Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle Announces 66th Concert Season for June 2016

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) series at Bard College presents three chamber music concerts in June. The Saturday evening concerts, presented by The Bard Center, begin at 8 p.m. in Olin Hall. A subscription to the three-concert series is $70. Individual tickets are $30; for students, $5. For ticket information, call 845-339-7907 or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Additional information can be found at hvcmc.org.
 
Saturday, June 4
Concert 1: Emerson String Quartet
Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violins; Lawrence Dutton, viola; and Paul Watkins, cello
 
Franz Schubert, String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 29 (D.804) “Rosamunde”
Béla Bartók, String Quartet No. 4; Johannes Brahms, String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2
 
Saturday, June 11
Concert 2: The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
Joseph Kalichstein, piano; Jaime Laredo, violin; and Sharon Robinson, cello
 
David Ludwig, Titania’s Dream; Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Trio No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 67; and Johannes Brahms Piano Trio No. 1 in B Minor, Op. 8.
 
 
Saturday, June 18
Concert 3: Calidore String Quartet
Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan, violins; Jeremy Berry, viola; and Estelle Choi, cello
 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, String Quartet in D Major (K.575); Sergei Rachmaninov, Two Movements for String Quartet; and Felix Mendelssohn, String Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 44, No. 3.
 
The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle was started in 1950 when Helen Huntington Hull joined with two Staatsburg friends—Mrs. Lydig Hoyt and Mrs. Jonas Borak—and enlisted the help of Emil Hauser (then a Bard faculty member and former first violinist of the Budapest Quartet) to bring the best classical musicians of the time to the Hudson Valley to play for appreciative neighbors. The annual summer concert series has been associated with Bard College since 1979. For further information, call 845-339-7907 or send an e-mail to [email protected], or go to hvcmc.org.
 
About the Artists
 
Concert 1, June 4: Emerson String Quartet
The Emerson String Quartet has accumulated an unparalleled list of achievements over three decades: more than thirty acclaimed recordings, nine Grammys® (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, Musical America’s "Ensemble of the Year" and collaborations with many of the greatest artists of our time.
The arrival of Paul Watkins in 2013 has had a profound effect on the Emerson Quartet. Mr. Watkins, a distinguished soloist, award-winning conductor, and devoted chamber musician, joined the ensemble in its 37th season, and his dedication and enthusiasm have infused the Quartet with a warm, rich tone and a palpable joy in the collaborative process. The reconfigured group has been greeted with impressive accolades. “The Emerson brought the requisite virtuosity to every phrase. But this music is equally demanding emotionally and intellectually, and the group’s powers of concentration and sustained intensity were at least as impressive." The New York Times
The Quartet’s summer season included engagements at BBC Proms and the Ravinia, Tanglewood, Aspen, Chamber Music Northwest, Evian, Berlin, Great Lakes, Norfolk, Cape Cod and Mostly Mozart festivals. In a season of over 85 quartet performances, mingled with the Quartet members’ individual artistic commitments, the Emerson plays extensively throughout North America. Season highlights include collaborations with soprano Barbara Hannigan for Berg’s Lyric Suite at the Berlin Festival, with violist Roberto Diaz for Mendelssohn’s Viola Quintet at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and with the Calidore String Quartet for the Mendelssohn Octet at Princeton University. The Emerson also performs two concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall in November and will appear at the second Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in May 2016.
Multiple tours of Europe comprise dates in Denmark, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Austria, Hungary and the United Kingdom; they also visit Moscow, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul. The Emerson continues its series at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC for its 37th season, and is presented by Lincoln Center’s “Great Performers” in a three-part series of late Haydn and early Beethoven string quartets in April and May.            
The Emerson’s 2015-16 season begins with the release of a disc with world-renowned soprano Renée Fleming on the Decca/Universal label, featuring Viennese music written in the 1920s and ‘30s: Berg’s Lyric Suite (including an alternate version of the last movement for soprano and quartet), Egon Wellesz’s Sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and Eric Zeisl’s Komm, süsser Tod (Come, sweet Death).  
Formed in 1976 and based in New York City, the Emerson was one of the first quartets formed with two violinists alternating in the first chair position.  In 2002, the Quartet began to stand for most of its concerts, with the cellist seated on a riser.  The Emerson Quartet, which took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, is Quartet-in-Residence at Stony Brook University.  In January 2015, the Quartet received the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, Chamber Music America’s highest honor, in recognition of its significant and lasting contribution to the chamber music field.  
 
Concert 2, June 11: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
 
“…foremost trio with the greatest longevity…bring(ing)
to worldwide audiences their expressive and exhilarating interpretations.”
–Musical America
 
“Pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo, and cellist Sharon Robinson have been making music together for more than 35 years, and in that time they have risen to occupy a unique place among the world’s trios. With dozens of premieres commissioned specifically for them by many of the greatest living composers, they could easily rest their reputation solely on giving brilliant, full-bodied voice to modern sounds. But that would be taking the emphasis off what is perhaps their strongest suit: their extraordinarily sensitive collective mastery of the classic repertoire for trio.”
–Santa Barbara Independent
 
Nearly 38 years after its debut at the White House, The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio continues to bring technical mastery, expressive depth, and magnetism to the concert stage. Carnegie Hall commemorated their 30th Anniversary in 2007 with a concert in Stern Auditorium. Richard Danielpour devoted a piano quartet in honor of the anniversary, which has become a part of their extensive repertoire. One of today’s most beloved ensembles, these three artists share their passion for music with audiences worldwide.
 
