Even though half of the Corigliano Quartet calls Seattle home, and another member has family in the city (Amy Sue Barston is the sister of Elisa Barston, principal second violin with the SSO), the group’s performances in the area haven’t been as plentiful as you might expect. To my knowledge, the last one was in 2008 when the group made their debut on the University of Washington’s International Chamber Series. This quartet’s local schedule this season includes two concerts at the Cornish College of the Arts and a forthcoming performance in May with Simple Measures.
A Corigliano performance tends to be an adventure in contemporary music. This doesn’t mean the pieces they play are replete with dissonances, microtones, and explorations of the percussive properties of string instruments, far from it. The ensemble takes its name from the composer John Corigliano, a living, breathing, active artist who finds inspiration in the popular neo-romantic idiom that has demonstrated music can be easy on the ears and challenging to hear.
Continue reading Corigliano Quartet performs at Cornish College
Jeremy Denk is no stranger to a Seattle audience. For more than ten years he has been one of the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s regular pianists. In the summer, you could find Denk at the Lakeside School, and in the winter, Nordstrom Recital Hall. Local music lovers also know Denk from his long association with the violinist Joshua Bell. In fact, Bell and Denk last performed in Seattle in February.
Gathering Note 