Welcome to the Morrison Chamber Music Center

Jack Quartet

May 12, 2019, 3 p.m.
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre

Deemed "superheroes of the new music world" (Boston Globe), the JACK Quartet is "the go-to quartet for contemporary music, tying impeccable musicianship to intellectual ferocity and a take-no-prisoners sense of commitment." (Washington Post) "They are a musical vehicle of choice to the next great composers who walk among us." (Toronto Star)

Comprising violinists Christopher Otto and Austin Wulliman, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Jay Campbell, JACK is focused on new work, leading them to collaborate with composers John Luther Adams, Chaya Czernowin, Simon Steen-Andersen, Caroline Shaw, Helmut Lachenmann, Steve Reich, Matthias Pintscher, and John Zorn. Upcoming and recent premieres include works by Derek Bermel, Cenk Ergün, Roger Reynolds, Toby Twining, and Georg Friedrich Haas.

Ancuza Aprodu Trio

April 12, 2019, 8 p.m.
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre

The trio, which is associated with the L’Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, includes violinist Gaël Rassaert, cellist Valerie Dulac and pianist Ancuza Aprodu. The concert, presented in celebration of the Claude Debussy Centenary, will feature works by Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré.

French pianist born in Romania, Ancuza Aprodu began studying piano at the age of 4 and one year later won the Interpretation Competition of Suceava. She obtained her Piano Diploma at the National Academy “G.VERDI” of Turin and won prizes at several international competitions. In the realm of contemporary music, she contributed for several years as permanent member or as an invited soloist, to the activities of such ensembles as Antidogma Musica, I solisti della Camerata Casella, Neues Ensemble Linz and in particular L’Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain.

Trio Ancuza Aprodu is bringing its Claude Debussy Centenary program to the Morrison Artists Series, with a program featuring works by Debussy himself alongside the music of two composers with whom he is closely associated: Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré.

Debussy’s Piano Trio in G (1880) is one of the composer’s earliest works, composed in Fiesole, Italy at the age of 18 while staying at the home of Nadezhda von Meck. Von Meck regularly hosted students from the Paris Conservatory during the summer months and Debussy was one of the students chosen for the summer of 1880. The Trio, which is cast in four movements, was considered lost until the manuscript was discovered in 1982 in the estate of Maurice Dumesnil, a pupil of Debussy’s.

Maurice Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello was composed between 1920 and 1922 and is dedicated to the memory of Debussy, who had died in 1918. The final work on the program, Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120, was composed 1922 – 1923, following his retirement as director of the Paris Conservatory.

Music from Marlboro

March 10, 2019, 3 p.m.
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre

Marlboro Music is known worldwide as an institution devoted to artistic excellence and to developing new leaders who illuminate all areas of music. It is where the concept of having master artists play together with exceptional young professionals was born—initiating a dynamic, collaborative approach to learning. Under the artistic direction of pianist Mitsuko Uchida, leading musicians spend up to seven weeks exchanging ideas and rehearsing in depth some 250 chamber music works each summer.

Since 1951, generations of the world’s most respected musicians have come together in the rural town of Marlboro, Vermont (population 978) to share their perspectives and learn from one another, to inspire and be inspired. Participants are drawn also by the warm, supportive family atmosphere, where musicians, staff, spouses, and children share meals, seminars, chores, social, and recreational events—creating a unique musical, human community.

Nordic Voices

February 10, 2019, 3 p.m.
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre

Nordic Voices is an internationally acclaimed six-voice a cappella ensemble praised for the depth of its programming and its extraordinary vocal skills. A technically brilliant ensemble, Nordic Voices made a quick sensation in international vocal circles and is now acknowledged as a leader of the a cappella art form. The group’s repertoire spans the Renaissance to the contemporary, on disc and in performances across Asia, Europe, and North America. Nordic Voices is unrivaled in the fine art of sophisticated music-making and stylish performance, and as a result, have been hailed by international critics for their live appearances and remarkable recordings. Based in Oslo, Norway, the members of Nordic Voices were educated at the State Academy of Music in Oslo and the National Academy of Operatic Art in Oslo, where they specialized in opera, composition, church music and pedagogy.

Thalea String Quartet

December 2, 2018, 3 p.m.
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre

Formed in 2014 at the Zephyr International Chamber Music Festival in Courmayeur, Italy, the Thalea String Quartet has been praised for their “vibrant performance” and “sincere expressivity” (SF Classical Voice). The quartet has performed recitals in Italy, France, the United States and Canada and was appointed as the first quartet-in-residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 2015-17. They were named one of the “Top 10 Bay Area Quartets You Should Know” by CultureTrip.com and were the recipients of the 2016 Barbara Fritz Chamber Music Award from the Berkeley Piano Club. They made their debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in early 2016. The Thalea String Quartet were top prize winners at both the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2018 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition.

Orlando Consort

October 26, 2018, 8 p.m.
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre

The ORLANDO CONSORT has made an international reputation in the field of medieval and Renaissance vocal music and, though the group's imaginative programming, also embraces jazz, film and world music. The Consort regularly tours throughout the UK, Europe and the USA (including BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, Edinburgh & Lucerne Festivals) and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi USA (including 2 Gramophone Awards). The Consort is currently recording a 12-disc Machaut project with Hyperion Records.

Alexander String Quartet

September 16, 2018 3-5pm
Creative Arts Building, McKenna Theatre

The Alexander String Quartet is a major artistic presence in its home base of San Francisco, serving since 1989 as Ensemble in Residence for San Francisco Performances and Directors of the Morrison Chamber Music Center in the College of Liberal and Creative Arts at San Francisco State University. Their recordings of Mozart's Piano Quartets with Joyce Yang will be released in July 2018 and the "Prussian" Quartets will follow in January 2019.