ConTempo Quartet – Of Woods and Water

ConTempo Quartet – Of Woods and Water

About the show

Haydn – String Quartet in B flat Op.1 No.1 La Chasse [c. 1757]
Judith Ring – Of Woods and Water [2022]
Dvořák – Cypresses (selection) [1887]
Janáček On an overgrown path (selection) [1900-1911] arr. for string quartet
Beethoven – String Quartet in E flat Op.74 The Harp [1809]

Formed in 1995 in Bucharest and based in Ireland since 2003 as Galway Music Residency’s Ensemble in Residence, the ConTempo Quartet is one of the most exciting and vibrant chamber ensembles performing today.

They present a programme of music spanning three centuries, from the elegance of Haydn’s very first string quartet to Judith Ring’s folk-infused Of Woods and Water, written in 2022 for the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival in Virginia, USA.

Dvořák’s Cypresses is a collection of love songs arranged for string quartet by the composer, and Janáček’s On an overgrown path is a series of piano pieces, also arranged for quartet, which contain distant reminiscences… so dear to me that I do not think they will ever vanish.

Beethoven wrote three of his best loved and most serene masterpieces in 1809, the Emperor piano concerto, the piano sonata Les Adieux and this magnificent quartet, all in the warm and radiant key of E flat major. The quartet is full of confidence, lyricism and dramatic contrasts, the work of our greatest composer at the height of his powers.

Bogdan Sofei, violin
Ingrid Nicola, violin
Andreea Banciu, viola
Adrian Mantu, cello

Please note, this is a reduced capacity event due to expected building works on an adjacent KCC building, Newbridge Library. Riverbank Arts Centre’s seating plan may be subject to change to accommodate these works. 

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