The Los Angeles Piano Quartet to Perform Thursday, Sept. 30, 8 P.M., In Finney Chapel Concert is Free and Open to the Public Story by Linda Shockley
	THE PROGRAM: Piano Quartet in D Major, Op. 23 Dvorak • Allegro moderato • Andantino • Finale: Allegretto scherzando The King of the Sun (1988) Stephen Hartke • Personages In The Night Guided By The Phosphorescent Tracks of Snails: Stealthily • Dutch Interiors: Fantasmagorical • Dancer Listening To The Organ In A Gothic Cathedral: Granitic • Interlude • The Flames Of The Sun Make A Desert Flower Hysterical: Fiery • Personages And Birds Rejoicing At The Arrival of Night: Quietly energetic, with an air of innocence INTERMISSION Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25 Brahms • Allegro • Intermezzo: Allegro ma non troppo • Andante con moto • Rondo alla Zingarese: Presto		The Los Angeles Piano Quartet features performers Ayako Yoshida (violin), Katherine Murdock (viola), Peter Rejto, Oberlin Conservatory professor of cello (cello), and Xak Bjerken (piano). The September 30th performance by The Los Angelo Piano Quartet will showcase work by Dvorak, Stephen Hartke and Brahms, and preview the quartet's upcoming performance at Cornell University. The program will offer two large romantic classical works and a contemporary work commissioned for the quartet. The concert, slated for Thursday, September 30, 8 p.m. in Finney Chapel, is free and open to the public. Peter Rejto, professor of cello, and cellist with the group describes the program this way: "The Brahms piece, the Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25, is one of the most popular chamber music pieces ever written. Most everyone will recognize the famous Hungarian Gypsy Rondo." Rejto adds, "Dvorak's piece, the Piano Quartet in D Major, Op. 23, is a lesser played work but one that is rustic and youthful. It offers lots of native Czech melodies. It's a lovely, refreshing piece. And Stephen Hartke's The King of the Sun (1988) is whimsical, clever and very playful. It's quite enjoyable to perform but I should also add, it's a difficult piece to perform." Titles in Hartke's piece, including Personages In The Night Guided By The Phosphorescent Tracks of Snails, Dancer Listening To The Organ In A Gothic Cathedral, The Flames Of The Sun Make A Desert Flower Hysterical, and Personage And Birds Rejoicing At The Arrival of Night, are all taken from the titles of paintings by Joan Miró. The King of the Sun was commissioned for, and premiered by (at Dartmouth College, 1988) the Los Angeles Piano Quartet with funds provided by Chamber Music America. The quartet has been an active force in the creation of new works for piano quartet, commissioning works from Hartke and Gerald Schurmann, among others. The quartet has been supported in this work by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America. The Los Angeles Piano Quartet features performers Ayako Yoshida (violin), Katherine Murdock (viola), Peter Rejto, Oberlin Conservatory professor of cello (cello), and Xak Bjerken (piano). The group made its debut at The Music Center in Los Angeles in 1977, and soon earned recognition as America's premier piano quartet. The ensemble is much sought-after by major chamber music presenters, and have been hailed by the national press. They are popular guests on Minnesota Public Readio's "St. Paul Sunday" and New York's "Live from WNCN." The group has been featured at the Bermuda and Tucson festivals and at the Eugene and Carmel Bach festivals. International engagements have included the Cheltenham Festival in England, European tours, three appearances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and concerts at the Hamburg Musikhalle and Santa Cecilia in Rome. Their recordings include Dvorak and Schumann on the MusicMasters label and the two Fauré piano quartets on Pickwick.
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