Enso string quartet to perform at Carnegie Hall

CONTACT: Ellen Chang
PHONE: (713) 348-6777
EMAIL: ellenc@rice.edu

ENSO
STRING QUARTET TO PERFORM AT CARNEGIE HALL

The Enso String
Quartet, the graduate quartet-in-residence at the Shepherd School
of Music at Rice University, will perform at Carnegie Hall April 27.

The performance
at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall is the quartet’s debut performance
at Carnegie Hall. They will be performing Franz Schubert’s "Quartet
in C Minor ‘Quartettsatz’ D. 703," Robert Schumann’s
"String Quartet in A Major Op. 44 No. 3" and Johannes Brahms’
"Quintet in F Minor Op. 34." The quartet will also perform
"Episodes," written by Rice assistant professor of music
Kurt Stallmann. Gilbert Kalish will be playing the piano for the concert.

The quartet
is comprised of violinists Maureen Nelson and Tereza Stanislav, violist
Robert Brophy and cellist Richard Belcher.

"We’re
absolutely thrilled to have the experience of playing in one of the
greatest concert venues in the world," said Brophy. "It
truly will be a performance to remember. We only hope this is the
first of many concerts at Weill Recital Hall."

The Enso String
Quartet is quickly becoming one of America’s leading young ensembles.
The quartet was a winner of the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International
Competition and also earned top prizes at the Chamber Music Yellow
Springs Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

The quartet
has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad since its inception in
1999. They have also performed at the Mostly Music and the Dame Myra
Hess Series of Chicago, Syzygy, New Music at Rice, the Rockford Symphony
Orchestra and the Champaign Urbana Symphony at the Krannert Center
for Performing Arts.

They have
also toured Costa Rica as guest artists in the Twelfth International
Costa Rica Music Festival. Their performances have taken them to England
and Canada, where the group was a finalist in the Banff Seventh International
Quartet Competition.

Before becoming
the graduate quartet-in-residence at the Shepherd School, they also
held a graduate residency at Northern Illinois University. The Enso
String Quartet draws together four musicians from around the world,
whose members hold degrees from The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute
of Music, University of Indiana, Royal Northern College of Music (UK)
and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). The members of the
ensemble met while pursuing graduate degrees at Yale University, where
they later worked with the Tokyo String Quartet.

The ensemble’s
commitment to bring classical music to the community includes their
performances at programs geared towards children that emphasize interaction
between the audience and the quartet. Their performances have been
broadcast on PBS, Chicago’s WFMT and Canada’s CBC radio.

Their future
engagements include performances at the La Jolla Chamber Music Society
SummerFest, concerts at New York City’s Merkin Concert Hall,
the Chautauqua Institution, Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, Chicago’s
Music in the Loft series, Market Square Concerts, Newtown Friends
of Chamber Music and the Bedford Chamber Music Series.