Captivating Quartets
| 1. | Introduction | 00:00:46 |
| 2. | Zwilich: Abgang and Kaddish for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano | 00:15:41 |
| 3. | Brahms: Quartet in C minor for Strings, Op. 51, No. 1 | 00:42:02 |
| 4. | Closing | 00:00:30 |
The opening piece on this program by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich was composed just over five years ago and features an unusual instrumentation: a clarinet alongside a piano trio. The work, split into two movements begins with Abgang, which makes use of a Hebraic melody as well as a foxtrot drawing reference to the work of composers once held in German concentration camps as a memorial and tribute to their lives. The second movement, Kaddish, serves as the final prayer full of hope for peace. Brahms’ Quartet in C minor marks the composer’s first published work in the genre, though it stands on the backs of what is likely dozens of scrapped quartets. After being publicly hailed by Schumann as the next leader of German classical music, Brahms was both elated and intimidated. To be compared with the likes of Beethoven was to have a world of expectation placed upon you. The result is this first quartet which contains adventurous rhythms, somber themes, and Brahmsian drama.
PROGRAM
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Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (1939–) |
Abgang and Kaddish for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano (2019) David Shifrin, clarinet; Jaime Laredo, violin; Sharon Robinson, cello; Shai Wosner, piano |
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Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) |
Quartet in C minor for Strings, Op. 51, No. 1 (1873) Calidore String Quartet (Jeffrey Myers, Ryan Meehan, violin; Jeremy Berry, viola; Estelle Choi, cello) |
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David Shifrin
Calidore String Quartet
A Yale University faculty member since 1987, clarinetist David Shifrin is artistic director of Yale’s Chamber Music Society and the Yale in New York concert series. He has performed with CMS since 1982 and served as its artistic director from 1992 to 2004, inaugurating CMS’s Bowers Program and the annual Brandenburg Concertos concerts. He was the artistic director of Chamber Music Northwest from 1981 to 2020. Winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1987) and the Avery Fisher Prize (2000), he has held principal clarinet positions in numerous orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra and the American Symphony under Leopold Stokowski. As soloist, Shifrin has performed recitals at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Library of Congress. Notable concerto performances include the Philadelphia and Minnesota orchestras; the Dallas, Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, and Denver symphonies; as well as orchestras in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Shifrin performs on clarinets made by Morrie Backun in Vancouver, Canada, and Légère synthetic reeds.
The Calidore String Quartet has been recognized for achieving an extraordinary cohesion of individual artistry and collective expression—as the Washington Post wrote, “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.” Their artistry reflects a profound engagement with both the classical canon and the evolving language of 21st-century chamber music.
The Calidore has performed at many of the world’s greatest concert halls, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Wigmore Hall, and festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, and Caramoor. Collaborators have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Joshua Bell, Anthony McGill, Marc-André Hamelin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, David Finckel and Wu Han, the Emerson String Quartet, and Quatuor Ébène, among others.
Dedicated advocates for today’s music, the Calidore has premiered works by Caroline Shaw, John Williams, Anna Clyne, and Gabriela Montero, to name a few. During the 2025–26 season, they gave the world premiere of a new quartet, Arietta by Mark-Anthony Turnage, at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
In 2026, the Calidore released an all-American album, American Tapestry on Signum Records, featuring music by Samuel Barber, Wynton Marsalis, Erich Korngold, and John Williams. In 2025, they unveiled a landmark box set of the complete Beethoven string quartets, recorded for Signum following their live cycle at CMS during the 2024–25 season.
Formed in 2010 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Calidore has won top prizes at major US chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs. In 2016, they won the Grand Prize of the inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition as well as the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. Additional honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and selection as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. They are alums of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Currently the Distinguished String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Delaware, the Calidore has also held residencies at the University of Toronto, University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University.