Utah Composers to Reveal New Works with Skyros & Battery String Quartets at Deer Valley Music Fest

Each summer the Muir String Quartet collaborates with Joan Tower to offer two emerging, semi-professional string quartets and two promising composers an opportunity for extended professional development during the Deer Valley Music Festival. Because of the high quality of these performances the past ten years, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera will include the final performance of the three-week Emerging Quartets and Composers Program in its mainstream lineup of Deer Valley Music Festival Chamber Ensemble Series this summer.

This concert will feature the Skyros and The Battery String Quartets performing world premieres of string quartets by local composers. Haruhito Miyagi's "Three Prominent Peaks for String Quartet" will be performed by The Battery String Quartet, and Devin Maxwell's "Bouquet Canyon, CA" will be presented by the Skyros String Quartet.

The performance, which also includes standard works from the string quartet repertoire, will take place at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Park City on Thursday, August 1, 2013 at 8 p.m.

In this concert the Skyros and Battery String Quartets will perform world premiere string quartets by local composers Haruhito Miyagi and Devin Maxwell. In addition to playing Miyagi's "Three Prominent Peaks for String Quartet"­-a piece named in reference to three prominent mountains in Utah: Olympus, Timpanogos and Nebo-The Battery String Quartet will also perform Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 9 in E-flat Major, op. 117. The Skyros String Quartet will also perform String Quartet No.1 in F Major, op. 18 by Ludwig Von Beethoven before its performance of Devin Maxwell's "Bouquet Canyon, CA."

With "sheer beauty of sound" The Battery String Quartet has borne a new energy in the world of chamber music. Members Breana Bauman, Joanna Grosshans, Arturo Ziraldo and Allegra Montanari were drawn together by the simple desire to invigorate audiences with some of the greatest music ever written. Formed in Chicago in 2012, The Battery Quartet is already in demand as a musical force. Their mission is simple: perform quality works with the exuberance and creativity of youth and the wisdom and whimsy of generations past. With an emphasis on engaging, varied and accessible programming, the quartet strives to make every concert a spirited and moving event. According to one audience member, it was "a feast for the ears. What a gift."

The Skyros String Quartet-praised by the Topeka Capital-Journal as "rising young stars" and "stellar"-brings a bright and inventive style to the concert hall. Currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the members of Skyros are pursuing doctorates in chamber music performance, studying with the Chiara Quartet. Skyros received Masters in chamber music performance from the University of Texas at Austin, mentored by the Miró Quartet and Sandy Yamamoto. The Skyros Quartet has concertized extensively in the Austin and Lincoln areas, as well as internationally. Highlights of Skyros's 2012-2013 season include tours of the Pacific Northwest and China. Skyros Quartet members are currently Graduate Teaching Assistants at University of Nebraska-Lincoln in theory, chamber music, and outreach. The Skyros Quartet leads community engagement programs, inspiring audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds.

Devin Maxwell is a composer and percussionist whose vibrant work explores the complicated relationship between musical material and formal structures. His music has been featured at The Stone (New York), Abron's Art Center (New York), Dartmouth College (New Hampshire), the Ontological Theater (New York), BLIM (Vancouver), ARTSaha (Omaha), the Wulf (Los Angeles), Columbia University (New York), Kenyon College (Ohio), and presented and performed at other venues around the world. He has received commissions from nationally- renowned organizations as well as international institutions such as Ensemble Dedalus (Paris), and "mmm..." ensemble (Tokyo). Maxwell received a Bachelor of Music from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and received a Master of Fine Arts as a performer/composer from California Institute of the Arts. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in composition at the University of Utah, studying with Dr. Morris Rosenzweig and Dr. Steven Roens while playing percussion in the new opera No Hotel by Object Collection (New York).

Haruhito Miyagi, of Salt Lake City, Utah, is a Japanese-American composer and organist with a diverse musical and cultural background. He received a B.M. from Brigham Young University and M.M. from the University of Notre Dame in organ performance. Miyagi began composing at a very young age and has studied with David Sargent, Paul Johnson, László Martos, Miguel Chuaqui, Steve Roens, and Morris Rosenzweig. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Utah School of Music in music composition. As an organist, Miyagi has performed extensively throughout Germany, Hungary, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Miyagi has served as Director of Music Ministry at First Christian Church of South Bend, Assistant Organist at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and is currently the assistant organist at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. In 2010, Miyagi was selected as the first non-Hungarian composer to be published with the exclusive Kontrapunkt Music publishing house. Miyagi has had works commissioned by Musica Nostra Kórus of Budapest and the Von Trapp Children, among other ensembles.

Tickets for the August 1 concert can be purchased by calling 801-355-2787, in person at any ArtTix outlet or online at www.deervalleymusicfestival.org. Group Rates are available for groups of ten or more by calling 801-869-9046. A discounted Design-A-Series subscription package (four or more concerts) is available by calling 801-533-6683 or visiting www.deervalleymusicfestival.org/das.

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