Name: Valley Concert Society Presents Isidore String Quartet
Start: 2024-4-18T19:30-7:00
End: 2024-4-18T23:50-7:00

Matsqui Centennial Auditorium

32315 South Fraser Way

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april

18apr7:30 pmValley Concert Society Presents Isidore String Quartet

Event Details

Thursday, April 18, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Matsqui Centennial Auditorium
32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC

Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, violins
Devin Moore, viola
Joshua McClendon, cello

Winners of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022, the New York City-based Isidore String Quartet was formed in 2019 with a vision to revisit, rediscover, and reinvigorate the repertory. The quartet is heavily influenced by the Juilliard String Quartet and the idea of ‘approaching the established as if it were brand new, and the new as if it were firmly established.’

The members of the quartet are violinists Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, violist Devin Moore, and cellist Joshua McClendon. The four began as an ensemble at the Juilliard School and, following a break during the global pandemic, reconvened at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in the summer of 2021 under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick.

Their Banff triumph brings extensive tours of North America and Europe, a two-year appointment as the Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University in Dallas beginning in 2023-24, performances at Haydn Hall in Eisenstadt (in spring 2023) and the Lucerne Festival, plus a two-week residency at Banff Centre including a professionally produced recording, along with extensive ongoing coaching, career guidance, and mentorship.

The Isidore Quartet’s 2022-2023 season will feature debut appearances in Pittsburgh, PA; Durham, NC; Burlington, VT; Kalamazoo, MI; Evanston, IL; San Antonio, TX; Laguna Beach, CA (with pianist Jeremy Denk and violinist Stefan Jackiw); and Seattle, WA (with violinist James Ehnes). The quartet will return Washington’s Kennedy Center as part of the Fortas Chamber Music Concert Series and will also perform for Schneider Concerts at the Mannes School of Music. In Europe they will perform at Esterhazy Palace in Austria and will spend time at the Britten Pears Arts Institute.

The quartet will be working as a resident ensemble with PROJECT: MUSIC HEALS US providing encouragement, education, and healing to marginalized communities – including elderly, disabled, rehabilitating incarcerated and homeless populations – who otherwise have limited access to high-quality live music performance.

The name Isidore recognizes the ensemble’s musical connection to the Juilliard Quartet: one of that group’s early members was legendary violinist Isidore Cohen. Additionally, it acknowledges a shared affection for a certain libation – legend has it a Greek monk named Isidore concocted the first genuine vodka recipe for the Grand Duchy of Moscow!

Time

(Thursday) 7:30 pm

Location

Matsqui Centennial Auditorium

32315 South Fraser Way

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may

10may7:30 pmValley Concert Society Presents Laura Altenmueller

Event Details

Friday, May 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Matsqui Centennial Auditorium

32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC

Pianist Laura Altenmueller has performed in England, Austria, the United States, and across Canada. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Western University, which she completed on full scholarship under the tutelage of Stéphan Sylvestre. At Western University, she was a two-time Ontario Graduate Scholarship recipient for her research and performance of Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin. She currently works in London, ON as the music director of Oakridge Presbyterian Church, in addition to performing as a collaborative pianist and teaching. She also directs several choirs and sings in Chor Amica in London.

Laura is from Abbotsford, BC, where she began her piano studies at the age of 4. She completed her ARCT in Piano Performance at the age of 18, receiving first class honours with distinction. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Victoria, where she studied with Michelle Mares. During her time at UVic, Laura performed in masterclasses for Angela Hewitt, Julian Bliss, Colin Tilney, and others. She was also active as a chorister, singing in Philomela Women’s Choir, UVic Chorus, and UVic Chamber Singers. She received many scholarships and awards, including the Musical Arts Scholarship, Betty and Gilbert Kennedy Scholarship in Music, and the 2015 Strauss Foundation Scholarship. In 2015, she spent four weeks studying piano in Salzburg, Austria at the Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum, with Frank Wibaut, Siegfried Mauser, and Robert D. Levin.

After completing her BMus at UVic, Laura completed her Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Ottawa, studying with David Jalbert. In summer 2017, she received a full scholarship to participate in PianoFest in the Hamptons, a prestigious 4-week program, where she studied with Paul Schenly, Pierre van der Westhuizen, and David Jalbert. In 2018, she had the opportunity to perform Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. She has also received scholarships to attend numerous summer music programs, including Orford Musique, Adamant Music School, and Tuckamore Music Festival.

Time

(Friday) 7:30 pm

Location

Matsqui Centennial Auditorium

32315 South Fraser Way

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