Facing the Music: Music, Life and Death

Nothing clarifies mind and heart like the specter of death. A final ending, a passage to the great beyond? Looking unsparingly back upon a life, like observing from afar the earth and its inhabitants, is at once an act of reflection, judgement, and learning. One we can all take to heart. Perhaps hope for the future, perhaps not. 

Shostakovich and Beethoven musically summarize their own lives and struggles in the face of death, while Jon Deak and poet Rhina Espaillat give voice to the judgement of a quartet of birds who marvel at our hubris and cruelty. 

Guest artist, Tori Tedeschi Adams, soprano

Jon Deak
The Jury
Tori Tedeschi Adams, soprano; Leslie Shank, violin; Natsuki Kumagai, violin; Sarah Switzer, viola; Laura Sewell, cello

ShostakovichViola Sonata
Kenneth Freed, viola; Ivan Konev, piano

BeethovenString Quartet #16 in F Major, Op. 135
Natsuki Kamagai, violin; Emily Switzer, violin; Kenneth Freed, viola; Tom Rosenberg, cello

Host or Publisher Isles Ensemble