Shanghai Quartet with Ethan Sloane

Sponsored by the W. Ford Schumann ’50 Performing Arts Endowment

Weigang Li & Yi-Wen Jiang, violin; Honggang Li, viola; Nicholas Tzavaras, cello; Ethan Sloane, clarinet, guest artist

LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN String Quartet in A, op. 18, No. 5
Allegro
Menuetto
Andante cantabile: Variations
Allegro

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581
Allegretto
Larghetto
Menuetto: with Two Trios
Theme and Variations: Allegretto-Adagio-Allegro

JOHANNES BRAHMS String Quartet in C-minor, op. 51, No. 1
Allegro
Romanze: Poco adagio
Allegretto molto moderato e comodo-un poco più animato
Finale: Allegro

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guest Artist Bio, Ethan Sloane, clarinet:
Professor of Music. BMus, New England Conservatory; MM, MMA, DMA, Yale University. Instructor, Mannes Music Division, 1973-75; Assistant Professor of Music, University of Northern Iowa, 1976-77; Assistant Professor of Music, University of Victoria, 1977-79; Associate Professor of Music, West Virginia University, 1979-82; Executive Assistant to the Director, Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, 1983-84. Artist-faculty, California Music Center, 1981-82. Fellow, Affiliate Artists, Inc., 1975; first prize, Ars Vivus Chamber Music Competition, 1976; Honorary Fellow, Hampden-Sydney College, 1977-79, 1981; regional chair, International Clarinet Society, 1980; Artist-clinician, G. Leblanc Corp., 1981, awarded Martha Baird Rockefeller Grant, 1981. Artist-member, Empire Trio, 1973-present. Recitals: Merkin Hall (sponsored by Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music), National Gallery of Art, California Music Center, Kenyon College (Young Artists Series), Washington Jefferson College, Queen Elizabeth Playhouse (Vancouver, B.C.). Concerts with Pacific Wind Quintet, including Shawnigan Music Festival (Victoria, B.C.). Artist-participant, Marlboro Music Festival; former principal clarinet, Symphony of the United Nations and Festival Orchestra of New York; former member, New Haven Symphony. Former Codirector, Choate Chamber Music Workshop. Recipient, New York State Arts Council Grant. Former Director, Laureate Wind Quintet; Director, Empire Trio of New York, 1973-present; Founder and Artistic Director, Hampden-Sydney Music Festival, 1980-present; Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa 1991, Hampden-Sydney College; Recordings for Crystal Records and Musique Internationale. Director, Music Division, 1984-85. Present position, 1984.
——-
The Shanghai Quartet has performed on the world’s most prominent concert stages, and regularly tours the great music centers of Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Recent seasons have included tours of Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. As part of their 20th Anniversary tour, the Quartet performed the “Beethoven Project: East Meets West;” the complete Beethoven string quartets in six concerts around the world. This tour included the first performance ever in China of the complete Beethoven quartet cycle.

The Shanghai Quartet has a long history of championing new music. Projects include a commission with Chamber Music America, and a premiere of Lowell Lieberman’s Quartet in honor of the National Federation of Music Clubs’ 100th Anniversary. Among others, they commissioned a new work from Bright Sheng for the University of Richmond and the Freer Gallery to celebrate their 10th Anniversary.