NEW YORK –– The Argus Quartet, Juilliard’s graduate resident string quartet, will perform its final recital as Lisa Arnhold Fellows on Monday, May 6, 2019, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall. The program features Christopher Cerrone’s Can’t and Won’t (2017), Tan Dun’s Eight Colors (1986-88), the world premiere of Katherine Balch’s drip music (2019), and Debussy’s String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10. Guest cellist Astrid Schween of the Juilliard String Quartet joins the quartet in Boccherini’s String Quintet in D Major, Op. 40, No. 2, G. 341, Del Fandango. Balch’s drip music, which receives its world premiere on this concert, was commissioned for the Argus Quartet by Concert Artists Guild, with support from the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund.
The quartet members, violinists Clara Kim and Jason Issokson; violist Dana Kelley; and cellist Joann Whang, will be awarded Artist Diplomas in String Quartet studies at Juilliard’s commencement ceremony on May 24.
Tickets at $20 ($10 for full-time students with a valid ID) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar.
About the Argus Quartet
Violinists Clara Kim and Jason Issokson, violist Dana Kelley, and cellist Joann Whang are the Argus Quartet, one of today’s most dynamic and versatile young ensembles. The quartet won first prize at the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition. A busy 2018-19 season featured debut concerts in New York at Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall. Additional highlights include Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Concert series, Washington Performing Arts, UCLA’s Clark Memorial Library, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (Ill.), Purdue Convocations (Ind.), Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (Fla.), Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Amherst College, and Juneau Jazz and Classics.
Argus’ 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. Its repertoire includes not just masterworks of the chamber music canon but also a wide range of pieces by living composers. In fall 2017, Argus began a two-year appointment as graduate quartet in residence at Juilliard, working closely with the Juilliard String Quartet and making its Lincoln Center recital debut at Alice Tully Hall in May 2018. In 2015-17 Argus served as fellowship quartet in residence at the Yale School of Music (the first ensemble mentored by the Brentano String Quartet in that capacity) and, during the 2016-17 season, Argus was the Ernst Stiefel quartet in residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. Passionate advocates for the music of our time, Argus was quartet in residence at New Music on the Point under the guidance of the JACK Quartet and was 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, Grammy nominee Eric Guinivan, 2014 Hermitage Prize winner Thomas Kotcheff, and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient Juri Seo. Argus has received grants from Chamber Music America and Caramoor in support of its commissioning efforts and has 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.
Founded in Los Angeles in 2013, the Argus Quartet has performed at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Birdfoot Festival, Albany Symphony’s American Music Festival, Cello Biennale Amsterdam, Bang on a Can at the Noguchi Museum, Hear Now Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West. Education and outreach are an important part of the quartet’s mission: It has worked with students through residencies and masterclasses at Yale, James Madison University, Rockport Music, Milken School, Young Musicians Foundation, California State University Long Beach, Los Angeles City College, and Princeton.
Upcoming appearances for the Argus Quartet in the 2019-20 season include Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series on March 5, 2020, and a concert presented by Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center on April 14, 2020.
About Astrid Schween
In 2016 New York-born cellist Astrid Schween (Pre-College ’80; B.M. ’84, M.M. ’85) joined the Juilliard String Quartet, succeeding Joel Krosnick and became a member of Juilliard’s cello faculty. She made her debut as soloist with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and her teachers included Harvey Shapiro, Leonard Rose, H.T. Ma, Bernard Greenhouse, and Jacqueline Du Pre, with whom she studied in London. She has participated in Marlboro Music Festival and William Pleeth master classes and was on the faculty of UMass Amherst, Hartt School of Music, Mount Holyoke College, and Interlochen. As a member of the Boston Trio and Lark Quartet, Schween performed at major venues around the world and received many honors including the Naumburg Chamber Music Award with the Lark, which, during her tenure, produced critically acclaimed recordings for the Arabesque, Decca/Argo, New World, CRI, and Point labels, and commissioned numerous works. Recent faculty appointments include the Sphinx Performance Academy, Tanglewood, and the Perlman Music Program, where she succeeds cellist Ronald Leonard.
About the Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital
The May 6 event marks the 26th 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:
26th Annual Lisa Arnhold Memorial Recital
Monday, May 6, 2019, 7:30pm, Alice Tully Hall
Argus Quartet
Clara Kim and Jason Issokson, violins
Dana Kelley, viola
Joann Whang, cello
Christopher CERRONE Can’t and Won’t (2017)
Tan DUN Eight Colors (1986-88)
Luigi BOCCHERINI String Quintet in D Major, Op. 40, No. 2, G. 341, Del Fandango
Katherine BALCH drip music (2019, world premiere; commissioned for the Argus Quartet by Concert Artists Guild, with support from the Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund)
Claude DEBUSSY String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 10
Tickets at $20 ($10 for full-time students with a valid ID) are available at juilliard.edu/calendar.
