| Muir Quartet |
Utah Symphony | Utah Opera Offers
Free Concert, Masterclasses and
String Quartet Programs
Utah Symphony | Utah Opera invites Summit County residents to attend several free education events held in conjunction with the Deer Valley® Music Festival and the organization’s Emerging Quartets and Composers program.
Among these events are string quartet master classes on July 15 and July 27 at 4:30 p.m. at the Utah Conservatory in Kimball Junction near Park City, as well as a community concert featuring two string quartets at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Park City on July 30 at 1 p.m. The participating quartets, Publiquartet from New York City and Iris Quartet from Boston, are taking part in the intensive Emerging Quartets and Composers training program this summer.
The three-week program consists of demanding rehearsals and master classes with professional coaching by the renowned Muir Quartet and Pulitzer prize-winning composer Joan Tower. During their time in Utah, the two semi-professional quartets will work on classical repertoire and premieres of new music by young composers also involved in the program. This year, the quartets will premiere “Double Helix” by Maxwell McKee and “Thyme” by Antonin Fajt.
These emerging artists will also spend time during their final week in Utah at the Lyceum Music Festival summer music camp coaching young local musicians at the Zermatt Resort in Midway.
An integral part of Deer Valley® Music Festival’s education programs since its founding in 2003, the Emerging Quartets and Composers summer program actually began in 1989. It has had various homes in Utah, including Snowbird as well as Park City, but has always been a project of the Muir String Quartet and Joan Tower.
ABOUT THE MUIR QUARTET:
The Muir Quartet features founder Mike Reynolds, cello; Peter Zazofsky, violin; Steven Ansell, viola; Lucia Lin, violin. Now in its 31st season, the Muir String Quartet has long been acknowledged as one of the world's most powerful and insightful ensembles, distinguishing itself among audiences and critics with its "exhilarating involvement" (Boston Globe),"impeccable voicing and intonation" (San Francisco Examiner) and "unbridled musicality" (American Record Guide).
Winner of the 1981 Naumburg Chamber Music Award and 1980 Evian Competition, the Muir String Quartet was greeted with rave reviews and an extensive feature in the New Yorker. They were soon featured on the internationally acclaimed PBS broadcast, In Performance at the White House for President and Mrs. Reagan.
ABOUT JOAN TOWER:
Joan Tower is widely regarded as one of the most important American composers living today. During a career spanning more than fifty years, she has made lasting contributions to musical life in the United States as composer, performer, conductor, and educator. Her works have been commissioned by major ensembles, soloists, and orchestras, including the Emerson, Tokyo and Muir quartets, soloists Evelyn Glennie, Carol Wincenc, David Shifrin, John Browning, and the orchestras of Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Washington DC among others.
Tower was the first composer chosen for a Ford Made in America consortium commission of sixty-five orchestras. Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony recorded Made in America in 2008 (along with Tambor and Concerto for Orchestra). The album collected three Grammy awards: Best Classical Contemporary Composition, Best Classical Album, and Best Orchestral Performance.
In 1990 she became the first woman to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Silver Ladders, a piece she wrote for the St. Louis Symphony where she was Composer-in-Residence from 1985-88. Other residencies with orchestras include a 10-year residency with the Orchestra of St. Luke's (1997-2007) and the Pittsburgh Symphony (2010-2011).
Tower studied piano and composition at Bennington College and Columbia University. Her earliest works were serial in concept, but her music soon developed the lyricism, rhythmic drive, and colorful orchestration that characterize her subsequent works. She is currently Asher Edelman Professor of Music at Bard College, where she has taught since 1972. Her music is published by Associated Music Publishers.
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