Ursula Oppens 75th Birthday Tribute

Hosted by WQXR's Terrance McKnight and showcasing some of the classical world's most acclaimed and celebrated artists, these intimate evenings of insightful conversation and virtuosic performances will enlighten and inspire, deepening the audience's understanding and appreciation of the music, the composers, and the artists' creative process.

Featuring the Cassatt String Quartet:
Renowned pianist and five-time Grammy nominee Ursula Oppens performs solo piano works written for her by Elliott Carter (Two Diversions), John Corigliano (Winging It, III) and Tobias Picker (Three Works for Solo Piano & Ursula, World Premiere). The program also includes Ravel's masterful, revolutionary String Quartet – his first and only string quartet – performed by the Cassatt String Quartet, one of the great ensembles of our age" (ConcertoNet).

Oppens and the Quartet will give the world premiere of a piano quintet by Laura Kaminsky, commissioned by the pianist for the occasion with production support from the Newburgh Institute for The Arts & Ideas. Cited in The Washington Post as "one of the top 35 female composers in classical music," Laura Kaminsky's music is "full of fire as well as ice, in an idiom that contrasts dissonance and violence with tonal beauty and meditative reflection…It is strong stuff" (American Record Guide).

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