Muir Quartet; Menahem Pressler (piano) January 25, 2009

Program:
Foss: Quartet No. 4 [Phila. Premiere]; Ravel: Quartet in F major; Dvorak: Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81

"The sound, interpretive depth, and polish to rival the best in the world" (The New York Times)

Celebrating a thirtieth anniversary in 2008-09, the Muir String Quartet is acknowledged as one of the world's most powerful and insightful ensembles. Muir's program with PCMS on Sunday, January 25 at 3PM, which includes the Philadelphia Premiere of Foss' Quartet No. 4, Ravel, and Dvorak, will surely reflect these characteristics. Ultimately, the Muir Quartet is "a great ensemble," as stated by the American Record Guide. "Perfectly formed instrumental details are dropped into the pulse the way leaves drop onto the surface of the brook."

The Muir String Quartet has premiered works by esteemed American composers such as Lukas Foss, Joan Tower and Ezra Laderman, and will be joined by pianist Menahem Pressler on January 25. Pressler, founding member and pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio, has similarly established himself among the world's most distinguished and honored musicians, having launched his renowned career after being awarded first prize at the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco. Pressler has been hailed by The New York Times as "a poet, time and again revealing unsuspected depths in works that have been endlessly plumbed and surveyed."

Pressler's extensive tours of North America and Europe have included performances with the orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, London, Paris, Brussels, Oslo, Helsinki and many others. His other chamber music collaborations have included multiple performances with the Juilliard, Emerson, Guarneri and Cleveland Quartets as well as the Israel Quartet and the Pasquier String Trio.

For more information on the Muir Quartet and Menhaem Pressler, please visit www.muirquartet.com and www.menahempressler.com

For more information on the composers, please visit:
Foss:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lukas_Foss
Ravel:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartet_in_F_Major_(Ravel)
Dvorak:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k

Buy Tickets!
www.pcmsconcerts.org or 215.569.8080
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Get to Know the Muir String Quartet and Menahem Pressler!

Watch: The Muir String Quartet, in residence at Boston University, performs Mendelssohn’s Quartet in A minor, Op. 13, and Dvorák’s Double Bass Quintet. Edwin Barker joins them on double bass:
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/buniverse/videos/view/?id=170

Listen and Connect: Listen to recordings of Menahem Pressler, both individually and as part of the Beaux Arts Trio, performing Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart, among others:
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/albumList.jsp?name_id1=15810&name_role1=2&bcor