September 5, 2008

• Quartet to perform two programs

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Alys Stephens Center presents the American String Quartet at 7 p.m. nightly Oct. 10-11, at the Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. S., Birmingham. Tickets are $35; student tickets are $20. This show is part of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society Series. Call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org for more information.

In their 32nd season, the American String Quartet celebrates with two programs of American music. For Friday, Oct. 10: George Whitefield Chadwick's No. 4 in E Minor; "Triptych" by Robert Sirota; and Claude Debussy, G Minor, Op.10. For Saturday, Oct. 11: Four Diversions by Louis Gruenberg; Henry Cowell's Mosaic Quartet; Irving Fine's String Quartet; and Antonín Dvorák, F major, Op. 96, "American."

The American has performed in all 50 states and appeared in virtually every important concert hall throughout the world. Their presentations of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartók and Mozart have won widespread critical acclaim. The 1998 MusicMasters Complete Mozart String Quartets, performed on a matched quartet set of instruments by Stradivarius, set the standard for this repertoire.         

The American's innovative approach to concert programming has won them a number of notable residencies in recent years, including at the University of Michigan, "The Six Mozart Viola Quintets" at the Aspen Music Festival and a recent four-year cycle titled "4-5-6..." at Princeton University. The resident quartet at the Aspen Music Festival since 1974 and the Manhattan School of Music since 1984, the American also served as resident quartet at the Taos School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The quartet is Peter Winograd, violin; Laurie Carney, violin; Daniel Avshalomov, viola; and Wolfram Koessel, cello.