Dvořák Gems: The Chamber Music Survey with Sullivan Quartet

The acclaimed Sullivan Quartet returned for the latest installment in DAHA’s unprecedented series exploring the entire chamber music repertoire of Antonín Dvořák. For this occasion they shared with the audience three gems from the Dvořák canon:

  • Quartet no. 9 in D Minor, Opus 34 (1877), a gem from the composer’s earlier period, which will delight our audience with its lyricism and drama.

  • Selections from Dvořák's exquisite Cypresses (Cypřiše of 1887), in which the composer made string quartet arrangements of some of his own early love songs for voice and piano, also titled Cypresses. These romantic pieces are based on poems of the same name by Gustav Pfleger-Moravsky.

  • The program will also include the beloved Quartet no. 11 in C Major, Opus 61 (1881), which exemplifies the mastery attained by the composer at the height of his compositional powers.

Sullivan Quartet: Laura Jean Goldberg, violin I; Anat Malkin, violin II; Andy Lin, viola; Robert La Rue, cello.

Introductory remarks by Michael Beckerman, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Music at New York University.

Program

Quartet no. 9 in D Minor, Opus 34 (1877)

Selections from the Cypresses (Cypřiše) (arranged 1887) 

Quartet no. 11 in C Major, Opus 61 (1881)


About

The SULLIVAN STRING QUARTET brings together Laura Jean Goldberg, violin I, guest violinist Anat Malkin, violin II, Andy Lin, viola, and Robert La Rue, cello. Each member of the ensemble has a wide ranging and impressive career in the chamber music scene. The Sullivan Quartet has performed recitals at Bohemian National Hall, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, the Arion Chamber Music Series, Bargemusic in NYC, and at "Music at the Museum" in Bennington, VT. The quartet's inclusive multicultural approach gives a place of honor to repertoire by women composers, African American, Hispanic, and Asian composers, as well as the traditional string quartet repertoire. The Sullivan Quartet is named after trailblazing American architect Louis H. Sullivan, the founder of the "Chicago School" of architecture. Sullivan designed buildings with innovative steel frame construction that incorporated elements of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts style ornamentation.

LAURA JEAN GOLDBERG, violin, is a seasoned chamber musician, solo artist and teacher. A graduate of The Juilliard School, she performed as soloist with the BSO and is a member of the Chamber Music Faculty at The Juilliard School in the pre-college division. As a founding member of the Cassatt Quartet, Goldberg was a prizewinner at Banff, Coleman, and Fischoff competitions, held residencies at Juilliard, Yale, Tanglewood, Caramoor, and performed internationally. She has worked with contemporary composers including Henri Dutilleux, David Diamond, George Crumb, and Julia Wolfe. Goldberg teaches at Belvoir Terrace, a summer camp empowering young women through the arts in Lenox MA, and is the founder of ArtsAhimsa Music for Peace, a concert organization and chamber music festival where amateur and professional musicians play together in a supportive community setting. She is a board member of the Dvořák American Heritage Association.

A versatile artist, violinist and violist ANAT MALKIN has performed as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician around the world. She embarked on her first international tour at the age of 10, and made her Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Alexander Schneider at age sixteen. Some of the orchestras with whom she has soloed internationally include the Camerata Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile), Drammen Byorkester (Norway), Israel Chamber Orchestra, New York String Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogotá (Colombia), Orquesta Sinfonica de Salta (Argentina) and the Westchester Philharmonic. Performance broadcasts, interviews and articles about her have appeared in Asian, European, North and South American programs and press. An avid chamber musician and frequent guest artist, Ms. Malkin is presently a member of the New York based Piazzolla Trio. She is also a founding member of the prizewinning Malkin Duo. A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Maastricht Conservatorium, cum laude, Ms. Malkin serves on the violin and viola faculties of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division as well as several international summer music festivals.

ANDY LIN Taiwanese-American violist and erhuist, Andy Lin, is recognized as the only active performer who specialized in both western and eastern instruments. Praised by The Strad “The great Molto adagio.....elicited some of the night’s most sensitive work, especially from Andy Lin on viola.” and New York Times “Taiwanese-born violist Andy Lin.....is also a virtuoso on the erhu, and he gave a brilliant performance.” Andy is a member of the Sullivan String Quartet and the artistic director and co-founder of the New Asia Chamber Music Society. He has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Busan Metropolitan Traditional Music Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, Incheon Philharmonic, The Juilliard Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Orford Academy Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra. Andy is also the co-founder and artistic director of the New Asia Chamber Music Society and serves as principal violist of the New York Classical Players and Solisti Ensemble.

ROBERT LA RUE, cello, was First Prize Winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters Cello Competition, whose jury chairman was Mstislav Rostropovich. Formerly the cellist of the New England String Quartet, Robert is a current member of the Sullivan String Quartet, the Alcott Trio, and the cello ensemble VC3. He plays regularly with the Phoenix Chamber Players at Manhattan’s Center for Jewish History, and has also been a guest of the Locrian Chamber Players and the Alaria Ensemble. He has performed as soloist with the Banff Festival Orchestra, the American Symphony Orchestra and orchestras in Seattle, Phoenix and Denver. He has served as visiting faculty at Yale University’s Summer Music School and has taught cello at Rutgers University. He has recorded for Arsis Audio and North Branch Records, and is currently completing a disc of works for solo cello by members of the American Composers Alliance. A graduate of Curtis, New England Conservatory, and Juilliard, he also attended Indiana University. His teachers included include David Soyer, Bernard Greenhouse, Janos Starker and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi.


This multi-year series is organized by DAHA music advisor and violinist Laura Jean Goldberg, with support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.

Photos: Sean Yoo NVFactory