New Orford String Quartet

Sharon Wei, viola

Jonathan Crow, violin

Andrew Wan, violin

Brian Manker, cello

https://www.neworford.com/

“Pizzicato!” This captivating program showcases the diverse ways in which pizzicato, a technique where the strings are plucked instead of bowed, is used to shape the expressive landscapes of string quartet music. Caroline Shaw’s “Blueprint” experiments with pizzicato textures, creating intricate rhythmic patterns that weave a mesmerizing musical tapestry. Ana Sokolovic’s “Commedia delle’arte” utilizes pizzicato to evoke the playful, lively spirit of the Italian theater, adding a delightful rhythmic energy to the music. Beethoven’s Harp quartet  incorporates pizzicato passages to enhance the ethereal and dreamlike atmosphere of the piece. Ravel uses pizzicato in one of his movements to create a delightful rhythmic complexity. Throughout this program, pizzicato serves as a powerful tool, showcasing the expressive possibilities and adding a unique sonic dimension to the string quartet repertoire.

Four musicians with equally stellar pedigrees formed the New Orford String Quartet with the goal of developing a new model for a touring string quartet.  Their concept – to bring four elite orchestral leaders and soloists together on a regular basis over many years to perform chamber music at the highest level – has resulted in a quartet that maintains a remarkably fresh perspective while bringing a palpable sense of joy to each performance. The Toronto Star has described this outcome as “nothing short of electrifying.

Consisting of the concertmasters and principal cellist Montreal, and Toronto Symphonies as well as Western’s Professor of Viola, the New Orford String Quartet has seen astonishing success, giving annual concerts for national CBC broadcast and receiving unanimous critical acclaim, including two Opus Awards for Concert of the Year, and a 2017 JUNO Award for Canada’s top Chamber Music Recording. Recent seasons have featured return engagements in Chicago, Montréal, and Toronto, as well as their New York City debut on Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series.

The New Orford String Quartet has seen astonishing success, giving annual concerts for national CBC broadcast and receiving unanimous critical acclaim, including two Opus Awards for Concert of the Year, and a 2017 JUNO Award for Best Classical Album. Recent seasons have featured return engagements in Chicago, Montreal and Toronto, as well as their New York City debut on Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series.

The original Orford String Quartet gave its first public concert in 1965, and became one of the best-known and most illustrious chamber music ensembles. After more than 2,000 concerts on six continents, the Orford String Quartet gave its last concert in 1991. Two decades later, in July 2009, the New Orford String Quartet took up this mantle, giving its first concert for a sold-out audience at the Orford Arts Centre. The New Orford has since gone on to perform concerts throughout North America and lead residencies at the University of Toronto, Schulich School of Music and Syracuse University. They were Artists-in-Residence at University Club of Toronto and are currently Artists in Residence at Mount Royal University and Western University. They are Artistic Directors of the Prince Edward County Music Festival

The New Orford is dedicated to promoting Canadian works, both new commissions and neglected repertoire from the previous century. New Orford String Quartet projects have included performances of major Canadian string quartets from the 20th century including works by Glenn Gould, Sir Ernest MacMillan, Kelly Marie Murphy, Dinuk Wijeratne, Jacques Hétu, R. Murray Schafer, and Claude Vivier, as well as commissions of new works from composers such as Francois Dompierre, Gary Kulesha, Airat Ichmouratov and Tim Brady. The Quartet thrives on exploring the rich chamber music repertoire; recent collaborations include those with pianists Marc-André Hamelin and Menahem Pressler.

The Quartet regularly tours in the major cities of North America, including Washington, D.C., Toronto, and Los Angeles; at the same time, the members feel strongly about bringing this music to areas that don’t often hear it, and as a result perform frequently in remote rural locations and smaller Canadian communities. This season they will perform in cities including Vancouver, Victoria, Banff, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Winnipeg, Brandon, London, Picton, and Toronto.

There will be a short Q &A on stage, after the concert.

Tickets available at the door:

$20 Adults and Seniors

BU Students and (Conservatory Students, accompanied by a parent) may attend at no additional charge.