebouw, a fund which is managed by Het Concertgebouw Fonds. Segerstrom Center for the Arts is the lead commissioner and co-presenter of Hannah Lash's String Quartet No. 1 and will present the live performance world premiere in February 2022.
Ticket holders can watch each concert on demand for a week after the premiere and also have access to a post-concert chat with the artists moderated by Catherine Cochran.
Concert Information
Quicksilver
Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 5:30pm ET
Tickets: $15. Tickets include concert access and on-demand streaming of the concert for one week following, plus access to a post-concert Q&A with artists. Premium Spring Digital Subscription: $165; Spring Digital Subscription: $50.
Link: www.shriverconcerts.org/
Violini a due: A European Journey
CASTELLO: Sonata quarta from Sonate Concertate in Stil Moderno, Libro II (Venice, 1629)
FONTANA: Sonata undecima from Sonate a 1. 2. 3. per il violino… (Venice, 1641)
FALCONIERI: L’Eroica, sonata a tre from Il primo libro di Canzone, Sinfonie, Fantasie (Naples, 1650)
DE MURCIA: Marizapalos from Saldívar Codex No. 4 (Madrid, c.1722)
FALCONIERI: Passacalle
ROSENMÜLLER: Sonata seconda a due from Sonate a 2. 3. 4. e 5. Stromenti da arco & altri (Nuremberg, 1682)
SCHMELTZER: Polnische Sachspfeiffen from the Rost MS (Baden-Baden, c.1660)
BUXTEHUDE: Prelude in G minor, BuxWV 163
KERLL: Sonata a 2 from Rost MS (Baden-Baden, c.1660)
CAZZATI: Sonata decima “La Bentivoglia” from Suonate, Op.18 (1656)
LEGRENZI: Sonata terza from La cetra, Libro Terzo Op.10 (Venice, 1673)
ERLEBACH: Ciaconna from Sonata III in A major from VI Sonate (Nuremberg, 1694)
Robert Mealy, violin
Julie Andrijeski, violin
Avi Stein, harpsichord
Charles Weaver, lute
Performance to be followed by Artist Q&A
Daniil Trifonov, piano
Sunday, February 21, 2020 at 5:30pm ET
Tickets: $15. Tickets include concert access and on-demand streaming of the concert for one week following, plus access to a post-concert Q&A with artists. Premium Spring Digital Subscription: $165; Spring Digital Subscription: $50.
Link: www.shriverconcerts.org/
SZYMANOWSKI: Sonata No. 3, Op. 36
DEBUSSY: Pour le piano
BRAHMS: Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5
Performance to be followed by Artist Q&A
Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello
Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 5:30pm ET
Tickets: $15. Tickets include concert access and on-demand streaming of the concert for one week following, plus access to a post-concert Q&A with artists. Premium Spring Digital Subscription: $165; Spring Digital Subscription: $50.
Link: www.shriverconcerts.org/
BEETHOVEN: Seven Variations in E-flat Major on Mozart's "Bei Männern", WoO 46
SCHUMANN: Adagio and Allegro
FRANCK: Sonata for Violin and Cello
E. BAGDASARYAN: Nocturne
A. ARUTYUNIAN: Impromptu
Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello
Armine Grigoryan, piano
Performance to be followed by Artist Q&A
Jennifer Koh, violin
Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 5:30pm ET
Tickets: $15. Tickets include concert access and on-demand streaming of the concert for one week following, plus access to a post-concert Q&A with artists. Premium Spring Digital Subscription: $165; Spring Digital Subscription: $50.
Link: www.shriverconcerts.org/koh
BACH: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006
Alone Together
KATHERINE BALCH: Cleaning (30’ for the whole set)
VIJAY IYER: For Violin Alone
PATRICK CASTILLO: Mina Cecilia’s Constitutional
HANNA BENN: Exhalation
ELLEN REID: Brick Red Mood
ANDREW NORMAN: Turns of Phrase
KATI AGÓCS: Thirst and Quenching
ANGELICA NEGRÓN: Cooper and Emma
DARIAN DONOVAN THOMAS with electronics by IAN CHANG: Art/Nat
GEORGE LEWIS: Un petit brouillard cérébral
CASSIE WIELAND: Shiner
LAYALE CHAKER: Bond of the Beloved (Bastanikar)
BACH: Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005
Performance to be followed by Artist Q&A
Calidore String Quartet
Sunday, May 2, 2021 at 5:30pm ET
Tickets: $15. Tickets include concert access and on-demand streaming of the concert for one week following, plus access to a post-concert Q&A with artists. Premium Spring Digital Subscription: $165; Spring Digital Subscription: $50.
