The Santa Rosa Junior College Chamber Music Series will host the talented Beo String Quartet at the Newman Auditorium on Friday, February 9 in a 7:30pm performance. The Campus is located at 1501 Mendocino Avenue in downtown Santa Rosa.
To purchase single tickets for this concert, or to order a mini-series, contact City Box Office at 415-392-4400 or www.cityboxoffice.com.
The eclectic and highly polished Beo String Quartet, founded in 2015, has created a niche for itself as a daring, genre-defying ensemble. Rigorously trained in the classical tradition, violinists Jason Neukom and Andrew Giordano, violist Sean Neukom, and cellist Ryan Ash also know their way around contemporary expression, including the use of electronics, live sound processing, and spatial audio manipulation. Their performances of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, or Shostakovich have been compared to those of the best among 21st century international string quartets.
The program
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Contrapunctus No.1 from The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) String Quartet in G major, Op. 33 No. 5 Hob.III:41
Vivace assai
Largo e cantabile
Scherzo. Allegro – Trio
Finale. Allegro
Sean Neukom (b.1983) El Balcón (Written for Beo String Quartet)
Gabriela Ortiz (b.1964) Mictlán (Place of the Dead), from “Altar de Muertos”
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132
Assai sostenuto – Allegro
Allegro ma non tanto
Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der lydischen Tonart: Molto adagio –
Neue Kraft Fühlend: Andante – Molto adagio – Andante – Molto adagio: Mit innigster Empfindung
Alla marcia, assai vivace – Più allegro – Presto Allegro appassionato – Presto
On January 31, 2023, the Beo String Quartet made an auspicious New York debut under the aegis of the distinguished Morgan Library and Museum.
George Grella, covering the Morgan Library concert for New York Classical Review, wrote “Beo String Quartet makes an outstanding New York debut. ..These days that one expects exact intonation and clear articulation from quartets, at all speeds and dynamic levels. The Beo had all that technical facility, to which they added a sound that was grainy with a touch of velvet, robust and woody—superior technique wrapped in a classic sound.”
And Frank Daykin, reviewing January 31, 2023 in The New York Concert Review, had this to say: “Beo” means: to bless, make happy, gladden, and delight. Based on this one introductory hearing, I believe the Beo String Quartet is poised to do just that, to an ever widening circle of audiences.”
The program included selections from J.S. Bach’s timeless “Art of the Fugue,” BWV 1080; the New York premiere of Sean Neukom’s “People;” “Enthusiasm Strategies” by noted American composer Missy Mazzoli; and Dmitri Shostakovich’s haunting Quartet No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 110. On the same day, the ensemble released a new album on NeuKraft Records entitled “131,” named for Beethoven’s celebrated String Quartet No. 14 in C# Minor, Op. 131. In addition to the Beethoven, the recording includes Missy Mazzoli’s “Enthusiasm Strategies” and “19/20” by Beo violist and composer Sean Neukom.
Undaunted by artistic or logistical challenges, they play the masters in a variety of settings, collaborate with living composers, and explore technology’s capacity to the fullest. Called “an absolutely spectacular group of young, hungry musicians” by composer Marc Mellits, University of Chicago, and “an ensemble whose music-making speaks to the heart as well as the mind by composer Richard Danielpour, Curtis Institute for Music, Beo defies categorization.
Beo regularly collaborates with living composers including Richard Danielpour, Marc Mellits, Missy Mazzoli, Lawrence Dillon, Joel Hoffman, and Charles Nichols. As part of its annual residency with the Charlotte New Music Festival,
NeuKraft Records was recently founded so as to facilitate producing and distributing Beo’s numerous original projects without constraints of style or genre.. Projects released on the label include string quartet masterpieces, original art songs, and long-form concept albums.
Music education outreach is essential to the quartet’s vision. Beo has earned a reputation for its thoughtfully crafted educational programs. Although disguised as entertainment, each show is designed to teach real chamber music skills and a love for classical music to students ranging from complete beginners to pre- professionals.
The name “Beo” derives from Latin, meaning “to make happy.”
How To Reach City Box Office:
Phone: 415-392-4400 On The Web: www.cityboxoffice.com
By Fax: 415-986-0411 By Mail: City Box Office
180 Redwood St., Suite 100
S.F, CA 94102
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Santa Rosa Junior College – Newman Auditorium – Emeritus Building
1501 Mendocino Ave.
- Santa Rosa