Saturday, September 26, 2020 (rain date Sunday, September 27, 2020) at 2 pm
Location: 169 Belden Hill Road, Wilton CT 06897

Program

Haydn: Quartet in G Major, Op. 77, No. 1
Bartók: Quartet No. 6
Dvořák: Quartet in C Major, Op. 61

Omer Quartet is quickly gaining a reputation for both “fearless renderings” (The New York Times) of the standard quartet repertoire and compelling performances of works by today’s composers. It burst onto the scene with top prizes at Borciani, Trondheim, and Bordeaux in Europe all in one year, having already captured the Fischoff National Competition Grand Prize. The quartet was awarded First Prize in the 2017 YCA International Auditions and debuted at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall.
Frequent collaborations have made Omer Quartet one of the most versatile quartets in the industry, sharing the stage with David Krakauer, Kim Kashkashian, Ricardo Morales, Clive Greensmith, and YCA accordionist Hanzhi Wang, among others. The quartet relishes programming works written by living composers, including those written by Caroline Shaw, Gabriella Smith, and YCA composer Chris Rogerson.

Its ongoing commitment to community engagement includes the inauguration of a Music for Food concert series from 2017-2019 in the metro-DC/Maryland area to support local hunger relief. Their combined efforts in Maryland created over 10,000 meals and involved collaborations with violist and founder of Music for Food, Kim Kashkashian, cellist Paul Katz, and other University of Maryland faculty. Previous grant projects include a Boston Foundation award to sponsor performances in venues such as homeless shelters and drug rehabilitation centers in areas of Boston.

After completing a graduate residency at the New England Conservatory, and in the final stretches of a doctoral degree from the University of Maryland, Omer Quartet currently serves as Visiting Fellows at Yale School of Music.

The word Omer is a period of seven weeks in the Jewish calendar between Passover and Shavuot during which prayers centered around self-reflection, improvement of personality, and inner growth invite the possibility of affecting external results and potential. The Omer Quartet’s members hope to bring the spirit of this quest for self-development to everything they do, from music-making to connecting with their audiences.