Link: www.shriverconcerts.org/
DVORÁK: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96. "American"
HANNAH LASH: String Quartet No. 1 [Streaming World Premiere]
SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887
Performance to be followed by Artist Q&A
About Quicksilver
“Revered like rock stars within the early music scene” (The New York Times), Quicksilver brings together today’s top North American historically-informed performers. Described as “drop dead gorgeous with a wonderful interplay of timbres” (Early Music America) and praised as “irresistible” (Fanfare Magazine), Quicksilver vibrantly explores the rich chamber music repertoire from the early modern period to the High Baroque.
The ensemble has been featured at numerous music series and prestigious festivals, receiving critical acclaim, standing ovations and repeat invitations. Recent and upcoming appearances include Carnegie Hall, Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, The Library of Congress, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, CU Presents Artist Series (Colorado), Toronto Consort Series, the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, Da Camera Society (Los Angeles), San Diego Early Music Society, Boston Early Music Festival, Vancouver Early Music Festival, Berkeley Festival and Exhibition, Early Music Now (Milwaukee), Shriver Hall Concert Series, Chamber Music Tulsa, Indianapolis Early Music Festival, San Francisco Early Music Society, Miami Bach Society, Madison Early Music Festival, Dumbarton Oaks Concert Series (Washington, DC), Houston Early Music, Early Music Hawaii and Music Before 1800 (NYC). Quicksilver’s debut recording, Stile Moderno was described as “Breakthrough of the Year... breathtaking” (Huffington Post) and “convincing... terrific” (Early Music-Oxford Journal).
Quicksilver’s latest recording, Fantasticus was named one of The New Yorker’s Ten Notable Recordings of 2014, praised as “Fantasticus, indeed” (Gramophone) and a “recommended purchase” (Osterreichische Musikzeitschrift/Austrian Music Journal). Quicksilver’s forthcoming recording, The (very) First Viennese School, will be released in the 2020-21 season. Learn more at www.quicksilverbaroque.com.
About Daniil Trifonov
Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov – Musical America’s 2019 Artist of the Year – has made a spectacular ascent of the classical music world, as a solo artist, champion of the concerto repertoire, chamber and vocal collaborator, and composer. With Transcendental, the Liszt collection that marked his third title as an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, Trifonov won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Solo Album of 2018. As The Times of London notes, he is “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.”
This season, Trifonov released Silver Age, a Russian album recorded with the Mariinsky Orchestra. In live performance, he recently undertook five major season-long residencies: at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein, and with the New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic. Other highlights of recent seasons include headlining the gala finale of the Chicago Symphony’s 125th anniversary celebrations, and collaborating with such preeminent ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He regularly gives solo recitals at venues including Carnegie Hall, DC’s Kennedy Center, Boston’s Celebrity Series, London’s Barbican and Royal Festival Halls, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs Élysées and Salle Pleyel, Brussels’s Palais des Beaux-Arts, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Philharmonie, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Vienna’s Musikverein, Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Opera City, the Seoul Arts Center and Melbourne’s Recital Centre.
In 2010-11, Trifonov took First Prize in Tel Aviv’s Rubinstein Competition, Third Prize in Warsaw’s Chopin Competition, and First Prize and Grand Prix in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition. He won Italy’s Franco Abbiati Prize for Best Instrumental Soloist in 2013, and was named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year three years later. Born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1991, he attended Moscow’s Gnessin School of Music, before pursuing piano and composition at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Learn more at www.daniiltrifonov.com.
About Narek Hakhnazaryan
Since winning the Cello First Prize and Gold Medal at the XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011 at the age of 22, Narek Hakhnazaryan has inspired audiences with his artistry, securing a reputation as one of the world’s foremost cellists. Hakhnazaryan has performed with orchestras across the globe, earning praise from critics as “dazzlingly brilliant” (The Strad) and “nothing short of magnificent” (San Francisco Chronicle). In 2014, Hakhnazaryan was named a BBC New Generation Artist, and, in August 2016, made his BBC Proms debut to critical acclaim.
A distinguished international orchestral soloist, Hakhnazaryan has appeared with the Baltimore, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Seattle, Toronto, London, WDR, Frankfurt Radio, Sydney, New Zealand, NHK, and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras; the Royal Stockholm, Czech, Seoul, Netherlands, and Rotterdam Philharmonics; the Utah Symphony; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Orchestre de Paris; and the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome.
