PRESS RELEASE:
North Eastham, Massachusetts, March 14, 2012— The Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival will sponsor an early-spring prelude to its 33rd summer season: a return performance by the Futura String Quartet at the Wellfleet Congregational Church, to benefit the Mustard Seed Kitchen. The concert will be held on Saturday, March 24th, at 4 p.m., at the Wellfleet Congregational Church.
“We are delighted to sponsor the second such benefit concert by this quartet,” said Elaine Lipton, the Festival’s executive director. “Mustard Seed is a fine organization with a critical mission, and Futura is an excellent young ensemble with a promising future. We are looking forward to an exciting event.”
Founded at the New England Conservatory in September of 2010, the Futura String Quartet was recognized early on as a promising young ensemble. Since its inception, the group has performed in NEC’s Jordan Hall multiple times— as part of its Chamber Music Gala series, the Conservatory’s 2011 Commencement Concert, and NEC Faculty member John Heiss’s Contemporary Ensemble series. In February 2011, they performed their first Festival-sponsored Wellfleet concert to benefit the Mustard Seed Kitchen. They were also participants of the 2011 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2011 McGill String Quartet Academy in Montreal, Quebec. Notably, two of its members – Audrey Wright and Alexandra Nelson – are Cape Cod natives with strong ties to the Festival, having performed in its student concerts and served as interns.
The concert will feature two celebrated string quartets, from the 19th and 20th centuries, respectively: Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 12 in E major, op. 127, and Bartok’s String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, BB 110.
“We have chosen a program that explores some of the richest and most complex writing of the standard string quartet repertoire,” violinist Audrey Wright said. “Each of these quartets demands immense flexibility, creativity, and stamina of the players— and each has pushed the boundaries of our quartet in a very rewarding way. The awesome power of a string quartet’s unique sound is exemplified in the very first chords of both works, and to begin each piece on the program in this way is as thrilling for us up on stage as we hope it will be for those in the audience.”
About The Mustard Seed Kitchen
The Mustard Seed Kitchen has been serving the needs of the Outer Cape since 1997. Founded by Sharyn Lindsay and Ellen Webb, the organization has provided an effective way to involve local teens in supporting their community by preparing meals for people in crisis. Housed in the kitchen at the First Congregational Church of Wellfleet, the Mustard Seed Kitchen is managed today by Pat Synoradzki and 20 volunteers, who serve 5000 meals over the course of the year to people in Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham.
About the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival
Hailed by the New York Times as “A Triumph of Quality”, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival has been offering exceptional chamber music concerts in August and throughout the year on Cape Cod for 33 years. As a prominent presenter of chamber music, the Festival has been a major contributor to the Cape’s cultural life, musical education, and social well-being since its inception.
Admission to the concert is $20, and free for attendees 18 and under. For tickets and/or information, please call 508/247-9400, or visit www.capecodchambermusic.org.