Yehudi Menuhin Seminar and Festival for Chamber Music: Beethoven 250 (1770 - 2020)

This special event provides young chamber music ensembles from throughout California the opportunity to participate in master classes and concerts with acclaimed musicians, including the Alexander String Quartet. Free.

Members of the Alexander String Quartet and Menuhin Seminar/Festival faculty will serve as judges.

Beethoven: The Lineage, Friday, Jan. 31, 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791): String Quartet in C Major, KV 465, “Dissonant” (performed by Alexander String Quartet)
• Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847): String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 13 (performed by Tower Quartet)

An Introduction to Beethoven’s String Quartet Cycle, Friday, Jan. 31, 4 p.m.

Alexander String Quartet violist Paul Yarbrough discusses Beethoven’s string quartet cycle, accompanied by performances of select movements.

Beethoven and the Piano, Saturday, Feb. 1, 4 p.m. [J. Paul Leonard Library, Special Collections (fourth floor)]

Presentation by Lecturer Paul Ellison, featuring the de Bellis Collection’s 1809 Clementi piano and performances by Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano, and Jeffrey LaDeur, piano, plus viewing of Violins of Hope with Fred Lifsitz of the Alexander String Quartet.

Gala concert, February 1, 7:30 p.m.

Honoring Beethoven’s 250th anniversary year (all works by Ludwig van Beethoven, 1170 – 1827)

• String Quartet, Op. 95, “Serioso” (performed by Tower Quartet)
• “An Die Ferne Geliebt” (performed by Kindra Scharich and Jeffrey LaDeur)
• Selection of folk song transcriptions (performed by Kindra Scharich, Jeffrey LaDeur and members of the Alexander String Quartet)
• Piano concerto, No. 4, in transcription for piano and string quartet (performed by Jeffrey LaDeur, Alexander String Quartet and Schuyler Karr)

Jane Galante Chamber Music Competition, Feb. 2, 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

• 10 a.m.: Semifinals
• 1:15 p.m.: Announcement of finalist ensembles
• 2 p.m.: Finals
• 3 p.m.: Violins of Hope presentations; Beethoven: String Quartet No. 135 (performed by Alexander String Quartet on Violins of Hope)
• 3:45 p.m: Award presentations and grand finale performance: Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130, “Cavatina” (performed by the massed forces including faculty, judges and competition participants and winners, featuring the Violins of Hope)

Violins of Hope appears as part of Violins of Hope San Francisco Bay Area, presented in association with Music at Kohl Mansion, Burlingame.

Faculty

Alexander String Quartet

• Zakarias Grafilo, violin
• Frederick Lifsitz, violin
• Paul Yarbrough, viola
• Sandy Wilson, cello

Jeffrey LaDeur, pianist

Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano

Schuyler Karr, bass

About

Launched in 2003 to honor the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin’s association with San Francisco and SF State, this event advances the belief that music has the power to create understanding and transcend differences between people. Directed by Cyrus Ginwala.