Friends Of Music Concert Preview—

A Bit Of Old Vienna Is Coming To Newtown

The fourth concert in Newtown Friends of Music’s 27th season will be the performance of the world acclaimed Artis Quartet.  Founded a quarter century ago, when its members graduated from the Musikhochschule in Vienna, the Artis Quartet has been captivating audiences internationally since its inception.

The group will be performing in the theater at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown, on Sunday, March 13. The performance will begin at 3 pm.

The Artis Quartet’s extensive international engagements have carried it to the far reaches of the globe, heralding performances from Bombay to Tokyo, and Hong Kong to Istanbul, as well as numerous concert tours throughout the United States and the European continent.

From its beginning, Artis Quartet won many awards at international competitions.  As early as 1983 and 1984 the quartet began winning competitions in Cambridge and Evian. In 1984-85, the Artis held the Friedlander Fellowship at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. The Artis has served as quartet-in-residence at the Pablo Casals Festival. Since 1988, the Artis has had its own annual concert series at Vienna’s distinguished Musikverein.

Additionally, the ensemble has recorded over twenty discs, which themselves have also won numerous major awards and distinctions including the Grand Prix International du Disque, Diapason d’Or, Prix Caecilia, Wiener Flotenuhr, ECHO 2000, and the 2001 Indie Award.

For this tour of North America, the instruments of the Artis Quartet come with the kind permission from the collection of the Osterreichische Nationalbank. Peter Schuhmayer’s violin is a Domenico Montagnana from 1727, violinist Johannes Meissl is playing a 1690 Andrea Guarneri, Herbert Kefer’s viola is a J.B. Guadagnini built in 1784, and Othmar Muller’s 1573 cello is an Andrea Amati. 

The program for March 13 will begin with Mozart’s astonishing Quartet in C Major, K. 465, nicknamed “Dissonance,” the last of a set of six string quartets dedicated to his mentor Joseph Haydn, and Felix Mendelssohn’s Quartet in E minor, Opus 44, No 2.

After intermission, the quartet will perform one of Beethoven’s most impressive quartets, Quartet in F, Opus 59, Number 1, which contains melodic elements based on Russian folk tunes and is an audience favorite.

A post-performance reception will allow the audience and the artists a firsthand opportunity to meet and speak. Newtown Friends of Music considers this an integral part of the afternoon’s festivities as it compliments and completes a truly wonderful experience for both the concertgoer as well as granting the artist an opportunity to meet his audience up close and personal over a pleasant bit of light refreshment.

Tickets are $15 for adults and can be reserved by calling 426-6470 or online at www.NewtownFriendsOfMusic.org.

Children between the ages of 5 and 14 are admitted free when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.

Tickets will be also available the day of the performance at the box office, which will open at 2 the day of performance.

Edmond Town Hall is wheelchair accessible and all seats in the house are excellent, visually and acoustically. Free parking is available in the large parking lot behind the building.

The fifth and final concert of the 2004-05 concert season is scheduled for Sunday, April 10. That weekend, NFoM will host a performance by Le Fenice (The Phoenix).