Carpe Diem String Quartet
Encyclopedia
The Carpe Diem String Quartet was founded in 2005 and is a classical string quartet
based in Columbus, Ohio, in residence at Ohio Wesleyan University
. The quartet's repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary chamber music. They regularly perform the works of contemporaries like Osvaldo Golijov
, Gunther Schuller
, Bruce Wolosoff
, and Korine Fujiwara, as well as the works of classical composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
, Ludwig van Beethoven
, Felix Mendelssohn
, Joseph Haydn
and countless others. A few of the outstanding artists with whom the quartet has played include Yo-Yo Ma
, Peter Soave, and Richard Stoltzman
.
, whose eighteen-movement piece entitled "Songs without Words" has been commissioned by the quartet. In January 2009, the quartet performed in New York City, New York, with the Columbus Dance Theater, followed by a tour in Texas
. In early February the quartet toured in Colorado
before reuniting with acclaimed accordion
ist and bandoneon
ist Peter Soave for a tour in Michigan and Ohio from late February to early March. They concluded their 2008-2009 season with a critically acclaimed concert at the University of Cincinnati's
College-Conservatory of Music. For several weeks spanning July and August, the quartet performed in Denver, Colorado
, and participated in the Snake River Music Festival in Dillon
and Keystone
.
The quartet opened the 2009-2010 season at their new venue: the Harrison Park
clubhouse is situated on the banks of the Olentangy River near the Short North
and Victorian Village
neighborhoods, all of which are just outside of downtown Columbus.
The quartet traveled to New York City to perform at the trendy club Le Poisson Rouge in January 2010. Also during the trip, they performed at WNYC's
Greene Space, the Nabi Gallery, and were featured at APAP and CMA showcases. The quartet closed off the month with concerts in Detroit and at Southern Illinois University
. In the Spring, CDSQ returned to the University of Cincinnati for a week-long camp of classes and performances. The quartet once again spent parts of July and August in Colorado as part of the Snake River Music Festival.
. Writes one reviewer: "Willy Porter is an “active” guitarist. That is, he boasts some serious chops, his style is percussive and intricate, and he often employs complex, syncopated grooves, a la Leo Kottke." The quartet began working with Porter in early 2010, rearranging some of his most popular songs like "Moonbeam" and "Big Yellow Pine" to include the string quartet. The result was the recording of a live performance in Columbus. Since then, Porter and the quartet have performed together across the Midwest to critical acclaim. Says Porter of the quartet: “I think this quartet represents a new breed of classical musicians in that they’re not ‘married to the page.’”
.
For one week in August 2009, the quartet worked with 16 students during violinist Charles Wetherbee's Scale the Summit music camp. Though in its first year, the camp was hugely successful and very well received. It concluded with performances by both student-only ensembles and also ensembles including members of CDSQ.
In November 2009, the quartet embarked on a two-week trip to Tokyo
, Japan
, where they worked closely with the music students of Rikkyo University
and performed with them in Japan's premier Suntory Hall
. The quartet performed to critical acclaim and was eagerly invited back.
Sergei Taneyev
; a CD of Taneyev's String Quartets Numbers 1 and 3 is available under the Naxos
label. The second volume of Taneyev, featuring String Quartets Numbers 2 and 4, has most recently been released for digital download on the Naxos website. Physical CDs will be made available in March 2011. In the summer of 2009, CDSQ recorded "Montana" and "Entangled Banks," both composed by violist Korine Fujiwara, for an upcoming CD. "Songs Without Words," composed by Bruce Wolosoff
for the quartet, was successfully recorded earlier in 2009 and has been made available for digital download on Naxos's website. Physical CDs of the recording will be released in December 2010.
A huge honor for the Carpe Diem String Quartet: they received nominations for the 2009 Grammy Awards in four categories: Best Classical Album, Best Chamber Music Performance, Best New Artist, and Best Engineered Album- Classical.
Recently, the quartet has released a number of CDs:
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
based in Columbus, Ohio, in residence at Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five — a consortium of Ohio liberal arts colleges...
