Chamber Arts

The Belcea Quartet performs in Ann Arbor for the first time in more than a decade, opening the 25/26 Chamber Arts Series with an evening of masterworks by Webern, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Program

Anton Webern Five Movements for String Quartet, Op. 5
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Quartet No. 19 in C Major, K. 465 (“Dissonance”)
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 16 in F Major. Op. 135

The Imani Winds have led both a revolution and an evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing and adventurous programming. This collaboration features composer and percussionist Andy Akiho, a trailblazing Pulitzer Prize finalist and five-time Grammy-nominated composer whose bold works surpass preconceived boundaries of Western classical music.

One of the world’s most adventurous and versatile chamber ensembles, the Danish String Quartet returns with a unique program that includes works by Stravinsky, Beethoven, and film composer and Radiohead founding member Jonny Greenwood, plus arrangements of traditional folk tunes and original compositions that trace musical pathways across the North Sea.

Program

Igor Stravinsky Three Pieces for String Quartet
Jonny Greenwood Suite from There Will Be Blood
Danish String Quartet Traditional arrangements and compositions
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 with the Große Fuge

Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti makes her UMS debut with an ensemble featuring guitar, accordion, and cello performing arrangements of popular classical works.

Program

Ernest Bloch “Prayer” from From Jewish Life
Manuel Ponce Estrellita
Pablo de Sarasate Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25
Pablo de Sarasate, Caprice Basque, Op. 24
Traditional, Ashokan Farewell
Peter Maxwell Davies Farewell to Stromness
Plus, works by Clara Schumann, Vaughan Williams, and Paganini, along with new commissions and arrangements of traditional Scottish music.

Violinist James Ehnes is joined by pianist Inon Barnatan, violist Jonathan Vinocour, and cellist Raphael Bell for a program of Gabriel Fauré’s piano quartets. Among his best-known chamber works, Fauré’s piano quartets are exquisitely crafted and ideal vehicles for these four superb artists and musical soulmates.

The Karajan-Akademie of the Berliner Philharmoniker serves as the training ground for both the next generation of musicians for the Berliner Philharmoniker, but also for orchestras around the world. This concert, part of a larger residency that will include campus engagement and learning activities, will feature several Akademie scholars alongside Philharmoniker musicians in an evening of Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Bartók.

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven Septet in E-Flat Major for WInds and Strings, Op. 20
Dmitri Shostakovich Prelude and Scherzo for String Octet, Op. 11
Béla Bartók Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz. 113

The superlative ensemble returns in a program that includes a UMS co-commission by University of Michigan alumna Clarice Assad, plus works by Franz Joseph Haydn and Claude Debussy.

Program

Franz Joseph Haydn String Quartet No. 59 in g minor, Op. 74, No. 3 (“Rider”)
Clarice Assad New Work (UMS co-commission)
Claude Debussy String Quartet in g minor, Op. 10 (L.91)