Shriver Hall Concert Series Hosts Escher String Quartet & Violist Jordan Bak

 Shriver Hall Concert Series will continue its 2024-25 and 59th concert season with the Escher String Quartet and violist Jordan Bak, both making their Shriver Hall Concert Series mainstage debuts, on Sunday, October 27, 2024 at 5:30pm. They will perform works by Mozart (String Quartet in D major, K. 575), Dvořák (String Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 97, “American”), and Brahms (String Quintet in G major, Op. 111).

"The Escher Quartet could not be more thrilled to be making our Shriver Hall debut with this incredible program of all-time classics with our dear friend, Jordan Bak!” the Escher String Quartet shares. “The Mozart is craft perfected and balances beautifully with the joyous and heartwarming Dvořák Quintet. We close with Brahms’s masterful G-major string quintet—one of the most rich and life-affirming pieces we have in the chamber music repertoire.”

The Escher String Quartet, known for their profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty, are former BBC New Generation Artists and recipients of the Avery Fisher Career Grant. The Quartet got their start in New York and serves as season artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. They last performed with SHCS on its Discovery Series in 2011.

"I am so thrilled to be returning to Shriver Hall Concert Series this October after making my recital debut here just two years ago,” remarks Jordan Bak. “I am eagerly looking forward to joining my good friends of the Escher Quartet for both the Dvořák and Brahms viola quintets, two of the most celebrated masterpieces for this instrumentation. Both the Dvořák Op. 97 and the Brahms Op. 111 offer considerable depth, richness, and warmth, especially with two violas in the mixture. And, what is especially moving is that at one point, Brahms declared that his Quintet would be the last piece he would ever write! I can't wait to share both of these incredible works with Shriver Hall's enthusiastic audience in Baltimore.”

Jordan Bak, an award-winning Jamaican-American violist, is known as a trailblazing artist internationally and is praised for his radiant stage presence, dynamic interpretations, and fearless power. I Care If You Listen described him as “an exciting new voice in Classical performance” and Gramophone recognized him for his “haunting lyrical grace”. Bak recently released his second solo album earlier this year, Cantabile: Anthems for Viola on Delphian Records. He last appeared with SHCS on its Discovery Series in 2022.

Shriver Hall Concert Series kicks off its 2024-25 season at Shriver Hall with acclaimed pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason in her solo Baltimore Recital Debut on Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 5:30pm. As a Decca Classics recording artist, Isata recently released her fourth solo album, Mendelssohn, on August 9, 2024, presenting music from two Mendelssohn siblings, including the First Piano Concerto by Felix and the long-lost ‘Easter Sonata’ by his elder sister Fanny. She recently performed during the opening night of the 2024 BBC Proms, London's 8-week classical music festival. In 2021, she was awarded the Leonard Bernstein Award, an internationally coveted prize for young musicians, and is also an Opus Klassik award recipient.

Following Escher String Quartet and Jordan Bak’s performance is the opening of Shriver Hall Concert Series’ 2024-25 free Discovery Series with guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre onSaturday, November 16, 2024 at 3pm at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Hailed as “A tremendously versatile and sensitive player” by Classical Guitar, Feuillâtre has made international waves as a competition winner and Deutsche Grammophon recording artist. In his Baltimore debut, Feuillâtre shares his passion for Baroque music with works by J.S. Bach and his French contemporaries, and shines in exuberant selections by South American composers spanning the centuries.

The next mainstage concert after Escher String Quartet and Jordan Bak take to the Shriver Hall stage features Baroque band ACRONYM on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at 5:30pm. The “outstanding young early-music string ensemble” (The New Yorker), presents a feast of musical delights in the band’s Baltimore debut. ACRONYM’s 11 members perform on strings, violas da gamba, theorbo, and keyboards, bringing “gutsy, fresh explorations” (Early Music America) to these rare treasures.

Shriver Hall Concert Series’ season is made possible through generous support from the Maryland State Arts Council, Baltimore County Commission for Arts & Sciences, and Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

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