The Haven String Quartet presents its second concert of the season, a celebration of music by Nicolas Lell Benavides, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and the world premiere of Suite de Canto y Danza en Forma de Variaciones by Luis Prado, commissioned this year by Music Haven and sponsored by the International Association of New Haven . This concert will feature artworks by local artist and Music Haven parent Miguel Angel Mendoza.

El Correcaminos (The Roadrunner): Nicolas Lell Benavides
Five Fantasy Pieces, Op. 5: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Gregory Tompkins, violinist, writes of the Benavides, “Nicolas Lell Benavides’ music is a fresh and exciting take on musical storytelling, frequently drawing on his Nuevomejicano roots and culture. About El Correcaminos he writes: “It's difficult to capture New Mexico in one symbol. I, like many New Mexicans, am the product of generations of love, conflict, migration, peace, war, spirituality, colonialism, and progressivism…’El Correcaminos’, is primarily about the Mexicans who arrived (influenced by the Spanish) from the South (and somewhat the West) in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were looking to settle permanently, and saw el correcaminos as a fertility blessing like a stork. They were elated to see one, as it meant there was a future in this place.” Benavides presents these overlapping influences in the form of a dance for string quartet with swirling melodic fragments that appear only briefly before being absorbed back into the rhythmic texture.”

All HSQ ticket sales are “pay what you can.” Masks for all and proof of vaccination for all who are eligible are required at all performances. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. All sales benefit Music Haven’s free education programming.