Indianapolis Quartet To Give New York Debut At Weill Recital Hall in March

The Indianapolis Quartet-violinists Zachary DePue and Joana Genova, violist Michael Isaac Strauss, and cellist Austin Huntington-will perform at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York City on Thursday, March 5, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.

Established in 2016 in Indianapolis, the quartet is in residence at the University of Indianapolis, with support from the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation. The member's palpable rapport and interpretive skill bring about performances of a unique emotional style that has earned the group critical praise and audience affection.

The March 5th program at Weill Recital Hall will be a showcase of stellar music-making from a quartet that has committed artistic capital to the city that brought them together. The quartet's technically assured, interpretively compelling, and emotionally connected performances across a broadening repertoire have provided them a solid foundation as they now expand their scope beyond Indianapolis.

Frank Felice's Five Whimsies for Non-Grownups (2010) opens the concert. The Butler University composition faculty member's offering is a set of five movements in the tradition of a capriccio and is based on five children's books. The quartet recently recorded this piece for release on CD in 2020.

Schumann's opus 44 piano quintet will follow; a collaboration with rising star pianist Drew Petersen. The ensemble's outing in this work last spring received high praise: "Petersen and the quartet displayed a fine balance of forces from the start...notable for flexibility of tempo and a unanimity of 'paragraphing'-a sense of the movement's units of significance and subtle changes of direction" as well as their "variety of dynamics and astute accentuation." (Jay Harvey Upstage)

After intermission, the quartet will give the world premiere of Robert Paterson's String Quartet No. 3, a work they have commissioned for this occasion. During the last two seasons, the quartet has performed the first two quartets by the New York-based, Grammy-nominated composer. Paterson has a catalogue of more than 100 works and has earned awards and accolades from ASCAP, League of American Orchestras, New Music USA, and the Copland House, among many others. The quartet is slated to record all of Paterson's string quartets in May 2020 for release on the American Modern Recordings label.

The landmark Debussy quartet, a work that has become deeply embedded in the ensemble's repertoire, will close the concert.

Tickets for this concert range from $38 to $45 and are available online at CarnegieHall.org; by phone at 212-247-7800; or at the box office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue.

The Indianapolis Quartet, now in its fourth season, made its Chicago debut in March 2018. In the last year, they have broadcast live performances on Vermont Public Radio, WBAA Classical 101.3 FM in West Lafayette, Indiana, and on WISH-TV in Indianapolis. Recent concert engagements include appearances at Vermont's Taconic Festival, Vermont Public Radio, Cincinnati's St. Francis@4 series,

Indiana Landmarks Center, and the Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society in Lafayette, Indiana. They have also appeared in concert and in residencies at Butler University, Illinois Wesleyan University, Arizona State University, and at Indiana State University, where they were the featured ensemble for the 53nd annual Contemporary Music Festival.

Regular collaborations with premier chamber music artists and composers, including pianists Orli Shaham and Soyeon Kate Lee, cellists Mark Kosower and Nicholas Canellakis, clarinetist Todd Palmer, and composers Robert Paterson and Frank Felice have afforded the quartet a reach into new audiences and a creative expansion of its repertoire. Two recordings featuring the works of Paterson and Felice will be released in the next year.

Known for his virtuosic, high-energy performances, Indianapolis Quartet first violinist Zachary DePue formerly served as concertmaster of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO). Known among both classical and crossover music fans, he became one of the youngest concertmasters in the country when he was appointed to the ISO in 2007. DePue is a founding member of Time for Three, with which he performed for 12 years. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo.

Joana Genova, second violinist, serves as assistant professor of violin and director of chamber music initiatives at the University of Indianapolis. She is also co-founder and artistic director of Taconic Music in Manchester, Vermont and is a frequent guest at festivals and concert series across the U.S. Prior to her posts in the United States, Genova was concertmaster of the Amsterdam Bach Consort and a member of Amsterdam Sinfonietta. Genova earned a bachelor's degree at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and master's degree in chamber music at the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands.

Violist Michael Isaac Strauss has performed around the world appearing on concert series, live-radio broadcasts, and festivals across Europe, North America, and Asia. A former member of the Fine Arts Quartet, Strauss made several European and domestic tours with the quartet and Shlomo Mintz, as well as a critically acclaimed SACD recording of Mozart's complete viola quintets. As soloist, he released recordings of Jennifer Higdon's Viola Sonata (world premiere), David Finko's Viola Concerto (Centaur), and Stamitz's works for solo viola with orchestra (Centaur). His chamber music recordings include the Philadelphia-based Orchestra 2001 series of music by living composers and the Oberlin Music label release Wordless Verses-trio works inspired by poetry for oboe, viola, and piano. Strauss was principal violist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for 20 years and has served on the faculty of several prominent schools including Oberlin Conservatory, and Indiana University. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Cellist Austin Huntington made his solo orchestral debut at the age of 10, and at age 20 he was appointed principal cellist of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, currently making him one of the youngest principal musicians in a major American orchestra. Huntington is the recipient of numerous awards on both the national and international levels. He placed first in the 2012 Irving M. Klein International Strings Competition and the 2009 MTNA National Sting Competition. He has collaborated with artists including Itzhak Perlman, Edgar Meyer, Robert deMaine, Cynthia Phelps, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Augustin Hadelich.

Acclaimed young American pianist Drew Petersen has been praised for his commanding and poetic performances of repertoire ranging from Bach to Zaimont. He is the recipient of the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant, 2017 American Pianists Award, and the Christel DeHaan Fellow of the American Pianists Association, as well as a residency at the University of Indianapolis.

He has appeared as soloist with the Houston, Phoenix, Tucson, Pacific, and Milwaukee symphony orchestras, and has given solo recitals at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, University of Indianapolis, and Dame Myra Hess Concerts in Chicago. Most recent performances include concerts at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and Brevard Music Center's Summer Festival, orchestral performances with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and a recital at Chicago's Ravinia Festival. He has also now released his first solo recording-a showcase of American piano works on the Steinway & Sons label-for which BBC Music Magazine acknowledged Petersen's "really stunning, full-bodied sound" and "superb technique and measured voicing." The 2019-2020 season includes appearances with orchestras in Sarasota, Fort Smith, Buffalo, Waco, and Columbus, as well as recitals in Madison, Duluth, Savannah, including his Kennedy Center debut.