Wednesday, February 24, 2010
7:00 p.m.
Americas Society
680 Park Avenue
New York, NY
Map of location

Momenta Quartet. Courtesy of the artist.

The Momenta Quartet has been described by Time Out New York as a "striking new-music quartet." Along with over 40 world premieres by both established and up-and-coming composers, the ensemble's repertoire includes standards by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and others; twentieth-century masterworks; and consort music of the Renaissance. Momenta approaches all of this music with equal passion and commitment; a new work by a young composer is given as much attention as a revered mainstay of the classical canon. Some of these emerging composers have received important grants, Rhodes scholarships, invitations to Darmstadt, and commercial recording contracts as a direct result of their work with the Quartet. In February 2009, Momenta was one of only seven recipients of the prestigious Koussevitzky Music Fund grant to commission a new work by the Malaysian composer Kee Yong Chong.

Momenta Quartet:
Emilie-Ann Gendron and Asmira Woodward-Page, violins
Stephanie Griffin, viola
Michael Haas, cello



Program:

Manena Contreras (Venezuela)
Instantes (2005)
     i. Energico
     ii. Largo
     iii. Adagio; Con Moto; Adagio
     iv. Adagio
     v. Allegro

Arthur Kampela (Brazil)
Uma Faca Só Lámina (“A Knife All Blade,” 1998): Excerpt   (World Premiere)
     i. Bridges for Solo Viola
     ii. C-Proposition
     iii. E-Cadenza for Solo Cello

Intermission

Panel Discussion with composers Kampela and Contreras

Cergio Prudencio (Bolivia)
Transfiguraciones (2006)

Agustín Fernández (Bolivia)
String Quartet No 1, ‘Montes’ (2007)
     i. City of Silence
     ii. Gate of the Moon
     iii. Music and Land

This program is presented as part of COMPOSERS NOW, a festival that celebrates the diversity and presence of living composers in our society. For more information and a detailed schedule of events and partnering institutions, please visit www.composersnow.org.

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The MetLife Foundation Music of the Americas concert series is presented with the generous support of MetLife Foundation. The Spring 2010 Music Program is also supported in part by The Mexican Cultural Institute of New York, the Consulate General of Brazil in New York, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.


In-kind support is graciously provided by the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Quintet of the Americas, and the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. The Momenta Quartet's performance is made possible through the generous support of The Aaron Coplan Fund for New Music and Meet the Composer's Cary New Music Performance Fund.