COOPERSTOWN — The Cooperstown Summer Music Festival announced the American String Quartet will launch its new season at 7 p.m. Monday, July 21 at the Fenimore Farm and Country Village at 5775 State Route 80 in Cooperstown.
According to a news release, the “captivating program” will range from “Mozart’s royal court elegance to folk-inspired works of the late 19th century.” The evening opens with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet in B-flat major, K. 589, from the “Prussian” Quartets (his final three), which showcase his characteristic style and refinement while giving a prominent, lyrical role to the cello, born of Mozart’s hope for the patronage of cellist-King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia.
Members of the quartet are, Peter Winograd, violin; Laurie Carney, violin; Matthias Buchholz, viola; Wolfram Koessel, cello.
In a special collaboration, CSMF Artistic Director and flutist Linda Chesis will join the quartet for Charles Bordes’s Suite Basque, op. 6, a “little-known gem which highlights Bordes’s fascination with Basque folk music and features the flute, representing the traditional Basque txistu, a type of flute which came to symbolize the Basque folk revival,” the release stated. This performance will offer a portal to the unique character and rhythmic vitality of Basque musical heritage.
Johannes Brahms’s String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, op. 111, written for string quintet with two violas, will be performed with former ASQ violist Daniel Avshalomov with the current violist Matthias Buchholz. According to the release, “this extraordinary work achieves an almost symphonic sonority in its outer movements. Exuberant, sumptuous, and unmistakably Brahms, the work was intended by the composer to be his last, and unarguably one of the finest achievements in his chamber music. In fact, when he sent the score to his publisher, Brahms included a note to effect that Simrock Publishing now held his ‘last will and testament.’”
For this performance, the current American String Quartet violist will be joined by the former ASQ violist, Daniel Avshalomov, for a special reunion. The quintet’s exuberant finale reflects Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, creating a folk music connection that pairs beautifully with the Bordes. The American String Quartet continues to set the standard for chamber music excellence, bringing decades of experience and artistic refinement to this carefully curated program that spans classical elegance, folk inspiration, and romantic grandeur.
“We’re thrilled to welcome back these festival favorites,” Chesis said in the release. “The American String Quartet has been such an integral part of our musical community. Their return to open our season feels like a homecoming we can’t wait to share with our audiences.”
Tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for students and children. Tickets can be purchased in advance either online at www.cooperstownmusicfest.org or over the phone by calling Purplepass Tickets at 800-316-8559 and selecting Option 1. Please note there is a $2 service fee per phone order. Tickets will also be sold at the door, as available.