An eager chamber musician and recitalist, Hakhnazaryan has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, Washington DC’s National Gallery of Art, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Salle Pleyel Paris, Berlin Konzerthaus, Oji Hall Tokyo, Shanghai Concert Hall, and esteemed festivals such as Ravinia, Aspen, Piatigorsky, Lucerne, and Verbier, among many others. With the Z.E.N. Trio, joined by colleagues Zhou Zhang and Esther Yoo, Hakhnazaryan toured North America, UK, China, and Hong Kong. The Z.E.N. Trio released their debut album in 2017 on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
Narek Hakhnazaryan was born in Yerevan, Armenia, into a family of musicians. Mentored by the late Rostropovich, Hakhnazaryan received an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music in 2011 where he studied with Lawrence Lesser, following studies at the Moscow Conservatory with Alexey Seleznyov and at the Sayat-Nova School of Music in Yerevan with Zareh Sarkisyan. Hakhnazaryan plays the 1707 Joseph Guarneri cello and F.X. Tourte and Benoit Rolland bows.
About Jennifer Koh
Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. A forward-thinking artist, she is dedicated to exploring a broad and eclectic repertoire, while promoting equity and inclusivity in classical music. She has expanded the contemporary violin repertoire through a wide range of commissioning projects, and has premiered more than 100 works written especially for her. Her quest for the new and unusual, sense of endless curiosity, and ability to lead and inspire a host of multidisciplinary collaborators, truly set her apart. Ms. Koh’s series include Alone Together, an online commissioning project and performances series in support of composers during the coronavirus crisis; The New American Concerto, which invites a diverse collective of composers to examine socio-cultural topics relevant to American life today through the form of the violin concerto; Limitless, which explores the relationship between composer and performer through duo works played by Ms. Koh and the composers themselves; Bach and Beyond, which traces the history of the solo violin repertoire from Bach’s sonatas and partitas to pieces by 20th- and 21st-century composers; and Shared Madness, comprising short solo works that explore virtuosity in the 21st century, commissioned from over 30 composers. Ms. Koh has appeared with orchestras worldwide, among them the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki Philharmonics; Cleveland, Mariinsky, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Philharmonia (London) Orchestras; and Atlanta, Baltimore, BBC, Chicago, Cincinnati, National, New World, NHK, RAI (Torino), and Singapore Symphonies. Named Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year, she has won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Concert Artists Guild Competition, and an Avery Fisher Career Grant. She has a BA in English literature from Oberlin College and studied at the Curtis Institute, where she worked extensively with Jaime Laredo and Felix Galimir. She is an active lecturer, teacher, and recording artist for Cedille Records; and is the Artistic Director and Founder of the non-profit ARCO collaborative. Learn more at www.jenniferkoh.com.
About the Calidore String Quartet
The Calidore String Quartet has been praised by The New York Times for its “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” and by the Los Angeles Times for its balance of “intellect and expression.” The quartet has been a recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, a Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists and the Grand Prize of the M-Prize Competition. The quartet has also won the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, been a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, and is currently in residence with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two). In the 2019?20 season, the Calidore String Quartet celebrated its tenth anniversary and the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth by presenting cycles of his string quartets at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, and the Universities of Buffalo, Toronto, and Delaware. The Calidore also premiered a new Beethoven-inspired work by composer Anna Clyne in performances at the Chamber Music Society, Princeton, Penn State, Caramoor, San Francisco Performances, and Boston’s Celebrity Series.
Highlights of recent seasons have included performances in major venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, and at festivals including the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia and Mostly Mozart.
Babel, the Calidore String Quartet’s “breathtaking” (The Strad) Signum release with quartets by Schumann, Shostakovich and Caroline Shaw was released in fall of 2020. Learn more at www.calidorestringquartet.com.
About Shriver Hall Concert Series
Founded in 1966, Shriver Hall Concert Series has been Baltimore’s premier presenter of chamber music ensembles and solo recitalists with the mission of making music consonant with the highest aspirations of musical art, creating performances and providing educational training programs at the highest level of excellence for more than 50 years. Presenting its coveted Subscription Series each year, free Discovery Series concerts around the Greater-Baltimore area, and other special events, the Series has featured many of the world’s most renowned soloists and ensembles. The Series has been called “Baltimore’s finest importer of classical music talent” by The Sun and is the five-time recipient of Baltimore Magazine’s distinction “Best Classical Music” in its annual “Best of Baltimore” issue. For more information, visit www.shriverconcerts.org.
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Image Credits (L-R): Quicksilver by Gary Payne, Daniil Trifonov by Dario Acosta, Narek Hakhnazaryan by Evgeny Evtyukhov, Jennifer Koh by Juergen Frank, Calidore String Quartet by Marco Borggreve
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