Impromptu | WFMT

Gramophone Magazine called the Calidore String Quartet “a miracle of unified thought.”  This vibrant, young ensemble won the 2016 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, the first North Americans to be so honored.  The ensemble continues to earn high praise, including a place on the prestigious roster of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two.

Catch this extraordinary ensemble in performance tonight at Northwestern University’s Winter Chamber Music Festival.

On October 15, 2015, the extraordinary American tenor, Lawrence Brownlee, and the superb collaborative pianist, Craig Terry, shared repertoire by Rossini – a Brownlee specialty – as well as a spiritual, “Come By Here,” as well as Britten’s lovely “Down By the Sally Gardens.”

Frederik Øland, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Asbjørn Nørgaard, and Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin – known collectively as the Danish String Quartet – have described their ensemble with these words:  “Yes, playing string quartets is our job, and yes it is hard work, but we mostly do it for pleasure, like we always did.”  Sometimes, of course, they revel in quintets, too, as we can hear in this 2017 Impromptu collaboration with Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen.

Frederik Øland, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, Asbjørn Nørgaard, and Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin – known collectively as the Danish String Quartet – have described their ensemble with these words:  “Yes, playing string quartets is our job, and yes it is hard work, but we mostly do it for pleasure, like we always did.”  Sometimes, of course, they revel in quintets, too, as we can hear in this 2017 Impromptu collaboration with Finnish pianist Juho Pohjonen.

The story goes that Reginald R. Robinson first heard the sweet strains of ragtime music through the loudspeaker of a neighborhood ice cream truck. Years later, the self-taught pianist and composer received a 2004 “genius” fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation. Reginald Robinson performed some of his original compositions on Impromptu in 2017.

On October 15, 2015, the extraordinary American tenor, Lawrence Brownlee, and the superb collaborative pianist, Craig Terry, shared repertoire by Rossini – a Brownlee specialty – as well as a spiritual, “Come By Here” and Britten’s lovely “Down By the Sally Gardens.”

Hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer for “projecting polished charisma and a singing sound,” cellist John-Henry Crawford has a passion for sharing powerful music with audiences near and far.  His collaborator in this 2016 Impromptu Encore is pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion.

Eugenia Moliner and Denis Azabagic are a Chicago-based husband-and-wife flute and guitar duo who make music as the Cavatina Duo.  Violinist Desirée Ruhstrat and cellist David Cunliffe, also a married couple, are both members of the Lincoln Trio, one of Chicago’s most celebrated chamber ensembles. In this Impromptu Encore from 2016, the quartet  performed excerpts from their recent album on the Cedille label. “Sephardic Journey” consists of works inspired by Sephardic music, specially commissioned from some of today’s leading composers.

Originally broadcast in May 2019, this Impromptu Encore features violinist Sergey Khachatryan, cellist Alisa Weilerstein, and pianist Inon Barnatan in an outstanding performance of Beethoven’s “Ghost” Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1.

Gramophone Magazine praised the Calidore String Quartet as “a miracle of unified thought.”  This vibrant, young ensemble won the 2016 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, the first North Americans to be so honored.  The group continues to earn high praise, incliudng a place on the prestigious roster of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two.