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Friction Quartet: classical strings (in-person or live-streamed)

  • St Alban's Episcopal Church 1501 Washington Avenue Albany, CA (map)

Sunday, May 22, 2022- 4pm
$15 youth, $20 Senior/Student, $25 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.

Concert Program:

String Quartet no.1 "From My Life" by composer Bedřich Smetana With this deeply personal and expressive autobiographical quartet, Smetana said he sought, "... to picture in tones the course of my life."

Source Code by composer Jessie Montgomery a work deeply inspired by African American artists of the Civil Rights era and black folk music.

El Correcaminos (The Roadrunner) by Nicolas Lell Benavides in which Benavides explores his New Mexican roots and the deep history and symbolism of the Land of Enchantment.

Friction Quartet exists to modernize the chamber music experience and expand the string quartet repertoire. Friction achieves this mission by commissioning new works, curating imaginative programs, collaborating with artists, and presenting interactive educational outreach. Joshua Kosman (San Francisco Chronicle) has declared them, “The Bay Area's redoubtable new-music ensemble.”

Since forming in 2011, Friction has commissioned fifty works for string quartet and given world premiere performances of more than eighty works. They won Second Prize in the 2016 Schoenfeld Competition, were quarter-finalists in the 2015 Fischoff Competition, and placed second at the 2015 Frances Walton Competition.

Friction has held residencies at the New Music for Strings Festival in Denmark, Interlochen Arts Camp, Lunenburg Academy of Music, Napa Valley Performing Arts Center, Old First Concerts, San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music, and was the first ensemble in residence at the Center for New Music. They are ensemble educators with SF Symphony’s Adventures in Music Program, Km, “DFC Playground Pop Ups, and more.

Featuring:

Kevin Rogers, violin
Otis Harriel, violin
Rachyl Martinez, viola
Doug Machiz, cello