 
Concert 3 June 18: Calidore String Quartet
 
Described as “the epitome of confidence and finesse,” (Gramophone Magazine) and “a miracle of unified thought,” (La Presse, Montreal), the Calidore String Quartet has established an international reputation for its informed, polished, and passionate performances. Currently, the quartet is artist-in-residence at Stony Brook University (SUNY) and has been appointed to the prestigious roster of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two for the 2016- 2019 seasons. On May 19, 2016 the Calidore String Quartet won the prestigious $100,000 M-Prize, a major new chamber music award from the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theater & Dance. The award was announced after two days of final competition concerts in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which drew 172 applicants for the prize from 13 countries.
 
In recognition of its international acclaim the quartet won the 2016 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, becoming the first North American ensemble to win the prestigious career grant. The Calidore String Quartet regularly performs throughout North America, Europe, and Asia and has debuted in such prestigious venues as Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, Seoul’s Kumho Arts Hall, Schneider Concerts (NYC), and at many significant festivals, including Verbier, Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Rheingau, East Neuk, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
 
The Calidore String Quartet won grand prizes in virtually all the major U.S. chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs competitions.; It captured top prizes at the 2012 ARD Munich International String Quartet Competition and Hamburg International Chamber Music Competition, as well.Highlights of the quartet’s 2015-16 season include its debut at Carnegie Hall, Ladies' Morning Music Club (Montreal), New York City Town Hall, performances of the complete Mendelssohn quartet cycle at the East Neuk Festival (UK), and performances of the Mendelssohn Octet with the Emerson Quartet at Princeton and Stony Brook Universities. During the 2015-16 season, the Calidore collaborates with many esteemed musicians, including the Emerson Quartet, Inon Barnatan, Paul Watkins, Daniel Phillips, Matthew Lipman, and Lawrence Dutton. Summer 2015 was filled with important debuts including Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (DEU), East Neuk Festival (UK), Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (ON), Music Mountain (CT), and the Mostly Mozart Festival (NY). The Calidore String Quartet returned as quartet-in-residence at the Bellingham Festival of Music (WA) and the Innsbrook Institute Summer Music Academy and Festival (MO), as well as returned to perform at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival (MI). In February 2015, the Calidore String Quartet released its critically-acclaimed debut recording of quartets by Mendelssohn and Haydn.  Additionally, in February 2016 the Calidore released an album on the French label Editions Hortus, with music by Hindemith, Milhaud, Stravinsky, de la Presle, and Toch commemorating the World War I Centennial. The Calidore were featured as Young Artists-in-Residence on American Public Media's Performance Today and their performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Korean Broadcasting Corporation, Bayerischer Rundfunk (Munich), Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Hamburg), and were featured on German national television as part of a documentary produced by ARD public broadcasting.
 
As advocates of contemporary music, the Calidore String Quartet performed Pulitzer-prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw's "Entr'acte" in concerts throughout the 2014-15 season in New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. In summer 2015, the Calidore premiered Patrick Harlin's "Birdsongs for the City Dweller", commissioned by the Caramoor Center, as well as "Prometheus" by Mark Grey, commissioned by the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.
 
The Calidore String Quartet has collaborated with many esteemed artists and ensembles, including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Joshua Bell, Paul Coletti, Ronald Leonard, Raphael Merlin, and Quatuor Ebéne, among others. Formed in 2010 at the Colburn School of Music, the Calidore has studied closely with such luminaries as the Emerson Quartet, David Finckel, Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, Günther Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, Heime Müller, Guillaume Sutre, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Paul Coletti, Ronald Leonard, and the Quatuor Ebène.
 
As a passionate supporter of music education, the Calidore String Quartet is deeply committed to mentoring and educating young musicians, students, and audiences. In 2016, the Calidore was awarded the John Ladd prize by the Saint Lawrence String Quartet in recognition of their artistic excellence and dedication to expanding audiences for chamber music. In addition, they have conducted two multi-week outreach residencies of over twenty performances sponsored by Stanford University. The Calidore String Quartet has conducted master classes and residencies at Princeton, Stanford, University of Michigan, UCLA, and Mercer University, as well as at Chamber Music Connection in Columbus, Ohio. The Calidore was previously on the faculty of the Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute at the Colburn School.
 
About HVCMC
 
In 1950, Helen Huntington Hull joined her two Staatsburg friends, Mrs. Lydig Hoyt and Mrs. Jonas Borak, as well as Emil Hauser (then a member of the Bard College faculty and former first violinist of the Budapest Quartet) to bring the best classical musicians of the time to the Hudson Valley to play chamber music for a group of appreciative friends and neighbors. This was the inception of the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC). In 1979, the Circle began its formal association with Bard College.   Since then, the audience has expanded to include music lovers from Albany to New York City, as well as neighboring states.  The three annual summer concerts have maintained their early reputation for showcasing the finest performances of works from a wide-ranging repertory.  In 2000, the distinguished musicians Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson became Artistic Directors for the Circle.  These three concerts each June are presented in Bard’s lovely and acoustically acclaimed Olin Hall.
 
 
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This event was last updated on 05-24-2016

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