The University of Iowa’s Hancher will present the St. Lawrence String Quartet at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 at Riverside Recital Hall (405 N. Riverside Drive in Iowa City). The performance will feature a new work by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich to honor the centennials of the founding members of the Galimir String Quartet. There will be a pre-performance discussion at 6:30 p.m.
The evening’s program will also include two Beethoven quartets: Op. 59, No. 1 (Rasumovsky) and Op. 127.
The St. Lawrence String Quartet is widely recognized as one of the world’s finest ensembles. The New York Times praises the quartet’s “rare gift for combining interpretive spontaneity and fierce musical commitment,” while The Washington Post praises the musicians’ ability to “stretch past conventional interpretation and probe the music’s imaginative limits.”
Zwilich’s new work has a local connection. Richard Hurtig, a professor and chair of speech pathology and audiology in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is the son of Renee Galimir Hurtig, one of four siblings who made up the renowned Galimir Quartet. Hailed throughout Europe and beyond, the ensemble, whose members were Jewish, was scattered in the days leading up to World War II.
Hurtig and his wife, Judy Hurtig—Hancher’s former artistic director—have co-commissioned Voyage for String Quartet by Zwilich in remembrance of the Galimir Quartet. Zwilich, a leading contemporary composer, has written, “As I was reading about family records and perusing copies of reviews from the 1930s, I saw a picture of the Galimir Quartet. I was struck by the beautiful bow arms and the most serious but optimistic young faces (they looked to me like teenagers) and I was almost overwhelmed by the promise, the tragedy, and the triumph represented by these gifted people. My piece seemed to start at this moment and I let it take me on my own voyage. I am honored to be a small part of this tribute.”
Additional commissioners include Viola and Richard Morse, Naomi Krasner, Elsa and Marvin Miller, and Southern Mountain Concerts of Pittsfield, Mass. The Hancher performance is sponsored by the Richard and Judith Hurtig Chamber Music Endowment.
Tickets are $37 for nonstudents and seniors; $10 for UI students and youth. Tickets are available from the Hancher Box Office, located on the first floor of the south end of the Old Capitol Town Center near the parking ramp. The Hancher Box Office is open for phone (319-335-1160 or 800-HANCHER) or walk-up business from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Tickets may be ordered online at www.hancher.uiowa.edu. Any remaining tickets will be available for sale one hour before show time at the Riverside Recital Hall.