| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | |
| October 18, 2007 | |
| Contact: Jack Wright, (617) 598-3212, jw@celebrityseries.org |
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| High-resolution photos: http://www.celebrityseries.org/Photo_Galleries/810-StLawr_Gallery.htm | |
(BOSTON)—Celebrity Series of Boston, Martha H. Jones, President and Executive Director, presents the The St. Lawrence String Quartet made its Celebrity Series of Boston debut in 2004, and was last presented by the Celebrity Series in 2006. This concert marks the third Series appearance for the Quartet, and the second for Heidi Grant Murphy who made her Series debut in 2001 performing as soloist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The St. Lawrence String Quartet, comprised of violinists Geoff Nuttall and Scott St. John, violist Lesley Robertson, and cellist Christopher Costanza, has established itself among the world-class chamber ensembles of its generation. In 1992, it won both the Banff International String Quartet Competition and Young Concert Artists Auditions, launching the Quartet on tours across four continents. Each season the Quartet performs more than 100 concerts worldwide. The foursome regularly delivers traditional quartet repertoire, and is also fervently committed to performing and expanding the works of living composers. Among the composers with whom the Quartet has collaborated are Osvaldo Golijov, Christos Hatzis, Jonathan Berger, Ka Nin Chan, and Mark Applebaum. Having been privileged to study with the Emerson, Tokyo, and Juilliard string quartets, the members of the St. Lawrence String Quartet are themselves passionate educators. Since 1998 they have held the position of Ensemble-in-Residence at Stanford University. This residency includes working with students of music, as well as collaborations with other faculty and departments using music to explore a myriad of topics. The foursome’s passion for education is also evident in their annual summer chamber music seminar at Stanford and their collaborations with music educator Rob Kapilow. The Quartet is deeply committed to bringing music to less traditional venues outside the classroom or concert hall. This commitment, partnered with the players’ strong desire to share the wonders of chamber music with their listeners, has led them to develop a unique, less formal performance style than one might expect from chamber musicians. Soprano Heidi Grant Murphy is one of today’s outstanding vocal talents. A native of Bellingham, Washington, she began vocal studies while attending Western Washington and Indiana Universities. Her graduate studies were pleasantly interrupted when she was named winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and engaged by Maestro James Levine to participate in the Metropolitan Opera’s Young Artist Development Program. Today, Ms. Murphy has established a reputation not only for her superb musicianship and impeccable vocal technique, but also for her warm personality and generosity of spirit. She has performed with many of the world’s finest opera companies and symphony orchestras, and has worked with numerous esteemed conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Kurt Masur, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Seiji Ozawa. The 2007-2008 season finds Ms. Murphy performing as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle at both Carnegie Hall and in Philadelphia, in recital in Dallas and New York City, and appearing as Servilia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Metropolitan Opera. For more than a decade the works of American composer Roberto Sierra have been in the repertoires of many leading orchestras, ensembles, and festivals in the United States and Europe. Mr. Sierra has received commissions from numerous organizations including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Juilliard School. In 2003 he was recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters with an Academy Award in Music. Mr. Sierra has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, and New Mexico Symphony. He was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, and studied composition in Puerto Rico and Hamburg, Germany where one of his teachers was György Ligeti at the Hochschule für Musik. CHAUSSON *Celebrity Series and Music Accord co-commission TICKETING INFORMATION About Celebrity Series of Boston The Celebrity Series receives major annual support from two anonymous donors; The Little Family Foundation; The Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation; Bank of America; The Linde Family Foundation; Tufts Health Plan; Talbots Charitable Foundation; Foley & Lardner LLP; Charlesbank Capital Partners; Comcast; Morgan Stanley; BDO Seidman; PTC; Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation; Steven and Joan Belkin Foundation; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; The Consulate General of Canada; The Collings Foundation; The Esther B. Kahn Charitable Foundation; The Red Sox Foundation; Massachusetts Cultural Council; National Endowment for the Arts; New England Foundation for the Arts; Catherine and Paul Buttenwieser Foundation; The Harris A. Berman and Ruth E. Nemzoff Family Foundation; Amy and Joshua Boger; DeMoulas Foundation; Margaret Eagle and Eli Rapaport; Kathleen and Steven Haley; Cerise and Charles Jacobs; Paul L. King; Jann E. Leeming and Arthur D. Little; Paul F. and Barbara A. Levy; Frank and Eleanor Pao; Spring Sirkin and Arthur Frank; Dorothy and Stephen Weber; Nancy Richmond Winsten and Dr. Joseph Winsten; Charles O. Wood, III and Miriam M. Wood; Ellen and Arnold Zetcher. ### |
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