The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: The Ancora String Quartet will go on a 10-day tour of Germany next August, then tour Wisconsin the follwing month

By Jacob Stockinger

If you went to the Ancora String Quartet’s summer concert last Saturday night, you not only heard some outstanding performances of music by Dmitri Shostakovich and Ludwig van Beethoven – along with some rarely heard music by Danish composer Niels Gade.

In case you missed it, here is a review:

https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2017/07/31/classical-music-the-ancora-string-quartet-turns-in-outstanding-performances-of-beethoven-and-shostakovich-and-revives-a-neglected-quartet-by-danish-composer-niels-gade/

You also got the lowdown on some big news for the chamber music group that just finished its 16th season. Members (below from right in a photo by Barry Lewis) are violinists Wes Luke and Robin Ryan; violist Marika Fischer Hoyt; and cellist Benjamin Whitcomb. (You can hear an earlier membership of the quartet performing music by Grieg in the YouTube video at the bottom.)

In August of 2018, the Ancora String Quartet will go on a 10-day tour of Germany. (They could have been gone for longer, a quartet member explained, but the time is limited by some of the day jobs that some members have.) They will perform concerts in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Kassel and in some castles along the Rhine River.

The string quartet will perform with Melinda Paulsen (below), a mezzo-soprano who is based in Frankfurt, where she also teaches. Born in America, she studied music at Swarthmore College and has made a name for herself in Germany singing and recording operas as well as cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The quartet and Paulsen are deciding on suitable repertoire for that combination of voice and string quartet, which includes works by Richard Wagner, Ottorino Respighi and Samuel Barber.

Then in September, the singer will come to Wisconsin and tour the state with the Ancora String Quartet. The stops in both countries are still being finalized, but Madison and the UW-Whitewater, where the cellist teaches, seem to be sure bets, according to a quartet member.

In other news, according to the quartet’s spokesperson, the Ancora will also soon announce its new season, and there will be some special fundraising concerts during the coming season.

The Ancora, with help from Audio for the Arts, will also soon post some recent concerts on YouTube.

The Ear sends his congratulations and thinks the quartet has been working hard, and turning in many outstanding performances, for many years in order to deserve and get this kind of honor.

Bravo!