“The Calidore players penetrate right to the heart of the music, giving warm and intensely lyrical accounts.”—BBC Music Magazine
“Montero’s sound is almost miraculously sumptuous and luscious; her phrasing gives a sense of both extension and suspension.”—Ottawa Citizen
The Calidore String Quartet is recognized for formidable interpretations of the vast chamber music repertoire, from the quartet cycles of Beethoven and Mendelssohn to celebrated contemporary voices. Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Together they will perform Montero’s new Canaima: Quintet for Piano and Strings (Co-commissioned by the UGA Performing Arts Center) and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in the free (tickets required) Payne Memorial Concert at Hodgson Concert Hall Sunday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m.
The Payne Memorial Concert is named in honor of Dr. William Jackson “Jack” Payne, former Dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, who founded the Franklin College Chamber Music Series in 1978. Dean Payne had a great love of the arts and his wish was that the college should make a significant contribution to the cultural life of both the University and the Athens community through the chamber music series. In honor of his efforts, the Payne Memorial Concert is presented free (with tickets required) to the public once each season. This performance is also part of the American Liszt Society Festival.
Canaima: Quintet for Piano and Strings is co-commissioned for the Calidore String Quartet by The Gilmore in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Ottawa ChamberFest in Canada, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, the Los Alamos Concert Association in New Mexico, and the Swedish Radio.
CALIDORE STRING QUARTET
For more than a decade, the Calidore has enjoyed performances and residencies in the world’s major venues and festivals, released multiple critically acclaimed recordings, and won numerous awards. The Los Angeles Times described the musicians as “astonishing,” their playing “shockingly deep,” approaching “the kind of sublimity other quartets spend a lifetime searching.” The New York Times noted the Quartet’s “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct,” and the Washington Post wrote that “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.”
In the ’24-’25 season, the Calidore returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the University of Delaware to perform the complete string quartets of Beethoven. The quartet will also return to their alma mater, the Colburn School in Los Angeles, where they will play the complete cycle of Korngold string quartets. Other highlights of the ’24-’25 season include appearances with San Francisco Performances, the Celebrity Series of Boston, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Warsaw Philharmonic, and BBC Radio at London’s Wigmore Hall; and premieres and performances of works by Han Lash, Sebastian Currier, Xavier Foley, and Gabriela Montero.
GABRIELA MONTERO
Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”
Montero’s recent and forthcoming highlights feature performances of her own Latin Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony (Marin Alsop), New World Symphony (Stéphane Denève), Vienna and Polish National radio symphonies (Marin Alsop), BBC Scottish and Antwerp symphonies (Elim Chan), Swedish Radio Symphony (Marta Gardolińska), and National Arts Centre Orchestra (Alexander Shelley), the latter with which she concludes a four-year Creative Partnership at the end of 2025.
Winner of the 4th International Beethoven Award, Montero is a committed human rights advocate whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert platform. In 2024, she was named a recipient of the Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent by the Oslo Freedom Forum. She was also awarded the 2012 Rockefeller Award for her contribution to the arts and was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Inauguration.
PROGRAM
GABRIELA MONTERO: Canaima: Quintet for Piano and Strings
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet No. 5 in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5
SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57
PERFORMANCE TALK
Join us for a free pre-performance talk by Naomi Graber in Ramsey Concert Hall from 3:00-3:30 pm.
SUPPORTED BY
Donald Schneider
GETTING TICKETS IS EASY
Securing tickets for UGA Presents performances and other events couldn’t be easier. There are three ways to choose from:
- Purchase tickets online 24/7 here.
- Call the Performing Arts Center Box Office at (706) 542-4400, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
- Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center Box Office, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 230 River Road (5 minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)