Segerstrom Center Welcomes Back the St. Lawrence String Quartet Today

The St. Lawrence String Quartet returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts today, Friday, April 8 at 8 p.m. in Samueli Theater.

The centerpiece of the evening's performance will be the Southern California premiere of American composer John Adams' Second Quartet (2014). Of their collaborations with Adams, the Washington Post stated, "If good relationships are built on trust, the bond between the St. Lawrence String Quartet and composer John Adams is a marriage made in chamber music heaven." The quartet will also delve into the music of Haydn; known as the "father" of the string quartet repertoire, performing both his String Quartet in Eb-Major, Op. 33, No. 2 (Hob.III.38) "The Joke" and the masterful String Quartet in C major, Op. 76, No. 3 "Emperor." The St. Lawrence String Quartet includes Geoff Nuttall, violin; Owen Dalby, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola and Christopher Costanza, cello.

Tickets for the St. Lawrence String Quartet start at $29 and are now available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746. A free Preview Talk with musicologist and author Herbert Glass will take place at 7:15 p.m.

Established in 1989, the St. Lawrence String Quartet earned international recognition within a few years, winning both the Banff Quartet Competition and the Young Concert Artists audition in 1992. The group has since developed an undisputed reputation as a world class chamber ensemble. Called "witty, buoyant, and wickedly attentive (The Gazette, Montreal), with a "peerless" sense of ensemble (Financial Times, London), the quartet is celebrated for its "smoldering intensity" (Washington Post), and "flexibility, dramatic fire and... hint of rock 'n' roll energy" (LA Times). SLSQ performs internationally and has served as Ensemble in Residence at Stanford University since 1998.

The St. Lawrence continues to build its reputation for imaginative and spontaneous music-making through an energetic commitment to the great established quartet literature as well as championing new works by such composers as John Adams, Osvaldo Golijov, Ezequiel Vinao and Jonathan Berger.

In late summer 2015, the quartet toured Europe with the San Francisco Symphony, performing composer John Adams' "Absolute Jest" under the baton of conductor Michael Tilson Thomas for audiences in the U.K., Germany, Romania and Switzerland. The quartet also continue its long association with the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. This past fall they performed at Carnegie Hall.

The quartet's residency at Stanford includes working with music students as well as extensive collaborations with other faculty and departments using music to explore myriad topics. Recent collaborations have involved the School of Medicine, School of Education and the Law School. In addition to their appointment at Stanford, the SLSQ are visiting artists at the University of Toronto. The foursome's passion for opening up musical arenas to players and listeners alike is evident in their annual summer chamber music seminar at Stanford and their many forays into the depths of musical meaning with preeminent music educator Robert Kapilow.

Lesley Robertson and Geoff Nuttall are founding members of the group, and hail from Edmonton, Alberta, and London, Ontario, respectively. Christopher Costanza is from Utica, NY, and joined the group in 2003. Owen Dalby, from the San Francisco Bay area, joined in 2015. All four members of the quartet live and teach at Stanford University in California.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an acclaimed arts institution as well as a beautiful multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and to engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization. In addition to its six performance venues, Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School, where students ages 3 - 14 are taught by acclaimed teachers utilizing the renowned ABT National Training Curriculum in studios utilized by the world's greatest dancers and choreographers.

The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family-friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events.

The Center's education programs are designed to inspire young people through the arts and reach hundreds of thousands of students each year. In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

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