. The quartet's repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary chamber music. They regularly perform the works of contemporaries like Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
, Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
, Bruce Wolosoff
Bruce Wolosoff
Bruce Wolosoff , is an American classical composer, pianist, and educator.Wolosoff was educated at Bard College and the New England Conservatory in Boston. It was at the New England Conservatory that he met jazz composer-pianist Jaki Byard, an artist who was to exert an enormous influence on...
, and Korine Fujiwara, as well as the works of classical composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
, Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
and countless others. A few of the outstanding artists with whom the quartet has played include Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, Peter Soave, and Richard Stoltzman
Richard Stoltzman
Richard Stoltzman is an American clarinetist. Born Richard Leslie Stoltzman in Omaha, Nebraska, he spent his early years in San Francisco, California and Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from Woodward High School in 1960. Today, Stoltzman is part of the faculty list at the New England Conservatory...
.
Current and Future
The quartet has worked extensively with esteemed composer Bruce WolosoffBruce Wolosoff
Bruce Wolosoff , is an American classical composer, pianist, and educator.Wolosoff was educated at Bard College and the New England Conservatory in Boston. It was at the New England Conservatory that he met jazz composer-pianist Jaki Byard, an artist who was to exert an enormous influence on...
, whose eighteen-movement piece entitled "Songs without Words" has been commissioned by the quartet. In January 2009, the quartet performed in New York City, New York, with the Columbus Dance Theater, followed by a tour in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. In early February the quartet toured in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
before reuniting with acclaimed accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
ist and bandoneon
Bandoneón
The bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra...
ist Peter Soave for a tour in Michigan and Ohio from late February to early March. They concluded their 2008-2009 season with a critically acclaimed concert at the University of Cincinnati's
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
College-Conservatory of Music. For several weeks spanning July and August, the quartet performed in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, and participated in the Snake River Music Festival in Dillon
Dillon, Colorado
Dillon is a home rule municipality in Summit County, Colorado, United States. The population was 802 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dillon is located at ....
and Keystone
Keystone, Colorado
Keystone is a census-designated place in Summit County, Colorado, United States. The population was 825 at the 2000 census. The Dillon Post Office serves Keystone postal addresses....
.
The quartet opened the 2009-2010 season at their new venue: the Harrison Park
Harrison West
Harrison West is a historic, urban neighborhood located north and near west of downtown Columbus, Ohio. The neighborhood character is similar to the better-known Victorian Village just to the east...
clubhouse is situated on the banks of the Olentangy River near the Short North
The Short North
The Short North is a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio, United States, centered on the main strip of High Street immediately north of downtown and extending until just south of the Ohio State University campus area. It is an easy walk from the convention center or Nationwide Arena district to the north...
and Victorian Village
Victorian Village
Victorian Village is a neighborhood located north and near west of downtown Columbus. It is an older area with a fair number of established trees for an urban setting...
neighborhoods, all of which are just outside of downtown Columbus.
The quartet traveled to New York City to perform at the trendy club Le Poisson Rouge in January 2010. Also during the trip, they performed at WNYC's
WNYC
WNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...
Greene Space, the Nabi Gallery, and were featured at APAP and CMA showcases. The quartet closed off the month with concerts in Detroit and at Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University is a state university system based in Carbondale, Illinois, in the Southern Illinois region of the state, with multiple campuses...
. In the Spring, CDSQ returned to the University of Cincinnati for a week-long camp of classes and performances. The quartet once again spent parts of July and August in Colorado as part of the Snake River Music Festival.
Willy Porter
The quartet's latest acclaimed work has been pairing with singer-songwriter Willy PorterWilly Porter
Willy Porter is a contemporary American folk musician and singer-songwriter from Mequon, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and was a member of the Epsilon Chi Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, a men's fraternity.-Career:...
. Writes one reviewer: "Willy Porter is an “active” guitarist. That is, he boasts some serious chops, his style is percussive and intricate, and he often employs complex, syncopated grooves, a la Leo Kottke." The quartet began working with Porter in early 2010, rearranging some of his most popular songs like "Moonbeam" and "Big Yellow Pine" to include the string quartet. The result was the recording of a live performance in Columbus. Since then, Porter and the quartet have performed together across the Midwest to critical acclaim. Says Porter of the quartet: “I think this quartet represents a new breed of classical musicians in that they’re not ‘married to the page.’”
