The American Music Project presented the Kontras Quartet Saturday, June 1 in a wide-ranging program of homegrown music at Chicago’s Ganz Hall. The event, Kontras’ third consecutive appearance for AMP, is the first of three Chicago events presented by AMP in 202 .
The wide-ranging program included Bernard Herrmann’s Echoes, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Voyage, Arthur Foote’s String Quartet No. 1, Quincy Porter’s In Monasterio, and Jonathan Blumhofer’s Semper Dowland, semper dolens.
Blumhofer, a Boston-based composer and critic, was in attendance with members of his family. Celebrated conductor Manfred Honeck, who was in town to lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, also attended the concert.
“What a pleasure to spend a rainy Chicago Saturday afternoon listening to the Kontras Quartet,” said reviewer Wynne Delacoma, writing in Chicago Classical Review. She added, “And with repertoire focused on unfamiliar string quartet works by a wide assortment of American composers, welcome discoveries amplified the pleasure.”
You can read the full review here.
The American Music Project’s 2024 Chicago season continues September 21 with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra performing symphonies of David Diamond, William Grant Still and John Vincent. Pianist Emiko Edwards will present a wide-ranging recital November 3 at Ganz Hall. americanmusicproject.net; ipomusic.org