The Takács Quartet, a perennial UMS favorite, returns with a program that nods to the natural world, opening with Haydn’s “Sunrise” quartet and closing with Beethoven’s second Razumovsky quartet, the slow movement of which was inspired by Beethoven’s contemplation of the starry sky. In between, the Quartet performs a new UMS co-commission by Nokuthula Endo Ngwenyama. Born in Los Angeles of Zimbabwean-Japanese parentage, Ngwenyama attended the Colburn School in Los Angeles and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, in addition to receiving a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard. Her new work, co-commissioned by UMS and a group of eight other presenters, brings a deep sense of awe and wonder to the quartet repertoire.

Explore program notes on Ngwenyama’s new work, Flow (PDF)