The San Franciso-based Friction Quartet exists to modernize the chamber music experience and expand the string quartet repertoire by commissioning new works, curating imaginative programs and collaborating with artists, like young composer Caroline Bragg, whose composition Bird of Paradise will have its world premiere on the Aug 22nd broadcast of From the Top at 5:00pm.
8/1 From the Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, guest hosts Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Roe join a teenage piano duo for an electric performance of In the Hall of the Mountain King. We’ll also hear violist Natalie Brennecke from Oberlin perform a concerto by Miklós Rózsa, violinist Phillip Hammond performs Summerland from Three Visions by William Grant Still, and countertenor Sam Higgins performs selections by George Frideric Handel.
8/8 Host Peter Dugan features a precocious 11-year-old guitarist Emilia Diaz Delgado, violinist Eunice Lee performs Sarasate, and young composer William Jae shares his new work, Alabaster Wool performed by the Lyris Quartet.
8/15 This week we’ll enjoy the victorious finale from Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite performed by pianist Joshua Mhoon from Chicago. He’s joined by violinist Vibha Janakiraman, pianist Andrew Gu performing Beethoven, violinist Sarah Ma whose musical roots spans two continents, and saxophonist Jayme Billings who paints a picturesque image of her life in Vermont.
8/22 This week we meet composer Carolina Bragg and we’ll hear the world premiere of her piece Bird of Paradise performed by the Friction Quartet. We’ll also year cellist Daniel Dorsey who is granted the opportunity to buy his dream cello, sister duo Ylang & Yxing Guo from Honolulu perform Sarasate, harpist Shaylen Joos collaborates with host/pianist Peter Dugan, and French horn player Plamen Fung brings sensitivity and control to his performance of one of Strauss’ gorgeous Nocturnes.
8/29 This week we meet clarinetist Bram Schenck whose musical talent straddles both Klezmer and the western classical canon; violinist Julia LaGrand who, as a blind musician herself, advocates for the greater inclusion of the blind community in the performing arts; trumpeter Benjamin D'Haiti demonstrates his incredible range; piano duo Naomi Kobayashi and Sophie Nguyen perform Hesitation Tango by Samuel Barber; and cellist Hayden Idson who believes in the connection between his physical fitness and musical performance.
