THE HUDSON VALLEY CHAMBER MUSIC CIRCLE SERIES CONCLUDES WITH A CONCERT BY THE ORION STRING QUARTET WITH GUEST ARTIST PIANIST BLANCA URIBE

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The fiftieth anniversary season of the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) summer concert series concludes with a performance that features the Orion String Quartet with guest artist pianist Blanca Uribe on Saturday, June 24, at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall, Bard College. A preconcert talk by Uribe and the members of the Quartet begins promptly at 7:00 p.m.

The program includes Mozart's Quartet in E-flat Major for piano and strings; Beethoven's String Quartet in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2; and Wynton Marsalis's first classical composition for strings "At the Octoroon Balls: String Quartet No. 1." This piece was written for the Orion String Quartet and commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1995.

The Orion String Quartet's "…playing and interpretation was consistently beguiling and technically impeccable," writes the Los Angeles Times. "The four extremely virtuosic and accomplished players of the Orion Quartet seem to have been born together." This is the tenth year that they are the quartet-in-residence of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Orion's members are violinists Daniel and Todd Phillips (brothers who share the first violin chair equally), violist Steven Tenenbom, and cellist Timothy Eddy.

The Quartet decided to take its name from the constellation Orion as a metaphor for the unique personality each musician brings to the group in its collective pursuit of the highest musical ideals. Since its inception in 1987, the Orion has been consistently praised for the fresh perspective and individuality the quartet brings to the performances of a broad range of repertoire. A proponent of new music, the ensemble offers diverse programs that juxtapose the standard quartet literature with works by living composers. The members of Orion also maintain a strong dedication to the next generation of musical artists. They are on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music and numerous other music institutions. They have also been frequent faculty members of the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall.

Pianist Blanca Uribe was born in Bogotá, Colombia, into a family of many generations of professional musicians. With an extensive repertoire ranging from Scarlatti to contemporary works, Uribe is particularly noted for her interpretations of all thirty-two Beethoven sonatas and the complete Iberia Suite of Isaac Albéniz. She has received many honors, including the General Francisco de Paula Santander Medal, awarded for outstanding contribution to Colombian culture, and the Order of Saint Charles, which she received in 1986 from the president of Colombia. She was also the recipient of the first Dutchess County Artist Award. Uribe holds the George Sherman Dickinson Professorship of Music at Vassar College.

The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle was founded in 1950 when Helen Huntington Hull and two friends from Staatsburg, New York, enlisted the help of violinist Emil Hauser, a member of the Bard College faculty and original first violinist of the Budapest Quartet, to bring artists to perform concerts in the Mills Mansion in Staatsburg. In 1979, the concert series began its association with Bard College. The HVCMC remains an association of chamber music lovers and is a venue that attracts many of the world's preeminent chamber music artists.

Individual concert tickets are $20; senior citizens $15; and students $5. For further information, call 914-338-1172.

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This event was last updated on 03-02-2001

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