Escher Quartet, Chamber Music at the Clark

All Chamber Music at the Clark tickets will be sold by the UCLA Central Ticket Office. Tickets may be purchased online, via telephone, or in person. 

Ticket prices: General $55; Senior (age 55+) $45; UCLA student (valid student ID required for each ticket) $15. Tickets are non-refundable.

Tickets for this concert will go on sale Tuesday, December 9 at 12:00 noon.

Seating at the Clark Library is limited, and tickets are likely to sell out within a few minutes.
Online: https://tinyurl.com/39hu3y3j
Telephone: (310) 825-2101
In person: Central Ticket Office windows located on the UCLA campus at 325 Westwood Plaza (ground level, across from Pauley Pavilion).

If any tickets for this concert remain unsold, they will be available for purchase at the Clark Library on the day of the event. Any available day-of tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis by a Central Ticket Office representative beginning at 1:00 p.m. Payment will be accepted via credit card only. For inquiries, please call or email the Central Ticket Office at (310) 825-2101 or cto@tickets.ucla.edu, Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Program

Béla Bartók (1881–1945)
String Quartet No. 1, op. 7, BB. 52 Sz. 40
String Quartet No. 3, BB. 93 Sz. 85
String Quartet No. 5, BB. 110 Sz. 102

Escher Quartet
Adam Barnett-Hart, violin
Bryan Lee, violin
Pierre Lapointe, viola
Brook Speltz, cello

The Escher String Quartet has received acclaim for its profound musical insight and rare tonal beauty. A former BBC New Generation Artist and recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the quartet has performed at the BBC Proms at Cadogan Hall and is a regular guest at Wigmore Hall. In its home town of New York, the ensemble serves as season artists of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The 2023–2024 season found the Escher Quartet embarking upon a major project: performances of the complete cycle of quartets by Béla Bartók, culminating in a single concert performance of all six at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The first-ever performance of all six Bartók quartets in chronological order was given by the Emerson String Quartet in March 1981, also at Alice Tully Hall, in honor of Bartók’s centenary year.

Beyond Bartók, the Eschers will return to many of the illustrious music centers and organizations in America, such as the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Phoenix Chamber Music Society, Duke University, Coleman Chamber Music Association, and Savannah Music Festival, among others.

The Escher Quartet has made a distinctive impression throughout Europe, with recent debuts including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus, London’s Kings Place, Slovenian Philharmonic Hall, Les Grands Interprètes Geneva, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and Auditorium du Louvre. The group has appeared at festivals such as the Heidelberg Spring Festival, Budapest’s Franz Liszt Academy, Dublin’s Great Music in Irish Houses, the Risør Chamber Music Festival in Norway, the Hong Kong International Chamber Music Festival, and the Perth International Arts Festival in Australia. Alongside its growing European profile, the Escher Quartet continues to flourish in its home country, performing at the Aspen Music Festival, Bravo! Vail, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music, Chamber Music San Francisco, Music@Menlo, and the Ravinia and Caramoor festivals.

The 2022–2023 season saw the release of two albums: string quartets by Pierre Jalbert and the Escher’s studio recording of the complete Janáček quartets and Pavel Haas Quartet No. 2 with multi-award-winning percussionist Colin Currie (BIS Label). Recordings of the complete Mendelssohn quartets and beloved romantic quartets of Dvořák, Borodin, and Tchaikovsky were released on the BIS label in 2015-18 and received with the highest critical acclaim, with comments such as “…eloquent, full-blooded playing… The four players offer a beautiful blend of individuality and accord” (BBC Music Magazine). In 2019, DANCE, an album of quintets with Grammy award-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux, was enthusiastically received. In 2021, the Escher’s recording of the complete quartets of Charles Ives and Samuel Barber was met with equal excitement, including “A fascinating snapshot of American quartets, with a recording that is brilliantly detailed, this is a first-rate release all around” (Strad Magazine). The quartet has also recorded the complete Zemlinsky String Quartets in two volumes, released on the Naxos label in 2013 and 2014.

Beyond the concert hall, the Escher Quartet is proud to announce the creation of a not-for-profit organization, ESQYRE (Escher String Quartet Youth Residency Education). ESQYRE’s mission is to provide a comprehensive educational program through music performance and instruction for people of all ages. In addition, the quartet has held faculty positions at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX and the University of Akron, OH.

Within months of its inception in 2005, the ensemble came to the attention of key musical figures worldwide. Championed by the Emerson Quartet, the Escher Quartet was invited by both Pinchas Zukerman and Itzhak Perlman to be Quartet-in-Residence at each artist’s summer festival: the Young Artists Program at Canada’s National Arts Centre; and the Perlman Chamber Music Program on Shelter Island, NY.

The Escher Quartet takes its name from the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, inspired by Escher’s method of interplay between individual components working together to form a whole.

Chamber Music at the Clark is made possible by The Ahmanson Foundation, under the auspices of Lee Walcott; Henry J. Bruman Endowment for Chamber Music; The Colburn Foundation; Ms. Brenda Anderson; Mrs. Martha R. Bardach; Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Ph.D. and Barbara Timmer; Dr. Rogers Brubaker; Dr. Johanna R. Drucker; Dr. Susan S. Harris and Mr. Mark J. Harris; Ms. Judy L. Hellinger; Dr. David E. Lopez; Drs. Martin and Susan Mach; Mr. Bernie and Ms. Elaine Mendes; Mrs. Janet K. Minami; Mr. Jeffrey L. Nagin and Mrs. Bette I. Nagin; Dr. Theodore M. Porter; Dr. Jeanne Robson; Dr. Thomas Rosenthal and Ms. Susan M. Rosenthal; Ms. Carol E. Sandberg; Charles H. and Carol “Jackie” Schwartz; Dr. Patricia Bates Simun and Mr. Richard V. Simun Memorial Fund; Professor Bronwen Wilson; and Roberta and Robert Young.

Please see here for more information about our chamber music programs.

Photo credit: courtesy of Escher Quartet