March 12: Cassatt String Quartet and Ursula Oppens perform piano quintets by Joan Tower and Tania León at Symphony Space
Part of Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival's 27th season
Also: Victoria Bond's Blue and Green Music and Wang Jie's Song for Mahler in the Absence of Words
On March 12, 2024 at 7:30 pm, the internationally acclaimed Cassatt String Quartet and pianist Ursula Oppens perform at Symphony Space. The program is part of Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival and features 21st century works for strings and piano by Tania León, Joan Tower, Victoria Bond and Wang Jie. For more on Oppens, read a profile of the pianist in the New York Times.
The highlight of the program is Victoria Bond’s Blue and Green Music, which the quartet recorded for Albany Records and is based on a Georgia O’Keefe painting of the same title. Tania León's Ethos, Joan Tower’s Dumbarton piano quintet and Wang Jie’s Songs for Mahler in the Absence of Words for piano quartet are also on the program. The concert will explore facets of contemporary music by living composers, all of whom will be present to discuss their works on stage with host and creator, Victoria Bond.
"I'm so delighted to invite the Cassatt String Quartet and Ursula Oppens back to the Cutting Edge Concerts' stage. The Cassatts are one of the finest ensembles of today, and it's been such a pleasure to hear them take my work Blue and Green Music on tour around the country this past season. I cannot wait to hear this program along with the audience," says Bond.
Program details for the March 12 concert are below. The performance is at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater (2537 Broadway, Manhattan). Tickets are $25 in advance ($20 senior/student) and available at SymphonySpace.org.
Calendar Listing
CUTTING EDGE CONCERTS NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL
Cassatt String Quartet and Pianist Ursula Oppens
Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Symphony Space (2537 Broadway, Manhattan)
Tickets: $25 in advance (at SymphonySpace.org)
PROGRAM
Victoria Bond: Blue and Green Music
Tania León: Ethos for Piano and String Quartet
Wang Jie: Song for Mahler in the Absence of Words
Joan Tower: Dumbarton Quintet for piano quintet
About Cassatt String Quartet
Hailed for its “mighty rapport and relentless commitment,” the New York City-based Cassatt String Quartet has performed throughout the world for nearly four decades, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall and Weill Recital Hall; Tanglewood Music Center; the Kennedy Center; Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; Centro National de las Artes; Maeda Hall; and Beijing’s Central Conservatory. The Quartet’s prolific discography – featured three times in Alex Ross’s “10 Best Classical Recordings” column in The New Yorker – includes over forty recordings, for the Koch, Naxos, New World, Point, CRI, Tzadik, and Albany labels.
The Cassatt Quartet’s 2023-2024 season includes performances and recordings of works by Tania León, Adolphus Hailstork, Chen Yi, Joan Tower, Zhou Long, Victoria Bond and Daniel S. Godfrey; their annual residencies at the Seal Bay Festival in Maine and Cassatt in the Basin! in West Texas; hometown concerts in the New York area, including at Symphony Space and Bargemusic; and appearances at Treetops Chamber Music Society, Maverick Concerts, and Music Mountain.
The CSQ is named for the American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt.