Heath Quartet
Sunday, April 21, 4:00PM
Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ
The 2023-24 Music in the Park Series culminates in a performance by the award-winning Heath Quartet whose innovative program spotlights works by forgotten European composers.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
The Heath Quartet was formed in 2002 by four friends at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. In the two decades since, they have established a gilded reputation due in part to their impressive discography, which includes quartets by Tchaikovsky, and the complete quartets of both Béla Bartók and Sir Michael Tippett, the latter of which was awarded a British Gramophone award. The quartet has a residency at the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin and continues its long standing relationship with Wigmore Hall in London. They collaborate in Wigmore Learning’s flagship project “Chamber Challenge,” where Elementary school children are tasked with composing new pieces which they perform alongside the quartet.
The Heath Quartet’s program for Music in the Park Series spotlights a “forgotten” Dutch composer, Henriette Bosmans. During World War II, Bosmans was forbidden to perform publicly, being half Jewish, which forced her to support herself with underground house concerts. Notable too is the third quartet of the remarkable Eric Wolfgang Korngold, one of the very last European Romantics. Although Viennese-born, this child prodigy became the ‘John Williams’ of his era in Hollywood, while simultaneously writing serious music for the concert hall. Korngold here repurposes music from at least three of his prior film scores into his third quartet, written on the cusp of his retirement.
Saint Paul String Quartet Competition
In addition to their Music in the Park Series Concert, the Heath Quartet will also adjudicate the 2024 Saint Paul String Quartet Competition. Founded in 2006 by Artaria String Quartet founding member Ray Shows, the Saint Paul String Quartet Competition’s primary mission is to celebrate excellence in string quartet performance, foster increased awareness and participation in the chamber music art form, and enhance chamber music culture and appreciation. Diversity and Inclusion are now at the forefront of our concerns, and we have created required competition rounds for Women composers and Composers of Color.
The Competition Finals, which take place at Sundin Music Hall at Hamline University on Saturday April 20 with Master of Ceremonies Steve Staruch, are free and open to the public! Attendance is FREE, no registration required. See some of today’s outstanding chamber musicians – maybe you’ll see them again on the Music in the Park Series down the road!
