L.A. Quartet will showcase works

Next Thursday the acclaimed Los Angeles Piano Quartet will perform works by Dvorak, Stephen Hartke and Brahms in Finney Chapel.

The Quartet made its debut at The Music Center in Los Angeles in 1977, and has been an active force in the creation of new works for piano quartets.

The Oberlin concert, a preview for the quartet's upcoming appearance at Cornell University, will include two large romantic classical works and one contemporary work (The King of the Sun) commissioned specifically for the Quartet.The group features performers Ayako Yoshida (violin), Katherine Murdock (viola), Xak Bjerken (piano) and Oberlin Conservatory professor of cello Peter Reijto.

The concert program will include Dvorak's Piano Quartet in D Major, Op. 23, Hartke's The King of the Sun, (in which the titles are all taken from the titles of paintings by Joan Miro) and Brahm's Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25.

Of the program, Reijto said, "The Brahms piece, the Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25, is one of the most popular chamber music pieces ever written. Most everyone will recognize the famous Hungarian Gypsy Rondo ... Dvorak's piece, the Piano Quartet in D Major, Op. 23, is a lesser played work but one that is rustic and playful. It offers lots of native Czech melodies. And Stephen Hartke's The King of the Sun is whimsical, clever and very playful."

The group is much sought after by major chamber music presenters, and is known as America's premiere piano quartet. They have enjoyed much publicity, appearing as guests on Minnesota Public Radio's "St. Paul Sunday" and New York's "Live from WNCN," as well as performing at the Bermuda, Tucson, Eugene and Carmel Bach music festivals. International engagements have included the Cheltenham Festival in England, European tours, three appearances at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and concerts at the Hamburg Musikhalle and Santa Cecilia in Rome.

The Los Angeles Piano Quartet will perform Thursday, Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. in Finney Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.