Ebène Quartet announces revised North American tour – winter 2010
An unexpected and, thankfully, relatively minor surgical procedure for one of its members has changed the itinerary for the Ebène Quartet, which is gearing up for a return tour of North America. The group’s management issued a statement revealing the personnel changes as well as the new programs that will be performed on tour:
“After feeling a pain in his left side, Pierre Colombet underwent surgery to repair a hernia at the end of last week. Although the procedure went well and was relatively minor, his doctor has forbidden him from joining his Ebène Quartet colleagues on tour in the United States this month. He will resume performing with the quartet in four to six weeks.
“The quartet remains dedicated to and excited about its career in this country, and wanting to continue to build its relationship with American audiences, the remaining three members of the quartet will perform two different programs with the brilliant young pianists Orion Weiss and Gilles Vonsattel in a number of cities.
“The quartet will return to perform concerts for major sponsors throughout the United States in August 2010, April 2011, and March 2012.”
A revised list of tour dates and programs follows below.
Described in a New York Times headline as “A String Quartet That Can Easily Morph Into a Jazz Band,” the Paris-based Ebène Quartet won Gramophone’s coveted “Recording of the Year” award earlier this season for its album of quartets by Debussy, Ravel and Faure. For its second release for the label – issued in the States in October 2009 – the Ebène offered an all-Brahms program, pairing the composer’s String Quartet No. 1 with his Piano Quintet. Japanese pianist Akiko Yamamoto joins the quartet for the latter.
The Ebène Quartet returned to the Verbier Festival last summer and continues to concertize widely throughout Europe; it recently returned from a highly successful tour of India. Since then the group has completed recording sessions for a jazz-inspired album that will be released by Virgin Classics in summer 2010, when the group returns to the States for a tour of leading summer music festivals (details tba).
Pianist Orion Weiss is one of the most sought-after soloists and collaborators in his generation of young American musicians. A student of Emanuel Ax, Orion regularly performs concertos with major orchestras around the world in addition to his chamber music collaborations.
Swiss-born pianist Gilles Vonsattel, winner of the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s 2002 International Piano Competition, is an artist of uncommon breadth who is equally at home in solo and chamber music. Gilles has shown a significant interest in expanding the conventional classical concert experience, regularly participating in New York’s Wordless Music Series. He was featured in the spring 2008 issue of Esquire magazine as one of several ground-breaking classical musicians.
Ebène Quartet 2010 North American tour (revised dates and programs)
2/5/10 Lawrence University/ Appleton, WI (Program II)
2/8/10 University of Toronto/ Toronto, ON (Program I w/ Orion Weiss)
2/10/10 Arizona Friends of Chamber Music/ Tucson, AZ (Program I w/ Gilles Vonsattel)
2/12/10 Colburn School/ Los Angeles, CA (Masterclass)
2/14/10 Clark Library/ Los Angeles, CA (Program I w/Orion Weiss)
2/16/10 (Le) Poisson Rouge/ New York, NY (Program I w/ Orion Weiss)
2/19/10 University of Vermont/ Burlington, VT (Program I w/ Orion Weiss)
2/21/10 University of Georgia/ Athens, GA (Program I w/Orion Weiss)
2/23/10 Washington Performing Arts Series/ Washington DC (Program I w/ Orion Weiss)
Program I:
Schubert: Trio in B-flat major, D. 581
Fauré: Quartet for Piano and Strings No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45
Brahms: Quartet in C minor, Op. 60, “Werther”
Program II:
Schubert: Trio in B-flat major, D. 581
Beethoven: Duo in E-flat major for Viola and Cello (“Eyeglasses”), WoO 32
Beethoven: Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello in D major, Op. 8, “Serenade”
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© 21C Media Group, February 2010