Charles Amirkhanian Reaches Cerebrally Across The Continent To Promote, In D.C., The Young Del Sol String Quartet And A Living Classical Music Culture

Posted to Charles T. Downey's ionarts, Washington, D.C.'s leading critical Website on the classical performing (and visual) arts:

Hi D.C. Friends,

I have produced several concerts with the Del Sol [String Quartet] and timed my annual visit to your city to meet with NEA and LOC staff around this concert. It was, for me, the highlight of the concert year so far and one of the best string quartet concerts I've ever attended.

Del Sol indeed is one of the most exciting of the younger chamber ensembles going in the U.S. Their programming follows nobody else's formula but regularly delivers amazing combinations and revelations. And their extraordinary playing and dedication was evident to the 3/4ths house that attended, with apparently no publicity in the local press. Hearing this music on Strads was exceptionally rewarding and the hall, as you know, is acoustically one of the best in the U.S. for this type of ensemble.

The highlight for me was the incredibly artful presentation of Peter Sculthorpe's Quartet No. 16 in five movements, four with didjeridu in this version made especially for Del Sol by the composer. It was premiered last March at the Other Minds Festival that I produce in San Francisco annually. Stephen Kent is, in every sense, a match for the best string quartet players anywhere....

The works of Gabriela Frank and Kui Dong, two extraordinarily talented women, were transcendent. Chinary Ung's new work, commissioned by the LOC, was a triumph of the imagination--he called on the players to sing and whistle precisely notated pitches and rhythms while they played something completely different on their instruments. And the result I found electrifying.

I commend the producer of the series for bringing something a bit more West Coast than the usual fare to this hallowed venue ... .

Warm regards,
Charles Amirkhanian
Artistic Director
Other Minds, San Francisco

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Ignored by the Washington Post and ionarts?

The Del Sol String Quartet, a leading force advancing the classical music tradition

Winner, First Prize for Adventurous Programming (Mixed Repertory), January 2006, Chamber Music America/ASCAP

Photo credit: (c) Jim Block. 2007. All rights reserved. Via the Del Sol Website. With thanks.

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Not a substitute for the San Francisco-based Del Sol String Quartet, but New York City-based Alarm Will Sound performs, for free, tonight, October 30, at the Library of Congress:

Conlon Nancarrow, Player Piano Study No. 2A arr. Gavin Chuck
György Ligeti, Chamber Concerto third movement
Josquin des Prez, Agnus Dei II from Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales arr. Payton MacDonald
Aphex Twin, Gwely Mernans arr. Ken Thomson
The Shaggs, Philosophy of the World arr. Gavin Chuck
Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum
Conlon Nancarrow, Player Piano Study No. 6 arr. Yvar Mikhashoff
Johannes Ciconia, Le ray au soleyl arr. Gavin Chuck
Mochipet, Dessert Search for Techno Baklava arr. Stefan Freund
Michael Gordon, Yo Shakespeare
Conlon Nancarrow, Player Piano Study No. 3A arr. Derek Bermel