The powerful, moving, musical force that is Ariel Quartet will be the final concert of the year for the Shelter Island Friends of Music this Sunday, October 13, wrapping up the nonprofit’s 47th season of bringing outstanding, award-winning musicians to the East End.
“I first heard about the Ariel Quartet nearly 20 years ago from their mentor, the legendary chamber music guru Paul Katz. Paul called me to say I should keep on eye on them because they were the most outstanding student quartet he had coached in many years,” says Richard Weinert, SIFM’s artistic director, who spent most of the last two decades as head of the Concert Artists Guild. “I heard them perform a few years after that when they were young alums of the Perlman Music Program and were invited to play at a master class for Mr. Perlman. They played a movement of a Mozart quartet from memory. It was absolutely stunning.”
The quartet — Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gershikov on violin, Amit Even-Tov on cello and Jan Grüning on viola, who joined the group after its initial formation — was born of friendships made at the arts-focused Jerusalem Academy Middle School nearly 25 years ago, when three of the four musicians were just 14 years old. After attending the very first chamber music workshop in 2003 at Shelter Island’s Perlman Music Program, they moved together in 2004 to the United States to attend the Professional String Quartet Training Program from the New England Conservatory, graduating in 2010 with a final recital of Schubert Cello Quintet, which they performed with Katz.
Since then, they’ve won prestigious award after award for their precision and power, working together in the kind of instinctual way that only old friends can.
“Their career has blossomed,” Weinhart says. “They have won many awards, released several CDs and are the quartet in residence at the University of Cincinnati where they also direct the chamber music program. Their program for the Shelter Island Friends of Music includes Ravel’s only string quartet, one of the masterpieces of the literature. We expect it will be just beautiful, a perfect conclusion to our extraordinary season.”
Listen to this clip of them performing Beethoven’s opus 132 in A minor for a little preview of what’s in store this weekend, where they’ll be performing the music of Felix Mendelssohn, Maurice Ravel and the modern Austrian-American composer Lera Auerbach.
The Shelter Island Friends of Music formed in 1977 by a passionate group of Islanders who wanted to bring renowned and rising star musicians to their fellow East Enders. Through all five decades of their existence, the concerts have remained gratis to the public, part of their core mission to encourage and bolster fans of classical and other forms of live music.
The Sunday, October 13 concert will be held at the Shelter Island Presbyterian Church at 32 N. Ferry Road, Shelter Island, at 6 p.m., with a reception to follow where you can meet and chat with members of the quartet. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated.
