PORT TOWNSEND — A specially commissioned piece called “Home,” a Beethoven string quartet and Dvorak’s American Quartet are on the program of a Port Townsend Chamber Music Series concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Miró Quartet, based in Austin, Texas, will appear in this Centrum event and engage the audience in a live question-and-answer session after the hour-long performance. Series artistic director Lucinda Carver will join in the conversation.
Tickets are $20 per household via centrum.org, and patrons should purchase them at least an hour beforehand in order to receive the link to the concert. Phone purchases can be made at Centrum’s ticket line, 800-746-1982, between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. weekends.
Music lovers of all kinds are invited, and, “I can think of two reasons why a newcomer to classical music would enjoy this concert,” added Gregg Miller, program manager for the chamber series.
“First, the composer of the first piece, Kevin Puts, speaks very engagingly and informatively about his piece the quartet is playing, which is called ‘Home.’ The piece was written for the Miró Quartet, and the composer’s introduction gives excellent insight as to how real composers and real performers collaborate to create new works.
“The second reason I would recommend this concert is Dvorak’s String Quartet in F major, Op. 96, which is known as the ‘American.’ It is so called because it was written while Dvorak was living in the United States. He was fascinated by folk melodies and Negro spirituals and incorporated them into this piece, which is one of his most famous works. Any American listener will feel at home with this music.”
The Miró Quartet, founded 26 years ago, is now composed of violinists Daniel Ching and William Fedkenheuer, violist John Largess and cellist Joshua Gindele. They are the quartet in residence at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas — Austin, and have appeared at events in the Pacific Northwest, including the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival.
The players take their name from the Catalan artist Joan Miró, whose Surrealist works — drawn from his memory, dreams and imagination — were some of the most groundbreaking of the 20th century.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
