“Coming to Tuscaloosa fit into the American String Quartet’s travel plan really well, and it made it financially feasible for the quartet to come to the University,” said Leslie Poss, board member of the String Quartet Society of Tuscaloosa.
David Duff, another board member, helped bring the American String Quartet to the University.
“This is my first year to work with the String Quartet Society of Tuscaloosa in terms of booking quartets for the season,” Duff said. “We were looking to bring in the most exceptional talent we could both find and afford. The American String Quartet is certainly among the best performing today. We were very happy that they were able to fit us into their schedule.”
The American String Quartet consists of violinists Peter Winograd and Laurie Carney, cellist Wolfram Koessel and violist Daniel Avshalomov. All of the musicians are faculty at the Manhattan School of Music. The quartet is in its 39th performance season.
Bronwyn Mullen, a sophomore majoring in computer science, said she was planning on attending the event.
“The four instruments harmonize with each other,” Mullen said. “Instead of being a wall of sound, like an orchestra, a quartet’s harmonies and melodies are easier to follow.”
The American String Quartet has traveled as far as Tel Aviv, Israel, for its performances, where the quartet recently performed a concert titled the Beethoven Cycle. The quartet’s program for Tuscaloosa has yet to be announced on their website. Following the concert in Tuscaloosa, the group will travel to Montgomery and perform pieces from Brahms and Beethoven.
“It’s classical music, of course, so it’s probably a little different atmosphere than some other kinds of concerts,” Duff said. “The music on the program for this concert is pretty listener-friendly, so I think it would be a great opportunity for someone who may not have had a lot of exposure to classical music to come and take it in.”
The American String Quartet will performing at Moody Concert Hall at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
