Why are string quartets so popular?

“It’s the vehicle that most composers, over the centuries, have used to write some of their best and most personal works,” ventures Robert Lehmann, violinist and director of string studies at the University of Southern Maine. “I think it is the most pristine form of chamber music – the crown jewel of chamber ensembles.”

Lehmann and other members of the Meliora String Quartet -- Yasmin Craig-Vitalius, violin, Kimberly Lehmann, viola, and Jim Kennedy, cello  -- will perform quartets by Haydn, Shostakovich, and Dvorak during their concert on Friday, April 18, 20008. The performance gets underway at 8 p.m. in Corthell Concert Hall on the USM Gorham campus. Tickets are $15 for the general public, $10 for seniors, and $5 for students. Call the Music Box Office at 780-5555 for reservations.

This concert is sponsored by WBRC Architects and Engineers. A reception will follow in the first floor lobby 

The concert will open with “Quartet Op. 76 No. 3, the “Emperor,” by Franz Joseph Haydn. Lehmann notes that the work gets its name from the second movement, a set of variations on “God Save the Kaiser” that would eventually become the national anthem of Germany.

“In addition to being the father of the symphony,” he says, “Haydn was the father of the string quartet. He emancipated the viola and cello from the bass line and created a true dialogue among equals.”

Next is Dmitri Shostakovich’s 20th century work, “Quartet No. 8, Op. 110.”

“Much like Beethoven, Shostakovich turned to the string quartet to express his deepest thoughts and feelings,” continues Lehmann. “The quartet has the subtitle ‘In memory of the victims of fascism and war.’ It is stark, powerful and achingly beautiful …. Shostakovich personalized the anguish and horror of war and communism by writing himself into the quartet using a quotation of the musical letters of his name in German in the music – D, E-flat, C, and B-natural.”

The final piece is “Quartet No. 11, C Major, Op. 61.” Although most audiences will be familiar with the famously popular “American” string quartet inspired by Dvorak’s American sojourn, the C Major quartet is probably the least performed.

“That’s probably due to its length (40 minutes) and its virtuosity,” notes Lehmann. “It’s a wonderful work that needs to be heard more often. The jewel is the slow second movement in which he writes some of his most complicated rhythmic counterpoint interweaving lyrical melodies of great beauty.”

The Meliora String Quartet, formed in 2006, brings together four of the top musicians in Southern Maine for the sole purpose of performing chamber music repertoire at the highest level.  Citing a shortage of opportunities to hear music from this vast and brilliant repertoire, the Meliora String Quartet’s mission is to bring both familiar and lesser known works of note to audiences in Maine.  The quartet unites four individuals, each well established as performer and teacher, into a cohesive entity driven by their love of the repertoire and desire to communicate this excitement through performance.  

Biographies

Robert Lehmann was born and raised in Mexico City. He is a graduate of the University of the Pacific and the Eastman School of Music, and a 2008 recipient of a doctorate in violin performance from Boston University. He is Director of String Studies, Associate Professor of Music and Artist Faculty in violin and viola at the University of Southern Maine School of Music. He conducts the Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Youth Symphony Orchestra, the North Shore Philharmonic, the Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the White Mountain Bach Festival.  He has been a frequent guest conductor of the Portland Symphony Orchestra as well as other professional orchestras around the world, and is in great demand as a violinist, teacher, adjudicator and conductor. 

Yasmin Craig Vitalius received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Stanford University in 1997 and her Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music in 2001. Between her degrees, she received a Fulbright Fellowship in which she studied Turkish Folk music and played with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra in Ankara, Turkey. In 2003 she was the recipient of the National Association of Music Teachers' STAR award for achievement in teaching. In the spring of 2004, she completed her fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida culminating in performances at the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, and Carnegie Hall in New York City.  She began her violin studies at the age of 6 and has received teacher training with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.  Yasmin is a member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, the Portland Ballet Orchestra and PORTOpera.  She also performs with the Improv String Quartet, Maine Grand Opera, the Maine Chamber Society, Maine Music Society and the Atlantic Piano Trio.  Yasmin is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Maine Suzuki Association and the Portland Symphony Orchestra.  Yasmin teaches violin through her home studio and is the Suzuki violin instructor at L'Ecole Francaise du Maine. 

Kimberly Lehmann, originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, received her Bachelor of Music in violin performance from the University of Minnesota and her Master of Music in violin performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music.  Several years ago, upon receiving an instrument from her husband Robert’s grandmother, she fell in love with the viola.  She has been a violinist in the South Dakota Symphony, the Colorado Springs Symphony and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.  She is concertmaster of the Maine Chamber Ensemble and regularly performs on either violin or viola with the Portland Symphony, PORTOpera, Portland Ballet, and the Portland Chamber Orchestra. Kim lives in Scarborough, Maine with her husband Robert and sons Eric and Alexander. 

Jim Kennedy is principal cellist of the Portland Symphony Orchestra. He is a world-renowned performer and teacher who has spent most of his long career as a featured soloist and as principal cellist for numerous orchestra and chamber music ensembles throughout the world.  Kennedy maintains a regular touring and solo performance schedule, most notably a recent concert tour of France that included several recitals in Paris and Normandy.

2008 Concerto/Aria Competition winners to perform with orchestra


The University of Southern Maine’s Southern Maine Symphony Orchestra will present its final concert of the season on April 19, featuring the winners of the 2008 Concerto/Aria Competition. They are Jason Giacomazzo of Augusta, saxophone; George Eisenhauer of Camden, tenor; Micah Maurio of Woodland, flugelhorn; and Ian Scott of Madison, Wis., piano.

Judges were Charles Dimmick, concertmaster of the Portland Symphony Orchestra; Lisa Saffer, nationally known opera singer; and Chiharu Naruse, faculty at the Portland Conservatory, and a concert pianist.

The orchestra, conducted by Robert Lehmann, will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 19, 2008 in Gorham Middle School. Tickets are $6 for the general public, $3 for students. Call 780-5555 for reservations.

The concert will open with Estonian composer Arvo Part's “Third Symphony.” Pärt is often identified with the school of composition known as minimalism, more specifically, "mystic minimalism" or "sacred minimalism" along with contemporaries Henryk Górecki and John Tavener. The spirit of early European polyphony is a fundamental part of Pärt's compositional style in his ‘Third Symphony’ of 1971. He immersed himself in early music, re-investigating the roots of western music, studied plainsong, Gregorian chant, and the emergence of polyphony in the Renaissance. 

“He was a very interesting character,” says Lehmann. “He had three different compositional styles over the years. The most enduring style is the one that has made him the most popular – a very tonal, homogenous style deeply influenced by his religious and spiritual beliefs. In this work you will hear contemplation, a quest for spiritual fulfillment, and a nod to the music of the past.”

The second half of the program will feature the winners of the Concerto/Aria Competition who will perform the solo parts of a variety of works with the full orchestra.

Jason Giacomazzo of Augusta, saxophone, a student of Bill Street, will perform Jacques Ibert’s “Concertino da Camera, for saxophone and chamber orchestra.”

George Eisenhauer of Camden, tenor, a student of Bruce Fithian, will perform Lenski’s aria, from “Eugene Onegin” by Peter Ilitch Tchaikovsky.

Micah Maurio of Woodland, flugelhorn, a student of Betty Rines, will play the third movement of Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Concerto in C Major for cello and orchestra” arranged for flugelhorn.

Ian Scott of Madison, Wis., piano, a graduate student of Laura Kargul, will end the concert with a performance of the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Concerto No. 5, in E-flat Major, Op. 73, the ‘Emperor’.”