Quogue Chamber Music Presents Kenari Quartet On June 18

Quogue Chamber Music has revealed its two-concert lineup for the summer.

The new season will kick off on Saturday, June 18, with a performance by the Kenari Quartet. The team of saxophonists, formed at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, will perform works by Bach, Astor Piazzolla and others. Next will be a performance by The Attacca Quartet on Saturday, September 10. The string quartet, formed at Juilliard in 2003, will perform “Haydn String Quartet, Op. 76, #5,” “Janacek String Quartet, #1” and “Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 59, #3.” Quogue Chamber Music will also be giving a children’s concert at the Quogue Field Club on August 10.

Those hoping to attend these shows can buy tickets for $40 per person or $100 for access to the show and the post-concert celebration. The student price is $5 per ticket.

Quogue Chamber Music has a history of hosting musical acts similar to Kenari and Attacca. Last year, Quogue hosted the Cavani String Quartet, which performed works by Mozart and Debussy. Quogue Chamber Music has also hosted the likes of the American Brass Quintet, the Claremont Trio, the Dorian Wind Quintet with Gayle Martin Henry on piano and composer Peter Schickele. The nonprofit organization was founded by Jane Deckoff in the fall of 2009 and now puts on performances both in Quogue and on Park Avenue in New York City.

The talent that the company attracts is impressive, and this season is no exception. The Attacca Quartet won top prizes at both the 7th Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition in 2011. They were recently named the Quartet in Residence for New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Kenari Quartet formed in 2012 and has earned top-prize at various competitions: the M-Prize Chamber Music Competition, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Plowman Chamber Music Competition and others.

Steven Banks, the Kenari Quartet’s 22-year-old baritone saxophonist, is glad to play a wide variety of music with his friends Bob Eason, Kyle Baldwin, and Corey Dundee, he said. After being together for four years, the group’s ability to synchronize with each other is still growing.

“I would say how in sync we are is an on-going process,” Mr. Banks said over the phone. “It did take about a year, year-and-a-half to get in that groove of getting to know each other. But we know how everyone’s gonna cue each other in when we play.”

The quartet recently completed work recording their debut album for Naxos Records. They recorded works by French composers including Gabriel Pierné, Florent Schmitt and Eugène Bozza. Recording took place in Auer Hall at the Jacobs School of Music.

“It was an amazing experience,” Mr. Banks said. “We just learned a lot about microphones and how many takes needed to find that groove. We’re very humbled and honored that this will be available for all the students at the Jacobs School.”

The quartet plays the works of classical composers along with jazz and soul. For Mr. Banks, playing classical music is not only a preference but something he believes is educational.

“I like to show the world that the sax is a classical instrument.”

The Kenari Quartet will kick off the new season of Quogue Chamber Music on Saturday, June 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Quogue Community Hall. Call 631-728-3407 or visit quoguechambermusic.com to purchase tickets or for more information.