Sonic Spectrum IV
Thu, Apr 17, 2025, 7:30 pm
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose Studio at CMS
90 minutes, no intermission
Program
Pierre Jalbert
(b. 1967)New Work for Clarinet and String Quartet
(2024)Sebastian Currier
(b. 1959)New Work for Harp and String Quartet
(2024)Andy Akiho
(b. 1979)Selections from LIgNEouS for Marimba and String Quartet
(2016)Samuel Carl Adams
(b. 1985)Sundial for String Quartet and Percussion
(2021)
Bridget Kibbey
Romie de Guise-Langlois
Ian David Rosenbaum
Dover Quartet
Called the “Yo-Yo Ma of the harp,” by Vogue’s Senior Editor Corey Seymour, Bridget Kibbey is in demand for innovative, virtuosic programming that celebrates the expressive range of the instrument. She is the 2022–23 Artist in Residence at the Schubert Club, an alum of The Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two), an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, and a winner of the Premiere Prix at the Journées de les Harpes Competition in Arles, France, among others. Kibbey tours projects and programs of her own conception, including her own adaptations of J. S. Bach’s keyboard concertos alongside the Dover Quartet, as well as duo collaborations with mandolinist Avi Avital and violinist Alexi Kenney. This season she launches an all-French program with the Calidore String Quartet and tours her newest project, Persia to Iberia, showcasing the sounds of the Islamic Golden Era through 19th-century Spain alongside Persian vocalist Mahsa Vahdat and percussionist John Hadfield. She also creates projects with Latin Grammy–winning musicians that explore cultural narratives driving songs and dances from South America, and has toured and recorded with luminaries Placido Domingo, Dawn Upshaw, and Gustavo Santaolalla for Sony Records and Deutsche Grammophon. Kibbey made her NPR Tiny Desk Solo Debut in 2021. Her debut album, Love is Come Again, was named a Top Ten Release by Time Out New York. She appears frequently as soloist and chamber musician at festivals and series—and with orchestras as concerto soloist—across the globe.
Praised as “extraordinary” and “a formidable clarinetist” by the New York Times, Romie de Guise-Langlois has appeared as soloist and chamber musician on major concert stages internationally. She has performed as soloist with the Houston Symphony, Ensemble Connect, the Burlington Chamber Orchestra, and the Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra, as well as at Festival Mozaic, Music@Menlo, and the Banff Center for the Arts. She was awarded first prize in the Houston Symphony Ima Hogg competition, the Yale University Woolsey Hall Competition, the McGill University Classical Concerto Competition, and the Canadian Music Competition. She has performed as principal clarinetist for the Orpheus and Saint Paul chamber orchestras, NOVUS NY, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New Haven and Stamford symphony orchestras, and The Knights Chamber Orchestra. She is an alum of Astral Artists, Ensemble Connect, and CMS's Bowers Program, and has appeared at series such as the Boston and Philadelphia chamber music societies, Musicians from Marlboro, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Chamber Music Northwest, among others. A native of Montreal, Ms. de Guise-Langlois earned her bachelor’s degree from McGill University and her master’s degree from Yale School of Music. She is currently assistant professor of clarinet at UMass Amherst.
Praised for his “spectacular performances” (Wall Street Journal), and his “unfailing virtuosity” (Chicago Tribune), Grammy-nominated percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum has developed a musical breadth far beyond his years. As a passionate advocate for contemporary music, he has premiered over 100 new chamber and solo works. He has collaborated with and championed the music of established and emerging composers alike. He was nominated for three Grammy awards in 2021 for his performances on albums of music by Andy Akiho and Christopher Cerrone, including two nominations for Seven Pillars, an album by Sandbox Percussion released on Aki Rhythm Productions, a record label he co-founded with Akiho in 2021. In 2012 he joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (formerly CMS Two) as only the second percussionist selected in its history, and has performed regularly with CMS since then. He is a founding member of Sandbox Percussion, the Percussion Collective, and the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has recorded for the Bridge, Innova, Naxos, and Starkland labels and is on faculty at the Mannes School of Music and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Rosenbaum performs with Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth mallets, and Remo drumheads.
Named one of the greatest string quartets of the last 100 years by BBC Music Magazine, the two-time Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet is one of the world’s most in-demand chamber ensembles. The Dover Quartet is the Penelope P. Watkins Ensemble in Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music and holds additional residencies at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University and the Walton Arts Center’s Artosphere festival. The group’s awards include a stunning sweep of all prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand and first prizes at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Its honors include the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center’s Hunt Family Award.
The Dover Quartet’s 2023–24 season includes a North American tour with Leif Ove Andsnes, performances with Haochen Zhang and David Shifrin, and a tour to Europe and Israel. A sought-after ensemble, recent collaborators include Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnaton, Ray Chen, the Escher String Quartet, Bridget Kibbey, Anthony McGill, Edgar Meyer, the Pavel Haas Quartet, Roomful of Teeth, and Davóne Tines. In 2022, the quartet premiered Steven Mackey’s theatrical-musical work Memoir, alongside arx duo and actor-narrator Natalie Christa. They also recently premiered works by Mason Bates, Marc Neikrug, and Chris Rogerson.
The Dover Quartet’s highly acclaimed three-volume recording, Beethoven Complete String Quartets (Cedille Records), was hailed as “meticulously balanced, technically clean-as-a-whistle and intonationally immaculate” (The Strad). The quartet’s discography also includes Encores (Brooklyn Classical), a recording of 10 popular movements from the string quartet repertoire; The Schumann Quartets (Azica Records), which was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance; Voices of Defiance: 1943, 1944, 1945 (Cedille Records); and an all-Mozart debut recording (Cedille Records), featuring the late Michael Tree — long-time violist of the Guarneri Quartet. Voices of Defiance, which explores works written during World War II by Viktor Ullman, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Simon Laks, was lauded as “undoubtedly one of the most compelling discs released this year” (The Wall Street Journal).
The Dover Quartet draws from the lineage of the distinguished Guarneri, Cleveland, and Vermeer quartets. Its members studied at the Curtis Institute of Music, Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the New England Conservatory, and the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. They were mentored extensively by Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, Kenneth Goldsmith, Joseph Silverstein, Arnold Steinhardt, Michael Tree, and Peter Wiley. The Dover Quartet was formed at Curtis in 2008; its name pays tribute to Dover Beach by fellow Curtis alumnus Samuel Barber.
The Dover Quartet’s faculty residency at Curtis integrates teaching and mentorship, a robust international performance career, and a cutting-edge digital presence. The innovative residency allows Curtis to reinvigorate its tradition of maintaining a top-quality professional string quartet on its faculty, while providing resources for the ensemble to experiment with new technologies and engage audiences digitally. Working closely with students in the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet Program, the Dover Quartet coaches and mentors the most promising young string quartets to nurture a new generation of leading professional chamber ensembles.