OPENING NIGHT - TOBIAS PICKER WORLD PREMIERE

DA CAMERA COMMISSION

BRENTANO QUARTET & FRIENDS

Friday, September 23, 2011, 8:00 PM
Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center

Respighi Il tramonto for mezzo-soprano and string quartet
Tobias Picker Piano Quintet (world premiere, Da Camera commission)
Mozart Clarinet Quintet

Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Lee, cello); Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano; Anthony McGill, clarinet; Sarah Rothenberg, piano; Tobias Picker, guest composer

The Brentano Quartet, long a favorite of Da Camera audiences, kicks off the 2011/2012 season joined by celebrated colleagues. Featuring Metropolitan Opera principal clarinetist Anthony McGill, seen on national television at President Obama’s inauguration, international opera star Susanne Mentzer and Da Camera Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg, this festive program offers one of Mozart's greatest masterpieces, a rare vocal chamber music gem and the world premiere of a Da Camera-commissioned piano quintet by Tobias Picker. Picker is the award-wining American composer called “a genuine creator with a fertile unforced vein of invention” by The New Yorker.

Join us for the Opening Night Celebration, Classique et Nouvelle, A Concert and Three Parties. Click here for details and to purchase tickets.

“Picker’s recent music displays a distinctly soulful style that is one of the glories of the current musical scene.” -- BBC Music Magazine

“A collaboration of intense cohesion, which allowed the music to soar and sing as if it were being performed for the first time.” — The Cleveland Plain Dealer on the Brentano String Quartet

“[Anthony McGill is] a dazzling player of superlative technique and a gorgeous tone” – The New York Times

“The mezzo’s vocally impeccable, emotionally compelling performance proved that she is among the premier art-song interpreters of our day.” -- Opera News

“Sarah Rothenberg is an outstanding pianist...She finds the unwritten words...and weaves a performance of pure poetry” -- CD Review

Tobias Picker's Piano Quintet was commissioned by Da Camera of Houston

This commission has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund and by the National Endowment for the Arts.