The Jacksonville Center for the Arts and WDBJ7 welcome the 2013-2015 Juilliard School graduate resident string quartet, Aeolus Quartet, to Floyd for a special performance April 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Praised by the Baltimore Sun for combining “smoothly meshed technique with a sense of spontaneity and discovery,” the Aeolus Quartet is committed to presenting time-seasoned masterworks and new cutting-edge works to widely diverse audiences with equal freshness, dedication, and fervor.
Violinists Nicholas Tavani and Rachel Shapiro, violist Gregory Luce, and cellist Alan Richardson formed the Aeolus Quartet in 2008 at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Since its inception, the all-American quartet has been awarded prizes at nearly every major competition in the United States and performed across the globe with showings “worthy of a major-league quartet” (Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News).
They currently make their home in New York City.
“We are proud to be bring musicians of this caliber and virtuosity to Floyd,” said Linda Fallon, president of the board of The Jacksonville Center for the Arts. “And, thanks to the support and partnership of WDBJ7, we are able to attract this level of talent to our cherished community. We would also like to thank Virginia’s Blue Ridge Music Festival for their support.”
The Aeolus Quartet has studied extensively with the Juilliard, Guarneri, St. Lawrence, and Miró Quartets. Other mentors include artists such as William Preucil, Peter Salaff, Donald Weilerstein, Itzhak Perlman, Gerhard Schulz, and Mark Steinberg.
Members of the quartet hold degrees from the Juilliard School, Peabody Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Maryland, and the University of Texas at Austin. They served as Graduate String Quartet-in-Residence at Juilliard, the University of Maryland, and the University of Texas.
Tickets for the quartet’s performance on April 2 are $25 in advance and $30 at the door, with student tickets at $15. Attendees may purchase tickets at the door, or online at www.jacksonvillecenter.org, or by visiting or calling the Jacksonville Center for the Arts, 220 Parkway Lane South, Floyd, at (540) 745-2784.
The concert series will also feature performances by Shawn Spencer and the Jacksonville Five on Friday, August 26 at 7:30 p.m., the Rainier Trio on Sunday, September 25 at 3 p.m.; and Hoppie Vaughan and the Ministers of Soul in the fall on a date to be announced.
