There is music that will lead you to question the nature of existence, to contemplate the meaning of love and of mortality. This Haydn quartet is not that kind of music, at all: it invites you to celebrate life and friendship. It is full of dancing – mostly of the foot-stomping variety – and some lovely tunes. Note especially the center section of the menuet movement (which, for peculiar historical reasons is called the “trio”), where the first violin is invited by Haydn to exercise their imagination as a soloist, to fool around with speed and volume and keep the rest of the quartet guessing. ~ Warren Davidson

Westmoreland Symphony Presents Academy Concerts - Academy String Quartet

Greensburg Garden and Civic Center

The Academy String Quartet kicks off the season of The Westmoreland Symphony presents Academy Concerts with familiar favorites and some surprises. The concert opens with a string quartet arrangement of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ beloved setting of the Welsh hymn Rhosymedre, followed Joseph Haydn’s “Sunrise” quartet – one of the very finest string quartets, combining elegance, rustic wit, and rhythmic vigor. The Academy Quartet violinists, Jorie Butler-Geyer and Leah Givelber will play a selection of short pieces from Autumn Leaves, by Illinois composer Elaine Fine. Schubert’s early quartets are often overlooked in favor of his longer, heavier later works; the quartet in E flat, written at age 16, is sweet and charming. A sultry tango by Texan Michael McLean sends us dancing home.

Academy String Quartet

Mar 14, 2024

Westmoreland Symphony Presents Academy Concerts - Academy String Quartet

Oct 26, 2023

Westmoreland Symphony Presents Academy Concerts - Academy String Quartet

Academy String Quartet