Montana Chamber Music Society (MCMS) continues with performance February 22nd, 2018 Reynolds Recital Hall
Acclaimed violist Karen Dreyfus joins Muir Quartet for upcoming performances
Montana Chamber Music Society (MCMS) continues its 9th season of “Great Chamber Music under the Big Sky” with a fantastic Muir String Quartet performance on Thursday, February 22nd at MSU’s Reynolds Recital Hall beginning at 7:30pm. The ensemble will perform Mozart’s G Major Duo K. 423 for violin and viola, Tower Quartet No. 1, “Night Fields,” and Beethoven’s String Quartet in E minor, Op. 59 No. 2.
The following evening, Friday, February 23rd, Muir String Quartet will perform with guest violist Karen Dreyfus at Livingston’s Shane Lalani Center for the Arts at 7:30pm. The collaborative performance will feature Haydn Quartet Op. 64 No. 5 “The Lark,” Gabriela Frank “Leyendas,” and Dvorak Viola Quintet in E-flat Major, B. 180. The teaming of Dreyfus and the Muir Quartet brings an additional, repeat performance of the Livingston program to Reynolds Recital Hall on Saturday, February 24th at 7:30pm. Be sure to catch one of these extraordinary stagings!
Acclaimed as an orchestral soloist, recitalist, chamber musician, and pedagogue, Karen Dreyfus ranks high among the violists of her era. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and a prizewinner at such prestigious competitions as the Washington International Competition, the Lionel Tertis Competition, the Hudson Valley Competition and the Naumburg Viola Competition.
A regular performer over many years with the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Music From Marlboro, among many others, she has collaborated with such legendary artists as Yehudi Menuhin, Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider, Leon Fleisher, and her husband, Glenn Dicterow. Her wide discography includes the aptly named “Romanze,” a recital with the pianist Robert McDonald, recordings of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante (with violinist Glenn Dicterow) and William Walton’s Viola Concerto, Chick Corea’s chamber-music-meets-jazz, Grammy Award-nominated Lyric Suite for Sextet, and numerous works written expressly for Dreyfus, some included in her recording of contemporary viola concertos, American Journeys.
Ms. Dreyfus currently teaches viola at the Manhattan School of Music as well as on the Orchestra Performance Program. She is Director of Chamber Music at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles as well as Associate Professor of Viola. During the summer season she teaches viola, chamber music and orchestral studies at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.
Performing together since 1979, 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).
Admission to all MCMS performances is $27 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $10 for students. Tickets may be purchased at www.montanachambermusicsociety.org. These are also available at Cactus Records in Downtown Bozeman and at the door. •
