THE GUARNERI STRING QUARTET
- Ames Town and Gown presents THE GUARNERI STRING QUARTET
- Saturday evening, October 7, 2000, at 7:30 p.m.
- Ames City Auditorium, 6th and Clark
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall, the Ames Town and Gown Chamber Music Association opens this season with a concert by the Guarneri String Quartet at City Auditorium.
Virtually a household name, the Guarneri Quartet needs no introduction to music lovers. The ensemble has circled the globe countless times, playing in the world's most prestigious halls on five continents. Their discography is immense, and their recordings are the standards to which one often compares other performances. Their program in Ames will include the Quartet in B-flat major op. 67 of Brahms, Bartok's Quartet No. 3, and Ravel's Quartet in F major.
The Guarneri Quartet has been featured on many television and radio specials, documentaries, and educational presentations both in North America and abroad. They have been interviewed by Charles Kuralt on CBS' television program "Sunday Morning." A full-length film entitled "High Fidelity -- The Guarneri String Quartet" was released nationally, to great critical and public acclaim, in the fall of 1989. Recently Arnold Steinhardt played himself in the film Music of the Heart, starring Meryl Streep. The quartet is also the subject of various books including Quartet by Helen Drees Ruttencutter and The Art of Quartet Playing: the Guarneri in Conversation with David Blum.
The Guarneri String Quartet currently records for the Philips and Arabesque labels. Several of its recordings on both RCA Red Seal and Philips have won international awards, including its recent recording of Juan Crisostomo de Arriaga's String Quartets nos. 1-3, which won the 1996 Deutsche Schallplattenkritik Award in Germany. Among its other award-winning recordings are collaborations with such artists as Artur Rubinstein, Pinchas Zukerman; and Boris Kroyt and Mischa Schneider of the Budapest Quartet.
The Quartet is in residence and serves on the faculty of the University of Maryland. The members were awarded Honorary Doctorate degrees by the University of South Florida (1976) and the State University of New York (1983). In 1982 Mayor Koch presented the Quartet with the first New York Seal of Recognition. Moreover, in 1992 the Guarneri String Quartet became the only quartet to receive the prestigious Award of Merit from the Assocation of Performing Arts Presenters in New York City.
Founded in 1964, the Guarneri Quartet continues with founding members violinist Arnold Steinhardt, violinist John Dalley, and violist Michael Tree. The Quartet has just made its first personnel change, as cellist David Soyer has stepped down and has been replaced by his former student, Peter Wiley. Mr. Wiley, formerly a member of the Beaux Arts Trio, recently performed for Town and Gown as a member of Opus One.
The 2000-2001 season of Ames Town & Gown was presented with support from the Ames Commission on the Arts.
