Grammy-winning quartet plays Finney

Granted the rare opportunity to host a Grammy-winning group of musicians for not one, but four concerts this year, Oberlin welcomes the St. Petersburg Quartet to Finney Chapel this Sunday. The Quartet will serve the role of this year's Artists in Residence.

"I saw one of the violinists walking across campus, and I was just like 'Wooh! There he is!'" said first-year cellist Jarod Kirshkorn, who has tickets to all four shows this year.

Fellow first-year violist Jeremy Waterman couldn't help but share Kirshkorn's excitement. When asked if he was going on Sunday he replied, "Dear God, I hope so."

The Quartet, consisting of first violinist Alla Aranovskaya, second violinist Ilya Teplyakov, violist Konstantin Kats and cellist Leonid Shukaev, will perform the Shostakovich String Quartet Series in four concerts throughout the year. The first one will be performed Oct. 16. Sunday's concert is a preview show to the public. The Quartet will perform Beethoven's Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18 no. 4, Zurab Nadarejshvili's Quartet No. 1 (1985) and Glazunov's Quartet No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 70.

The Quartet was formed in 1985 by graduates of the Leningrad Conservatory. It was then called the String Quartet of the Leningrad Conservatory. In the Quartet's first year, it won numerous awards throughout the Soviet Union, and in 1987 it won the title of Laureate at the First International Shostakovich Competition for String Quartets.

When the city of Leningrad changed its name to St. Petersburg in 1991, the Quartet did so as well, and has been known as the St. Petersburg String Quartet ever since. In 1994, Sony began recording the Quartet and in 1996 it was nominated for a Grammy for its critically acclaimed first installment of the complete Shostakovich Cycle.

There will be other chances to catch the St. Petersburg Quartet throughout the semester. But make no excuses: whether one is a classical fan or not, these performances are opportunities that should not be missed by Oberlin students.

The St. Petersburg Quartet performs this Sunday, Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 and $12 for students, $18 and $16 for the general public and $14 and $16 for faculty and senior citizens.

Classic Smiles: Grammy Award winners the St. Petersburg Quartet will perform works by Beethoven, Nadarajshvili and Glazunov Sunday.(photo courtsey of the Artist Recital Faculty)