Da Camera: St. Lawrence String Quartet March 27, 2009

Schubert Shepherd on the Rock, D. 965
Osvaldo Golijov Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
Mendelssohn String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80 (in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn’s birth)
Roberto Sierra Songs from the Diaspora

St. Lawrence String Quartet (Geoff Nuttall, violin; Scott St. John, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; Christopher Costanza, cello); Heidi Grant Murphy, soprano; Todd Palmer, clarinet; Kevin Murphy, piano

The St. Lawrence String Quartet’s electrifying performances have dazzled audiences all over the world. The Quartet returns to Da Camera joined by two close friends: American opera star, soprano Heidi Grant Murphy, and clarinet virtuoso Todd Palmer.

Osvaldo Golijov, called “a huge talent” by Alex Ross in The New Yorker, made music history in 1994 with his imaginative work for string quartet and klezmer clarinet. Premiered in 2007, Roberto Sierra’s Songs from the Diaspora are moving new settings of texts by the Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. Soulful masterpieces of Schubert and Mendelssohn interweave with the hauntingly beautiful newer works.

“...Songs from the Diaspora, some of the most affecting song-writing in recent memory.”
— Fanfare

“We hear the essence of Golijov’s art in this mesmerizing score: roots planted deeply in Hebraic tradition, dramatic instincts that surprise and move, an astonishing ear for instrumental sonorities and interplay.” — Cleveland Plain Dealer

Official Website: http://www.dacamera.com/artist06.html