The Argus Quartet Performs Works by Mendelssohn, Thomas, Wuorinen, and Lutoslawski in the 25th Annual Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital on Friday, May 4, 2018, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall

NEW YORK –– The Argus Quartet, Juilliard’s graduate resident quartet, will perform a recital as Lisa Arnhold Fellows on Friday, May 4, 2018, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall. The program features Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12; Augusta Read Thomas’ Chi (2017); the Josquin des Prez/Charles Wuorinen Josquiniana (16th century/2002); and Witold Lutosławski’s String Quartet (1964). The Argus Quartet recently won first prize at the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. Members of the Argus Quartet are violinists Clara Kim and Jason Issokson; violist Dana Kelley; and cellist Joann Whang.

Tickets at $20 ($10 for full-time students with a valid ID) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar.

About the Program

Felix Mendelssohn began composing his String Quartet No. 1 in Berlin and continued working on it during one of his many visits to the U.K. The quartet was completed on September 14, 1829 and published later that year.

Augusta Read Thomas’ 2017 string quartet Chi was commissioned by the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and the Spektral Quartet; it was first performed at the chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago on April 29, 2017. The composer was inspired by the idea of chi. She writes: “The Chinese refer to the vital life force energy of the universe, present within every living thing, as chi. Chi has been studied for more than 10,000 years, from China and Japan to India, the Hawaiian Islands, and South America. Chi is the energy of life itself, recognized as the balance of Yin and Yang (male and female, positive and negative, electro-magnetic energy), which flows through everything in creation. The power of chi emits soulful colors (the Aura), giving expressive vibrational frequency, and sound. Chi flows through the body pathways—known as meridians (high points) and chakras (deep, subtle spiritual nodes of the profound essential center)—of all living forms.”

Charles Wuorinen uses the music of Josquin des Prez, who lived from the middle of the 15th century into the third decade of the 16th century, as the inspiration for his 2002 quartet Josquiniana. The work was commissioned by and dedicated to the Brentano Quartet and is a setting of six secular works. The composers writes: “The originals are for three to five voices, but I have recomposed them into music for string quartet. Some of the pieces are of doubtful authenticity, but are worth including on purely musical grounds, whether Josquin wrote them or not. In particular the last (El Grillo) is probably not by Josquin, but was too much fun to leave out.” The six pieces are: Hélas madame; Faulte d’argent; Cela sans plus; Comment peult; Vive le Roy; and El Grillo, “Joasquin d’Ascanio.”

Witold Lutosławski completed his only String Quartet in 1964. It was commissioned by Swedish Radio for the 10th anniversary of its new music program, Nutida Musik. The world premiere was given by the LaSalle Quartet in Stockholm on March 12, 1965. The quartet is in two movements with the composer describing the pair as “introduction” and “main movement.”

About the Argus Quartet

Violinists Clara Kim and Jason Issokson, violist Dana Kelley, and cellist Joann Whang are the Argus Quartet. Recognized as one of today’s most dynamic and versatile young ensembles. It won first prize at the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. Recent and upcoming performances include appearances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill and Zankel halls, Roulette, the Albany Symphony’s American Music Festival, Bang on a Can at the Noguchi Museum, the Hear Now Music Festival, Providence College, University of Michigan, James Madison University’s Contemporary Music Festival, Princeton University, the Shalin Liu Performance Center at Rockport Music, and the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam.

Dedicated to reinvigorating the audience-performer relationship through innovative concerts and diverse programming, the quartet’s core mission is to connect with and build up a community of engaged listeners, with the strong belief that today’s ensembles can honor the storied chamber music traditions of our past while forging a new path forward. In that spirit, the ensemble’s repertoire includes not just master works of the chamber music canon, but also a wide range of pieces by living composers.

Last fall the Argus Quartet began a two-year appointment as the graduate quartet in residence at Juilliard, where its members work closely with the Juilliard String Quartet. From 2015 to 2017, the quartet was the fellowship quartet in residence at the Yale School of Music (as the first ensemble mentored by the Brentano String Quartet in that capacity), and during the 2016-17 season, they were the Ernst Stiefel quartet in residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. Argus also served as the quartet in residence at New Music on the Point under the guidance of the JACK Quartet, and was also selected as one of three ensembles to perform works from Kronos Quartet’s Fifty for the Future commissioning project at Carnegie Hall. Recent commissions include new quartets by Donald Crockett, composer and GRAMMY nominee Eric Guinivan, the 2014 Hermitage Prize winner Thomas Kotcheff, and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Juri Seo. The Quartet has received grants from Chamber Music America and the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in support of their commissioning efforts, and have also performed works by some of today’s most important composers including Augusta Read Thomas, Garth Knox, Jason Eckardt, Christopher Theofanidis, Martin Bresnick, and Andrew Norman. The Argus Quartet has performed at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Birdfoot Festival, Cello Biënnale Amsterdam, and Music Academy of the West, and has played alongside many of today’s leading chamber musicians, including the Brentano Quartet and David Shifrin.

Education and outreach are an important part of the Argus Quartet’s mission. The quartet has worked with students through residencies and master classes at Yale University, James Madison University, Rockport Music, the Milken School, the Young Musicians Foundation, California State University Long Beach, Los Angeles City College, and Princeton University.

About the Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital

The May 4 event marks the 25th annual Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital. The members of each resident quartet, named Lisa Arnhold Fellows, receive a stipend, as well as regular ensemble coachings with the Juilliard String Quartet; they, in turn, coach other Juilliard student ensembles. The annual residency may be extended through a second season upon completion of the second year; the quartet members each graduate from Juilliard, receiving the Artist Diploma. Previous graduate resident quartets have included the Aeolus, Afiara, Attacca, Avalon, Biava, Calder, Cassatt, Chiara, Colorado, Corigliano, Essex, Lark, Maia, Magellan, Miró, Shanghai, St. Lawrence, and Verona.

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Program Listing:

25th Annual Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital

Friday, May 4, 2018, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall

Argus Quartet

Clara Kim and Jason Issokson, violins

Dana Kelley, viola

Joann Whang, cello

 

Felix MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12

Augusta Read THOMAS Chi (2017)

Josquin des Prez/Charles WUORINEN Josquiniana (16th century/2002)

Witold LUTOSŁAWSKI String Quartet (1964)

 

Tickets at $20 ($10 for full-time students with a valid ID) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar.