MVCMS concerts are held at 5 p.m. Sundays at the Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church, 410 Sycamore Avenue, Mill Valley, an intimate concert venue featuring superb acoustics and free parking.
Branded by The New York Times as “genuinely exciting” and “imaginative,” the all-woman quartet has garnered critical acclaim for bringing “a technical bravado and emotional power” to bold new commissions, and for its “flawless” (San Diego Union-Tribune) performances of the great masterpieces of the past. The group (Emma Frucht and Miho Saegusa, violins; Ayane Kozasa, viola; and Karen Ouzounian, cello) is in the midst of an extensive tour across North America including four concerts in the Bay Area presented by the Bay Area Music Consortium.
Formed in 2012 and combining four distinctive musical personalities into a unique collective, the Aizuri Quartet was awarded the Grand Prize and the CAG Management Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, along with top prizes at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, and the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London. The Quartet’s debut album, Blueprinting, featuring new works written for the Aizuri Quartet by five American composers, was released by New Amsterdam Records and nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY Award.
The “Songs and Echoes of Home” program for the performance includes: Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904): Selections from Cypresses; Lembit Beecher (b. 1980): These Memories May Be True (2012); Komitas Vartabed (1869-1935): Armenian Folk Songs, arr. Sergei Aslamazian; Rhiannon Giddens (b.1977): At the Purchaser’s Option; and Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): String Quartet in D Minor Op. 56, Voces Intimae.
Season subscriptions are $145 per person for five concerts or $105 for three concerts. All subscribers receive complimentary tickets to the annual Marin Music Chest Young Artists Concert. Tickets are sold at the door at $40 per person. Free admission for youth age 18 and under. Subscriptions or single tickets can be ordered online here.
The Aizuri Quartet’s Mill Valley performance is one of four concerts supported in part by the Bay Area Music Consortium, a partnership between Berkeley Chamber Performances, Gold Coast Chamber Players (Lafayette), Mill Valley Chamber Music Society, and Noe Valley Chamber Music (San Francisco). BAMC enables acclaimed ensembles from other parts of the country to present their noteworthy talent to delight and enrich the broader audiences of the member communities.
Two months after the end of the MVCMS season, on May 17, the organization showcases the talents of five emerging classical musicians at the annual Marin Music Chest “Young Artists’ Concert.”
The 411: The Mill Valley Chamber Music Society‘s 47th season continues Sunday, March 8 with a performance by the all-female Aizuri Quartet from New York City. Mt. Tamalpais United Methodist Church, 410 Sycamore Avenue. Free parking. Concerts are at 5 p.m. Single tickets are $40 general and free for youth ages 18 and under. Season subscriptions options include $145 per person for all five concerts or a mini-subscription for $105 for three concerts. All subscribers receive a complimentary ticket to the annual Marin Music Chest Young Artists Concert on May 17. MORE INFO & TIX.