Simple Measures: Beethoven's Last String Quartet

Dmitri Shostakovich — String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Op. 110
Ludwig van Beethoven — String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
Béla Bartók — Selected works
Walter Piston — Selected works
Maurice Ravel — Selected works

Liza Zurlinden and Artur Girsky, violins
Mara Gearman, viola
Rajan Krishnaswami, cello

Beethoven – String Quartet No. 16, Op. 135
Shostakovich – String Quartet No. 8

Join us for the first concert of our new model. What is different? Simply this: the concerts are free of charge to all! Same interactive, friendly format, same top quality artistry, same up close and personal vibe. Just now, you don’t have to pay! Be sure to come early to grab your seat. This is gonna be popular!

For this show, we are bringing you composers who have created incredible masterpieces in the face of adversity. Like Beethoven, whose hearing and health was destroyed by lead poisoning. There is no greater testament to the power of the human spirit than his magnificent Opus 135 string quartet, composed when he was completely deaf. Or Shostakovich who wrote, in his 8th string quartet, a gripping autobiographical retrospective of his life work in the face of censorship and constant fear of being sent to the gulag. We will play both of these works on this program.

Music by Bartok, Piston and Ravel rounds out the evening, performed by violinists Liza Zurlinden and Artur Girsky, violist Mara Gearman, and cellist and Simple Measures Artistic Director Rajan Krishnaswami. Join us for an evening dedicated to the triumph of the human spirit!