NFoM Season Opener—

Antares Quartet To Perform

At Edmond Town Hall

Antares is known as the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, visible on the southeastern sky on a clear night. On a (hopefully) clear Sunday afternoon, however, the musical star Antares will perform the season-opening series of concerts sponsored by Newtown Friends of Music.

Antares is a group of four brilliant young musicians. The quartet will perform on the stage of Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street, on Sunday, October 3, at 3 pm.

The members of Antares met while pursuing their master’s degrees at Yale School of Music in New Haven. The quartet has won top prizes in four national chamber music competitions as well as a CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming.

Antares is actively involved in commissioning new music and is committed to showcasing contemporary composers.

The group has already worked with such well known musicians as Ezra Laderman, Stephan Freund, Kevin Puts. The ensemble’s most recent commissions have been by John Mackey, as part of the ensemble’s collaboration with the Parsons Dance Company, and by Oliver Schneller through a Meet the Composer grant.

Antares is currently the ensemble-in-Residence at Weslyan University, has also been in residence at Columbia University for two years and has served as the ensemble-in-residence at the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho in Brazil.  Antares is a member of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts Touring Roster, which provides partial funding for various programs throughout Connecticut and New England.  Under its auspices, the ensemble performs concerts, lecture/performances, master classes and school outreach programs.

The members of the ensemble are the violinist Vesselin Gellev, pianist Eric Huebner, the cellist Rebecca Patterson, and the clarinetist Garrick Zoetner.

The ensemble has chosen a partially French program for its Newtown concert. They are scheduled to open with a new composition by the French composer Nicholas Bacri, Im Volkston, Divertimento for clarinet, violin and cello; continue with Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat, Opus 11; and then conclude, following Intermission, with the eight movements of , Oliver Messiaen’s Quatuor Pour la Fin du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time).

Following the concert, all ticket-holders will be invited to attend a reception with the members of Antares in the lobby of Edmond Town Hall.

All adult tickets are $15. Children ages 5 to 14 are welcome, free of charge, when they are accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.

Advance tickets, which are strongly recommended, can be ordered by calling 426-6470.

Tickets remaining on the day of the concert will be available at the town hall’s box office beginning one hour before concert time.

Free parking is available behind Edmond Town Hall, and the building is handicap accessible.

For additional information use the telephone number above or visit                                                 NewtownFriendsOfMusic.org.