St. Lawrence String Quartet Comes To Segerstrom Center For The Arts

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents the St. Lawrence String Quartet on Tuesday, September 21 at 8:00 pm at Samueli Theatre in a program of works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. SLSQ are Geoff Nuttall, violin; Owen Dalby, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; Stephen Prutsman, piano; and Christopher Costanza, cello.

The SLSQ is renowned for the intensity of its performances, its breadth of repertoire, and its commitment to concert experiences that are at once intellectually exciting and emotionally alive. For this program -- Five Songs, Op. 38; Tomorrow, Op. 33; String Quartet #3 Op. 34; Mond, so gehst du wieder auf? Op. 14; and Piano Quintet Op. 15 - SLQ joins forces with Stephen Prutsman, the pianist, composer and conductor hailed as one of the most innovative musicians of his time, and soprano Monica Schober, who lends her incomparable voice to the vocal selections.

Established in Toronto in 1989, SLSQ quickly earned acclaim at top international chamber music competitions and was soon playing hundreds of concerts per year worldwide.

It established an ongoing residency at Spoleto Festival USA, made prize-winning recordings for EMI of music by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and Golijov, earning two GRAMMY nominations and a host of other prizes before being appointed ensemble-in-residence at Stanford University in 1998.

At Stanford, SLSQ is at the forefront of intellectual life on campus. It directs the music department's chamber music program, and frequently collaborates with other departments including the Schools of Law, Medicine, Business and Education. The Quartet frequently performs at Stanford Live, hosts an annual chamber music seminar attracting musicians from all over the world, and runs the Emerging String Quartet Program through which they mentor the next generation of young chamber musicians.

In recent years, the St. Lawrence has collaborated with Michael Tilson Thomas and the SF Symphony, Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic, and Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony in John Adams's Absolute Jest for string quartet and orchestra. Fiercely committed to collaboration with living composers, SLSQ's fruitful partnership with Adams, Golijov, Jonathan Berger, and many others has yielded some of the finest additions to contemporary quartet literature.

Geoff Nuttall (violin) and Lesley Robertson (viola) met as students while studying music in their native Canada and in 1989 founded the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Christopher Costanza (cello) joined the ensemble in 2003 after performing for many years with the Chicago String Quartet. Owen Dalby (violin) is a founding member of Decoda, the Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall. He joined the SLSQ in 2015.

The Quartet is dedicated to the music of Haydn, recording his groundbreaking set of six Op. 20 quartets for a free, universal release online as well as for purchase on compact disc and high quality vinyl. According to The New Yorker, "...no other North American quartet plays the music of Haydn with more intelligence, expressivity, and force..."

SLSQ also announces a new creation and a unique collaborative venture for the 2021-22 season: an octet for strings by the renowned composer Osvaldo Golijov. The new work offers presenters an opportunity to foster an unusual collaboration and connection between the St. Lawrence and four locally based "solo" string players (two violins, viola, cello), who may in fact be soloists, orchestral section leaders, or exceptionally talented conservatory or university students. In Golijov's own words, the work will "explore the dimensions opened by combining an organism with its own breathing and metabolism, like a string quartet, (especially one that is "mature" as SLSQ) together with four individual players that come to orbit, interact, and disrupt this organism."

Stephen Prutsman, piano, has been described as one of the most innovative musicians of his time. Moving easily from classical to jazz to world music styles as a pianist, composer and conductor, Prutsman continues to explore and seek common ground and relationships in the music of all cultures and languages.

Monica Schober, soprano, specializes in classic song recitals of the Viennese émigré composers who came to Hollywood in the first half of the 20th Century. In addition to her successes as a dramatic soprano in the Romantic German repertoire, she brings a contextual and historical perspective to her work as a translator and German language/vintage Viennese dialect coach. You can find out more at www.monicaschober.com. She looks forward to sharing her love for the art songs of the master Viennese/American film composer, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. This concert marks her debut at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Single tickets for St. Lawrence String Quartet at Segerstrom Center for the Arts 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. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236.

Audience Advisory: Our updated COVID-19 policy requires ticket holders to provide proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 to attend all indoor performances and events at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. "Fully vaccinated" means your performance is at least 14 days after your final vaccine dose. To enter the theatre, please bring proof of vaccination, either your physical vaccination card, a picture of your vaccination card, or a digital vaccination record. Most California residents may request a digital vaccination record at myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov

Those who are under age 12 and anyone without proof of being fully vaccinated must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours (3 days) prior to entering the theatre.

Masks are required at all times for all patrons and visitors regardless of vaccination status in all indoor spaces at Segerstrom Center.

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