Columbus Dance Theater
CDSQ has formed a strong partnership with the Columbus Dance Theatre (CDT). Together, the two groups have performed concurrently and consistently in Columbus and beyond. In January 2009, the two groups performed in New York City. Per the relationship between CDT and CDSQ, performances used to be hosted by CDT in their Fisher Theatre. Though the quartet's new permanent venue is the Harrison Park clubhouse (as of the beginning of the 2009-2010 season), some performances with CDT will continue to be held in the Fisher Theatre.Educational Outreach
Like many musical organizations, the quartet is dedicated to sharing the joy of music - particularly chamber music. During their free time, the quartet continues to work with schools and arts groups to foster kids' love of music. Their concerts are interactive and hands-on for the students and relate to core academic classes. The quartet has launched two new programs: Musicare and Music Goes to School, which enable the quartet to bring music to everyone in the Central Ohio area, regardless of their means or circumstances. Of special note, in the spring of 2008, the quartet performed for the Great Lakes Caravan, which brings professional musicians to low-income communities in the Great Lakes regionGreat Lakes region (North America)
The Great Lakes region of North America, occasionally known as the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast , includes the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario...
.
For one week in August 2009, the quartet worked with 16 students during violinist Charles Wetherbee's Scale the Summit music camp. Though in its first year, the camp was hugely successful and very well received. It concluded with performances by both student-only ensembles and also ensembles including members of CDSQ.
In November 2009, the quartet embarked on a two-week trip to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where they worked closely with the music students of Rikkyo University
Rikkyo University
, also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, based on Christian precepts, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. There is a suburban campus in Niiza in nearby Saitama.It is known for its liberal climate symbolized by the motto -History:...
and performed with them in Japan's premier Suntory Hall
Suntory Hall
The Suntory Hall is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, a ward in Tokyo, Japan...
. The quartet performed to critical acclaim and was eagerly invited back.
Recordings
The quartet has worked extensively to record works by Russian composerComposer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Sergei Taneyev
Sergei Taneyev
Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev , was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author.-Life:...
; a CD of Taneyev's String Quartets Numbers 1 and 3 is available under the Naxos
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
label. The second volume of Taneyev, featuring String Quartets Numbers 2 and 4, has most recently been released for digital download on the Naxos website. Physical CDs will be made available in March 2011. In the summer of 2009, CDSQ recorded "Montana" and "Entangled Banks," both composed by violist Korine Fujiwara, for an upcoming CD. "Songs Without Words," composed by Bruce Wolosoff
Bruce Wolosoff
Bruce Wolosoff , is an American classical composer, pianist, and educator.Wolosoff was educated at Bard College and the New England Conservatory in Boston. It was at the New England Conservatory that he met jazz composer-pianist Jaki Byard, an artist who was to exert an enormous influence on...
for the quartet, was successfully recorded earlier in 2009 and has been made available for digital download on Naxos's website. Physical CDs of the recording will be released in December 2010.
A huge honor for the Carpe Diem String Quartet: they received nominations for the 2009 Grammy Awards in four categories: Best Classical Album, Best Chamber Music Performance, Best New Artist, and Best Engineered Album- Classical.
Recently, the quartet has released a number of CDs:
- Montana by Korine Fujiwara
- Songs without Words by Bruce WolosoffBruce WolosoffBruce Wolosoff , is an American classical composer, pianist, and educator.Wolosoff was educated at Bard College and the New England Conservatory in Boston. It was at the New England Conservatory that he met jazz composer-pianist Jaki Byard, an artist who was to exert an enormous influence on...
- Live at BoMA by Willy Porter and Carpe Diem String Quartet
External links
- www.carpediemstringquartet.com, CDSQ's official website
- CDSQ's YouTube channel
- http://www.brucewolosoff.comComposer Bruce WolosoffBruce WolosoffBruce Wolosoff , is an American classical composer, pianist, and educator.Wolosoff was educated at Bard College and the New England Conservatory in Boston. It was at the New England Conservatory that he met jazz composer-pianist Jaki Byard, an artist who was to exert an enormous influence on...
's official website] - Naxos's official website
- Harrison Park