AMARANTH QUARTET
Emily Botel violin
Abigail Shiman violin
Julie Michael, viola
Helen Newby, cello
~ PROGRAM ~
Fodé Lassana Diabaté, Sunjata’s Time
I. Sumaworo
III. Nana Triban
Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74 “The Harp”
I. Poco adagio – Allegro
Rhiannon Giddens, At the Purchaser’s Option (with variations)
Aaron Wyanski, Everything’s Fine and Nothing’s Ever Been Wrong (world premiere)
Maurice Ravel, String Quartet in F
I. Allegro moderato – très doux
II. Assez vif – très rythmé
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
With a love of tackling the string quartet canon and as fierce a passion for discovering newly composed works, Amaranth Quartet was founded in 2013 and proudly calls the Bay Area home. Members Emily Botel, Abigail Shiman, Erica Zappia, and Helen Newby strive to present classical music to divergent audiences in a variety of locales. Mentored by the Cypress String Quartet and members of the Ives Quartet, they have received additional guidance from members of the Kronos, Pacifica, Brentano, Concord, and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Exciting projects this season include a residency in New Hampshire at Avaloch Farm with L.A. based composer Kenji Oh and appearances on concert series such as The Presidio Sessions, Old First Concerts, and the Shenson Faculty Series. Amaranth Quartet firmly believes in the importance of community engagement. They are actively involved in and committed to outreach at grade schools across the United States.
Commissioning and premiering new music for string quartet is essential to the quartet’s mission; Amaranth has performed and recorded works by emerging and established composers including Nick Benavides, Ryan Brown, James Craft, Brian Fitzsousa, Lucas Floyd, Dylan Mattingly, Riley Nicholson and Adam Strawbridge. This season, Amaranth Quartet will workshop, premiere and record new works written by Haley Shaw, Jodie Rottle, Stephanie Neumann and Kenji Oh.
Beyond bringing the established string quartet repertoire to life, Amaranth Quartet is committed to working with a diverse group of Bay Area artists. Collaborators include Amy LaCour, Kendra McKinley, Diana Gameros, Madeline Tasquin, and Nahuel Bronzini. Amaranth Quartet has performed at the historic Fillmore West as part of the venue’s first all-female lineup, and has also appeared at Freight and Salvage, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the late Viracocha. Amaranth has been a featured guest artist on several Bay Area radio programs including KPOO, KPFA and KALX.
Amaranth Quartet is fiscally sponsored by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music.
WEDNESDAY NOON CONCERTS
The community is invited to our complimentary Wednesday Noon Concert series. As part of our ongoing mission to use the transformative power of the arts to inspire and enrich our community, we have opened our doors for the past two years, every Wednesday at Noon, and presented concerts performed by talented musicians that are free of charge to the public. These free noon performances offer listeners the opportunity to discover the beauty of music in an intimate accessible setting, while providing the community with cultural enrichment and exposure to talented performers.
Concerts are in a one-hour format and performances take place in the intimate Tivoli or Crescendo where both audience and musicians can sit in vibrant, close proximity. Musicians often stay after the performance to informally speak about the program and their upcoming concerts.
