“Like all great chamber groups, the Catalyst Quartet is beautiful to watch, like a family in lively conversation at the dinner table: anticipating, interrupting, changing subjects.” (The New York Times)

The Catalyst Quartet was founded in 2010 by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization, a Detroit nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of young people through the power of diversity in the arts. Since its inception, the quartet has toured widely throughout the United States and abroad. The Catalyst first performed with CMMB in 2014; this appearance will be their fourth. The ensemble combines a serious commitment to education with a passion for contemporary works by diverse composers. In 2017, the quartet performed with jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant for Jazz at Lincoln Center. A subsequent recording won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

The opening work on the program is the Suite del Ángel (Angel Suite) by Astor Piazzolla (1921–92), arranged for string quartet by the Catalyst Quartet. Piazzolla is among the most popular Latin American composers of our time. He revolutionized the Argentinian tango and adapted it for the concert halls of the world. A virtuoso on the bandoneón, a type of concertina, Piazzolla composed this work for his octet in 1957. Eight years later, he added movements and reshaped the piece into a concert suite. It contains some of his most popular tango pieces.

Gumboots by David Bruce (b. 1970), for clarinet/bass clarinet and string quartet, was written in 2008 for the St. Lawrence String Quartet and clarinetist Todd Palmer. It is the prolific British composer’s most played work. The title refers to gumboot dancing, a type of secret communication practiced by South African miners who toiled under harsh conditions during the Apartheid era. A long, tranquil first movement is followed by five jubilant dance tunes, vital celebrations of movement and freedom.

The final composition on the program is the Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp Minor, op. 10 by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875–1912). At the encouragement of his family, the London-born Coleridge-Taylor received violin lessons and earned a scholarship to the Royal College of Music at age 15. He soon joined a composition class, where other students included Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Clarinet Quintet of 1895 is an early but mature work. It was composed after Coleridge-Taylor’s composition teacher, Charles Villiers Stanford, remarked on the impossibility of writing a clarinet quintet free from the influence of Johannes Brahms. (Brahms had completed his monumental clarinet quintet four years earlier.) Coleridge-Taylor accepted the challenge and, in several weeks, produced a masterpiece, with elements reminiscent of Dvořák and English folk melodies. Stanford adjudged that his young pupil had indeed made the medium his own: “You’ve done it, my boy!”

The concert will be preceded by a 30-minute presentation by expert musicologist Ian Scarfe. The talk begins at 6:30 and will provide ticketholders with deeper insight into the evening’s program.

Individual tickets are available for $30–$75. CMMB’s Kids Up Front & Free! program offers free tickets for young music lovers (grades 3–12) and music teachers. Discounted tickets ($15) are available for chaperones. Active members of the military and full-time students are eligible for discounts.

Ticket purchase details are available online at www.chambermusicmontereybay.org or by calling the office at 831-625-2212. The office is open Monday through Friday, 10am to 3pm.

Chamber Music Monterey Bay remains committed to its mission of enriching the cultural life of the community through high-quality chamber music and educational outreach programs.

Contact:

Chamber Music Monterey Bay

Phone: 831-625-2212

Email: info@chambermusicmontereybay.org

Website: www.chambermusicmontereybay.org