Esmé Quartet
13 May 2024
QLD Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank
Musica Viva Australia presents the Australian debut of one of the world’s finest young string ensembles, the award-winning Germany-based Esmé Quartet, in a seven-city national tour.
The quartet will perform a program of works by Webern, Mendelssohn, Debussy, and Frerer. Named after the medieval French word for ‘beloved’, Esmé Quartet will open the program with two love letters: Webern’s Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement), a tribute to his future wife inspired by their hiking trip to the Austrian mountains, and a teenage Mendelssohn’s musical depiction of falling in love, his String Quartet No. 2.
Also featured is 28-year-old emerging Australian composer Jack Frerer’s Spiral Sequences, a rollercoaster ride in two movements showcasing the Julliard and Yale graduate’s theatrical style. The program culminates in Debussy’s sensuous and ground-breaking string quartet.
Artistic Director Paul Kildea is excited to bring the quartet’s tenderness, virtuosity, and musicality to new audiences across the country. “I have tried to keep Esmé as a strictly traditional offering – except that I’ve asked them to include a piece by Australian composer Jack Frerer, which is fast, furious, and then gentle, a wonderful way for the quartet to engage with Australian music and audiences,” Kildea said.
There will also be a cello masterclass held with the UQ School of Music on Monday 13 May with Esmé Quartet cello and founding member Yeeun Heo, offering an opportunity for Brisbane-based early career artists and young music students to work with the ensemble.
For ticketing and further information, visit the Musica Viva website
For further information about the cello masterclass with Yeeun Heo, click here
Backstreet Brisbane 
Leave a comment