Visiting Quartet Residency enters fourth movement

TEMPE, Ariz. — The Visiting Quartet Residency Program in the ASU Herberger College School of Music embarks on its fourth season with the Tokyo String Quartet during 2008–09. A distinct program among music schools nationwide, the series builds a synergy among students, visiting resident artists and the community. Free concerts featuring the quartet this season take place Oct. 29, Jan. 28 and April 13 and are open to the community.

Each academic year, a professional string quartet is invited to ASU to be distinguished artist teachers. Throughout the season, students receive a comprehensive chamber music curriculum and the greatest educational chamber music experience possible. Students work intensively with quartet members on themed projects, growing from the relationships they build through a series of demonstrations, master classes, lectures, open rehearsals and performances. Most instructional activities and all concerts are free and open to the public.

“Over the course of the season, students are exposed to and learn from diverse artists who represent the best in the business,” says Jonathan Swartz, artistic director of the program and violin professor in the ASU Herberger College School of Music. “The chamber music curriculum focuses on each quartet's interests and strengths.”

Throughout the track of a four-year undergraduate degree, students will have worked and developed relationships with four different major professional string quartets, while covering all pillars in the chamber music literature. During the 2005–06 season, the ASU Herberger College School of Music hosted the St. Lawrence String Quartet, which inaugurated the Visiting Quartet Residency Program. The Juilliard String Quartet performed during the 2006–07 season, and The Brentano String Quartet performed in 2007–08.

This season the Tokyo String Quartet adds Tempe, Ariz. to its track. The group performs more than 100 concerts across the globe each season and was founded more than three decades ago. Its current members are Martin Beaver, violin; Kikuei Ikeda, violin; Kazuhide Isomura, viola; and Clive Greensmith, cello.

Tickets for Tokyo String Quartet performances during 2008–09 are free but required; each patron is allowed up to four tickets. For reservations, call 480.965.6447. Tickets for the Oct. 29 concert are available Oct. 8, Jan. 28 concert tickets are available Jan. 7, and April 13 concert tickets are available March 25. Tickets are available to the ASU community one day prior to being released to the general public. Unclaimed tickets are released five minutes prior to curtain. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in Katzin Concert Hall in the School of Music building, 40 E. Gammage Parkway, on the ASU Tempe campus.

For more information on the Visiting Quartet Residency Program, visit http://music.asu.edu/community/visitingquartet.php. For additional information about the Tokyo String Quartet, visit http://www.tokyoquartet.com.

The School of Music in the Herberger College of the Arts at Arizona State University is ranked 19th in the country and eighth among public institutions by U.S. News & World Report. More than 100 music faculty artists and scholars work with approximately 800 music majors each year in research, performance and scholarly activities. It presents approximately 700 concerts and recitals each year. To learn more about the School of Music, visit http://music.asu.edu.

Media Contact:
Wendy Craft
Media Relations
480.965.0478
Wendy.Craft@asu.edu