Newtown Friends of Music will proudly sponsor, once again, the sublime Shanghai Quartet for a third exciting appearance in Newtown. The quartet will perform a concert in the auditorium of Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown, on Sunday, March 19, beginning at 3 pm.

Since its New York debut at Town Hall in 1987, Shanghai Quartet has been hailed by the press and the public as one of the leading quartets of its generation. Recently, a reviewer for The New York Times wrote: “If there is a string quartet currently in circulation that produces a more beautiful sound than the Shanghai Quartet, the name doesn’t come immediately to mind.”

Winning the prestigious Chicago Discovery Competition sparked an extensive touring career for the group, which has consistently offered finely balanced performances to standing ovations throughout the United States and abroad in London, Hamburg, Milan and other cities. In early 1996 the group made its first tour of the Far East, encompassing Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan, where sold-out performances were held in Osaka and Tokyo, furthering a tour to Australia and New Zealand.

It has also been ensemble-in-residence at the Tanglewood and Ravinia Festivals, and has made several appearances at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festivals and on its Great Performers Series.

Violinist Weigang Li began his studies with his parents at the age of three and went on to attend the Shanghai Conservatory at the age of 14. Through a student exchange program Mr Li came to the United States to study at the San Francisco Conservatory. He has been soloist with the Shanghai Conservatory Orchestra and the BBC and BBC Scottish Symphonies.

Mr Li left China to continue his education at Northern Illinois University. He studied and taught at Juilliard School as a teaching assistant to the Juilliard Quartet. He was featured in the film From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.

Yiwen Jiang, violinist, came to the United States on a full scholarship at the St Louis Conservatory, where he studied with Taras Gabora, and chamber music with Jaime Laredo and Michael Tree. He also spent two summers in Dallas, participating in master classes with Pinchas Zuckerman, and was a prizewinner at the Mae M. Whitaker and Montreal competitions.

He has appeared in various musical festivals and the Victoria and Montreal Symphonies. Mr Jiang has performed for NBC, WQXR and PBS national television specials.

Hong-Gang Li, violist, was selected from a group of over 500 applicants when Beijing Conservatory opened in 1977 after the Cultural Revolution to attend and was appointed a faculty member there in 1984.

Mr Li has appeared as a soloist with the Shanghai Philharmonic and Conservatory Orchestras. He was also a recipient of the special prize by Elissa Pegreffi of the Quartero Italiano at the Paolo Borciani Competition in Italy.

Cellist James Wilson was born into a musical family. He began cello studies at the age of 11 and played his first string quartet at the age of 14. As a teenager, he studied the quartet literature with Gustave Rosseels, a former member of the Paganini Quartet. He attended the University of Michigan, where he was the recipient of the School of Music’s highest honor, the Albert A. Stanley Medal.

Mr Wilson was twice selected as a participant in the prestigious Piatigorsky seminar as cellist. His current activities include frequent recitals, which have won exceptional acclaim throughout the country.

The Shanghai Quartet is currently in ensemble-in-residence at the University of Richmond in Virginia, where its members hold faculty appointments.

Joining the quartet as one of two guest performers on March 19 will be the cellist Alicia Weilerstein, who has won unanimous praise for playing that combines natural virtuosity with impassioned musicianship. She began playing the cello at the age of 4½ and performed her first public concert six months later. Her acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut took place in March 1997.

She has given concerts with the Albany, California and Puerto Rico symphonies and the Rochester Philharmonic. She participated in the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Ravinia Festival and has since concluded her first tour of Japan. Miss Weilerstein has played for many musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma and was recently profiled by CBS Morning for its series on the Class of 2000.

Second guest artist Marcus Thompson, a violist and soloist for more than 20 years, is a professor of music and heads the advanced programs of chamber music and advanced studies at MIT. He is a master of his instrument, playing with impressive agility and drawing a variety of colors from his instrument.

A native of New York City, he holds three degrees from the Juilliard School: BM, MS and the DMA. Mr Thompson has been a visiting professor of the viola at the Eastman School of Music and a member of the viola faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music.

The program on March 19 will feature The Song of the Ch’in by Zhou Long, Transfigured Night by Arnold Schonberg, as originally written for string sextet; as well as Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence.

Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and students; and free for children between the ages of 5 and 14 when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. The box office will open one hour before the performance starts, and parking is free behind Edmond Town Hall. There will be an informal reception following the concert.

For further information and ticket information call Newtown Friends of Music at 426-6470.