STRINGS AND ASYMMETRY
Date: Saturday, October 14, 2023 – 7PM
General Admission: $50
Senior/Student: $30
Member: Use ID # to receive 15% discount
Strings and Asymmetry is a program of dynamic music and dance featuring East Coast Contemporary Ballet in collaboration with Alturas Duo and Yale quartet in residence, Callisto Quartet. The evening will encompass a stunning array of styles, instrumentation, musical and physical expression. The program will be in homage to the late Chilean folk musician, Victor Jara on this, the 50th anniversary of his death. To this end, ECCB cofounder Claire Mazza has choreographed a new work over Javier Farias’ monumental. “El vuelo de tu alma” (A recomposition of Jara’s most famous work) scored for string quartet, guitar and charango. Alejandro Ulloa will be premiering another new piece set to Ezio Basso’s music and a magnetic duet by Frances Ortiz will be performed. Alturas Duo will also premiere “Por el amor se ve” (September 2023) a new work for viola and guitar written by legendary Cuban composer Leo Brouwer in tribute to Jara and specifically for this evening. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience a true amalgamation of sight, sound and movement!
About East Coast Contemporary Ballet Company:
Founded in 2019 by Claire Mazza and Alejandro Ulloa, East Coast Contemporary Ballet (ECCB) is a Connecticut-based dance company that performs seasonally in Connecticut and New York. Producing entirely original works, the company is committed to reaching diverse audiences and producing art that audiences can relate to and be inspired by. In 2021 ECCB premiered their first original full-length contemporary ballet set entirely to the music of Ernesto Lecuona and in the summer of the same year founded the Fairfield County Dance Festival in partnership with Thomas Ortiz Dance, offering free summer dance performances throughout Fairfield County. They have also been invited to perform in the Newport Dance Festival, Stamford Block Party, and Stamford Dances Downtown. Collaboration is another core value of the company, and ECCB has had the pleasure to collaborate with music artists such as Nathan Hasselby and Latin Grammy-award winner Pedro Giraudo, with fellow dance companies, and with organizations such as the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, MoCA Westport, Norwalk Art Space, Darien Arts Center, Ballet School of Stamford, and Fairfield Museum and History Center.
About Alturas Duo:
Praised by The Washington Post as playing with “marvelous virtuosity,” Alturas Duo is recognized as one of the most engaging ensembles performing chamber music today. Bringing together the worlds of South American folk, Western classical, and contemporary music, guitarist Scott Hill and violist and charango player Carlos Boltes have performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Central and South America to great acclaim. As Christopher Zimmerman, Music Director of The Fairfax Symphony, notes: Scott Hill and Carlos Boltes as “the Alturas Duo are the quintessential 21st century artists.”
With its unusual combination of viola, charango, and guitar; Alturas Duo creates spirited and passionate programs that move with ease between the Baroque of Bach, South American melodies and rhythms learned through the oral tradition, and newly commissioned repertoire. Their performances oscillate from the beautiful and serene to strong and pulsating, taking audiences on a journey to new musical heights and to earn Alturas Duo numerous awards from First Prize at the New England International Chamber Music Competition, a CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and the 2020 World Folk Vision popular vote award and jury selection for best Latin Music Band.
About Callisto Quartet:
Praised for their “lush intensity and bravado” and the “cohesion and intonation one might expect from an ensemble twice their age” (Third Coast Review), the American/Canadian Callisto Quartet brings together four musicians who share a deep passion for bringing chamber music to audiences around the world. Since their inception in 2016, Callisto has garnered top prizes in nearly every major international chamber music competition and has been hailed by audiences across the globe. Grand Prize winners of the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Second Prize Winners of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Callisto Quartet has also taken home prizes from the Bordeaux, Melbourne, and Wigmore Hall competitions. Callisto has previously held residencies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain. From 2020-2022 Callisto was the Ernst Stiefel Quartet in Residence at Caramoor Center for Music and Arts, where they were the first quartet to perform all six string quartets of Bartòk at Caramoor.
Get To Know ECCB, Callisto Quartet and Alturas Duo
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