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NIU’s world-class Avalon Quartet performs eclectic concert

September 15, 2016

 

The Avalon String Quartet

The Avalon String Quartet

NIU’s quartet-in-residence, Avalon String Quartet, will perform the works of Joseph Hayden, Alberto Ginastera, and Benjamin Britten, 8 p.m., Sept. 20. The free concert will be held at the Recital Hall, Northern Illinois University, School of Music, 550 Lucinda Ave, DeKalb.

“It’s a wildly contrasting program, full of color and intensity,” said Anthony Devroye, Avalon Quartet violist and NIU School of Music faculty member. The Avalon is the quartet-in-residence at NIU’s School of Music.

The quartet will perform Haydn’s Op. 20 #3 in G minor, a quirky work by the father of the string quartet. They will also perform Ginastera’s modernist work Quartet #3, which will feature guest soprano Michelle Areyzaga. Their program concludes with Britten’s Quartet #2 in C Major, a hauntingly beautiful WWII-era piece.

The performance will be webcast live as well.

Described by the Chicago Tribune as “an ensemble that invites you — ears, mind, and spirit — into its music,” the Avalon String Quartet has established itself as one of the country’s leading chamber music ensembles. The Avalon has performed in major venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St Y, Merkin Hall, and Bargemusic in New York; the Library of Congress and National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; Wigmore Hall in London; and Herculessaal in Munich.

For more information, contact Tina Zemzemi, (815) 753-1551, or niu.edu/music.