Chamber Music at the Clark – Enso Quartet

If you read my post about the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library last November, you know how much I enjoyed my visit. It is truly one of the under-appreciated and little known treasures in the City of Los Angeles.

In addition to its incredible collection of rare books and manuscripts, its fascinating history and beautiful building, it is also the home of The UCLA Center for 17th – & 18th – Century Studies’ Chamber music series, which takes place in the Clark’s drawing room. With concerts scheduled throughout the year, you have many opportunities to listen to a variety of music and experience the library in person.

Photo by Richie Hawley

This April, the Ensō Quartet will perform at the Clark. With a 2010 Grammy nomination for “Best Chamber Music Performance,” the Ensō String Quartet has quickly become one of the country’s most accomplished young ensembles. Shortly after the group’s inception at Yale University in 1999, Ensō enjoyed success at the Banff International String Quartet Competition and won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and has consistently received high praise for performances ever since. The quartet’s debut recording was described by Strad Magazine as “an auspicious start to their recording career,” and was followed by the recent Grammy-nominated release of the quartets of Ginastera. The disc was selected as one of MusicWeb’s Recordings of the Year for 2009.

The Ensō String Quartet is:

Maureen Nelson, violin
John Marcus, violin
Melissa Reardon, viola
Richard Belcher, cello

Program

Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in F Minor, op. 20, no. 5 (1772)

Igor Stravinsky
Three Pieces for String Quartet (1914, rev. 1918)

Erwin Schulhoff
Five Pieces for String Quartet (1923)

Intermission

Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, op. 59 no. 2 (1806)

Reception 

DETAILS

When: Sunday, April 17 at 2:00 p.m.

Where: The Williams Andrews Clark Memorial Library, located at 2520 Cimarron St., Los Angeles

Cost: $25 per person

Seating is very limited, so the library uses a “reservation by lottery” system. If you want to attend this event, I highly recommend you get your reservation form in today! It must be postmarked or hand delivered to the Center no later than March 14, 2011.

Reservation Lottery Form: Available online

More Information:

Clark Event Calendar
Clark Tel. (323) 731-8529
The UCLA Center for 17th – & 18th – Century Studies: Tel. 310-206-8552

Recordings (CD and MP3):