Acclaimed American String Quartet to perform at Jewish Center

One of the foremost string ensembles on the international stage today, the American String Quartet, will perform at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons on Saturday, September 5, at 8 p.m.

The program will feature Louis Gruenberg’s Four Diversions, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Opus 110, and, Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 44, No.1.

A professional ensemble since 1975, the American String Quartet will celebrate its 35th anniversary during the 2010-2011 season. Formed in 1974 when its original members were students at the Juilliard School, the quartet was launched by winning both the Coleman Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Award in the same year. In addition to their performance and educational commitments as a quartet, the ensemble’s members—Peter Winograd, violin, Laurie Carney, violin, Daniel Avshalamov, viola, and Wolfram Koessel, cello, also devote time to solo appearances, collaborative recitals and master classes.

Critically acclaimed for presentations of the complete quartets of Beethoven, Schubert, Schoenberg, Bartok and Mozart, the American String Quartet is also a champion of contemporary music. The ensemble has commissioned and premiered works by some of today’s top composers, including Claus Adam, Richard Danielpour and Kenneth Fuchs.

Equally active in the recording arena, the quartet has recorded on the CRI, MusicMasters, and RCA labels, among others. The quartet’s discography includes works by Adam, Corigliano, Danielpour, Dvorak, Fuchs, Prokofiev, Schoenberg and Tsontakis.

The quartet’s innovative programming and creative approach to education has resulted in numerous notable residencies, including, most recently, at Princeton University. The American has also served as resident quartet at the Taos School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, Rice University, Shepard School of Music, the University of Nebraska Lied Center, and the University of Michigan, and continues its decades-long relationships with the Manhattan School of Music and the Aspen Music Festival.

The quartet’s performance at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons is free and open to all. For more information, visit www.americanstringquartet.com.