Brentano to open series

BLUE HILL – The Brentano String Quartet will perform works by Mozart, Bartok and Steve Mackey, a rock musician turned classical composer, during the first event in the Blue Hill Concert Association’s winter season.

The concert will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 21, at First Congregational Church in Blue Hill.

The first portion of the concert will feature Mozart’s “Adagio and Fugue in C Minor” and “String Quartet in C Major.”

After the intermission, the quartet will begin with Mackey’s “Smoke Fragments,” and conclude with Bela Bartok’s “String Quartet No. 1, Opus 7.” Mackey is a Princeton University professor whose experience ranges from recording music on electric guitar to composing for string orchestras

Since its forming in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has earned three major awards – the Cleveland Quartet Award, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the 10th annual Martin E. Segal Award. During an appearance in Great Britain, the group also received the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award for outstanding chamber music debut.

“The quartet has a world-renowned reputation,” said Marjorie Yesley, vice president of the Blue Hill Concert Association.

It’s not always easy for small towns to draw such prominent performers, she said, but the area is known for its knowledgeable, friendly audiences.

“We’d like to encourage families to come,” Yesley added, citing the association’s interest in increasing the appreciation of chamber music. To that end, children and students will be admitted to the concert free.

Members of the String Quartet are Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; and Nina Maria Lee, cello.

Violinist Steinberg has been soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Kansas City Camerata, and the Philadelphia Concerto Soloists. He is a graduate of The Juillard School and Indiana University, and teaches at New York University. He has participated in chamber music festivals in Holland, Germany, Austria and France.

Serena Canin, also a violinist, has toured the United States with Music from Marlboro, the Brandenburg Ensemble and Goliard Concerts.

She has degrees from Swarthmore College and Juilliard, and she teaches at Princeton University and New York University.

Violist Misha Amory is a graduate of Juilliard and Yale University, and is on the faculty of Juilliard. He has performed with orchestras in the United States and Europe, and has played at New York’s Tully Hall, Los Angeles’ Ambassador Series, Philadelphia’s Mozart on the Square Festival and Boston’s Gardner Museum.

Cellist Nina Maria Lee attended Boston University and has two degrees from Juilliard. She has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and has participated in the El Paso International Music Chamber Festival.

Admission to the concert is $10 at the door; children and students admitted free.