The Circadian String Quartet Rhythm, Revolution, and Ritual: Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" Re-imagined Saturday 27 May 2017 at 8:00pm The Berkeley Hillside Club is proud to present the Circadian String Quartet's return to our stage with the David Ryther's remarkable transcription of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" for string quartet and percussion. The CSQ previewed Part I of the piece at the Club last October to great acclaim and they are now returning with the complete work. Also on the program is a suite of Russian folksongs, performed by the brilliant vocalist Lily Storm, and the premiere of a new work "Rites" written especially for the CSQ by Benjamin Leeds Carson. Don't miss these remarkable artists performing in our historic and acoustically-excellent hall. The Circadian String Quartet are: Sarah Wood & David Ryther - violins Omid Assadi - viola David Wishnia - cello
with special guest: Lily Storm - vocals
About the Concert: The Circadian String Quartet presents "Rhythm, Revolution and Ritual: The Rite of Spring Re-imagined.” the first concert in a series of three programs developed to explore the revolutionary sound world from Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring and its links to the explosive events of the decades from which it sprung. This iconic 20th century masterpiece, which infamously caused a riot at its 1913 premiere, struck a powerful nerve in a Europe wracked by political and social tension. Since then, the music has provoked unending fascination with its mix of French harmonies & deep, primal Russian roots. This concert features the Circadian's own version of Stravinsky's masterpiece transcribed for string quartet and percussion. For Stravinsky, revolutionary meant making use of ancient Russian folk music. In that spirit CSQ also presents Russian folksongs in collaboration with the brilliant singer, Lily Storm. We are also proud to present the premiere of composer Benjamin Leeds Carson's "Rites," written especially for CSQ as a companion piece for the Rite of Spring. "Rites" takes Stravinsky's primal rhythms as a jumping off point for a sometimes humorous and sometimes poignant adventure in rhythmic ritual. The Program: Russian Folk Songs sung by Lily Storm 'Rites" for String Quartet (3 movements) - Benjamin Leeds Carson The Rite of Spring: Scenes of Pagan Rus’ in Two Parts - Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) Part I - L'Adoration de la Terre (Adoration of the Earth) Part II - Le Sacrifice (The Sacrifice) (Transcribed for String Quartet and Percussion by David Ryther) The Ensemble: Bay Area based Circadian String Quartet was founded in 2013 to promote the classical and contemporary string quartet repertoire, in particular music of cultural and folkloric significance. Since then, the group has been featured by Mt. Shasta's Music by the Mountain Chamber Music Festival, SunsetArts Chamber Music Series in San Francisco, and the Merced Symphony Association. CSQ has collaborated with many fine musicians, including the St. Petersburg-based Rimsky Korsakov String Quartet during their 2014 North American tour, and with local musicians of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet. CSQ is proud to have given world- and U.S. premieres of exciting new pieces of chamber music, a result of working closely with several living composers, including Sahba Aminikia, Toronto-based composer and pianist Noam Lemish, and British composer Ian Venables. The Circadian String Quartet has recently been accepted as an ensemble with the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. Members of CSQ serve as resident teaching artists for the Villa Sinfonia Foundation's Zephyr Point Chamber Music Workshop in South Lake Tahoe, NV. Dedicated to music education, the quartet works intensely with musician of all ages in developing their musical abilities in chamber music. The quartet has also developed and presented interactive school programs for grades 4-12. What people are saying: "...the ensemble’s(Circadian String Quartet's) approach to interpreting Ryther’s transcription [of The Rite of Spring] was consistently impressive. The performance was clearly the result of passionate commitment, and the contagions of those passions had no trouble spilling off the stage into the audience area." -Stephen Smoliar. therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com The Artists: David Ryther (violin) has brought his interpretive powers as a soloist to such festivals as the Darmstadt Summer Festival of New Music, the Banff Center, and the Green Umbrella Series at the Bing theater in Los Angeles. He has been featured playing new music with adventurous ensembles sfSoundGroup, Earplay, San Francisco Contemporary Players, the Berkeley New Music Ensemble, Sonor, and Octagon. An active violinist, he can be found playing in many of the orchestras and ensembles in the Bay Area including the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. David graduated with highest honors in music from UC Santa Cruz and recently received his doctorate in contemporary violin performance from UC San Diego. A dedicated teacher and conductor, David is a teacher and assistant conductor with Villa Sinfonia in San Francisco, teaches violin at the Crowden School, and has served as coach and interim conductor with the Berkeley Youth Orchestra. As a composer, David has had world premieres played by the Villa Sinfonia, an orchestra piece called "Friend" commissioned by the Croi Glan dance troupe in Cork Ireland, and has worked in residency with Kate Weare company in New York and Dandelion Dance Theater in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sarah Wood (violin) leads a versatile career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. She has soloed with the Music in the Mountains Summer Festival Orchestra and the Panache, Villa Sinfonia, and Icicle Creek Chamber Orchestras. In addition to her membership with the Circadian String Quartet, Sarah has performed chamber music concerts across the Northwestern and Western United States, and is a frequent recitalist. Sarah is currently acting assistant concertmaster of the California Symphony, acting Principal Second Violin of the Berkeley Symphony, and a member of the Music in the Mountains Summer Festival Orchestra. As an educator, she is on faculty at the Crowden School of Music and teaches privately. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in violin performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder where she studied with the Takacs String Quartet and Lina Bahn, and also holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in violin performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of Paul Kantor and William Preucil. Native of Iran, Omid Assadi (viola) holds a B.M. and M.M. from San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he studied with Jodie Levitz and Bettina Mussumeli. Mr. Assadi is an active ensemble player and soloist; he has concertized with many of the Bay Area’s orchestras and has appeared numerous times as soloist with Golden Gate Philharmonic, City College of San Francisco String Orchestra, Kensington Symphony Orchestra, and Villa Sinfonia. Omid’s love for chamber music has led him to study chamber music with the members of the Kronos String Quartet as well as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music faculty members. In addition, he has collaborated with Jennifer Culp, Jodi Levitz, Jorja Fleezanis, and with the Shams Ensemble. An active chamber musician, David Wishnia (cello) routinely concertizes with both the Circadian String Quartet and the Villa Piano Trio, and has taught at the Zephyr Point Chamber Music Camp and Sequoia Chamber Music Workshop. David has also appeared as a soloist with the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra and Villa Sinfonia. He is currently a member of the Marin Symphony, and has performed in numerous Bay Area ensembles, including the Berkeley Symphony, Modesto Symphony, Sacramento Symphony, Russian Chamber Orchestra, and Marin Oratorio, among others. David received his Master of Music degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Aldo Parisot. He also studied with Jerome Carrington and Maurice Gendron, and received coaching from Paul Tortelier, Janos Starker, and Pierre Pasquier. Lily Storm is a singer specializing in traditional music, with particular experience in Eastern European styles. She has studied with many traditional singers (Donka Koleva, Kremena Stancheva, Merita Halili, Mariana Sadovska, Christos Govetas, Carl Linich, Tsvetanka Varimezova, Radostina Kaneva, Tatiana Sarbinska), and has traveled extensively, living for some months in Hungary and Greece and visiting Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia and India. She also makes use of archival recordings to study ancient styles preserved into the early 20th century. Previously she sang with the Bay Area vocal ensemble Kitka for 5 years. As part of Kitka, she recorded as a soloist (The Vine, Wintersongs), collaborated in concert with ensembles including Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Ziyia, Ensemble Alcatraz, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, Davka, and Mariana Sadovska, and appeared on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion and NPR's Performance Today. Lily holds a Masters in Music (with emphasis on Kodály pedagogy) from Holy Names University, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College.