This preview has been provided by NCSU Arts NOW Series.
On February 16, 2017, The Arts NOW Series, Arts NC State, Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the NC State Music Department present The Aizuri Quartet. A top prizewinner in the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London, the Aizuri Quartet, brings its engaging and exciting performance abilities to NC State.
The Quartet, hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “in full possession of that most elusive of string quartet qualities: the balance between charisma of the individual and cohesion of the collective”, will help us welcome Dr. Peter Askim to North Carolina State University.
Bassist, composer, and conductor, Prof. Askim is a recent addition to the NC State Music Department faculty. Dr. Askim is the conductor of the Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as Director of Orchestral Activities at North Carolina State University. Previously the Music Director of the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra, he has also been a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and served on the faculty of the University of Hawaii. A dedicated champion of the music of our time, he has premiered numerous works. As a composer, he has been called a “Modern Master” by The Strad and has had commissions and performances from such groups as the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, the International Society of Bassists, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and the Portland Chamber Music Festival.
Praised by the Washington Post for “captivating” performances that draw from its notable “meld of intellect, technique and emotions,” the Aizuri Quartet, will perform works for string quartet, as well as solos and duos. Through its engaging and thought-provoking programs, the Quartet has garnered critical acclaim for bringing “a technical bravado and emotional power” to bold new commissions, and for its “flawless” (San Diego Union-Tribune) performances of the great masterpieces of the past in which “every note is lovingly crafted and savored” (Washington Post).
The program will include the world premiere of Askim’s String Quartet, as well as performances of his Inner Voices for viola alone, and Tangled Nocturnes for violin and viola, as well as other works.
Currently based in New York City, the Aizuri Quartet was the 2015-2016 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. From 2014-2016, the Aizuri Quartet was the String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
