Just announced: All Terrain String Festival: Bolcom 4X4

A jam-packed festival celebrating the depth and breadth of string quartet composition and performance, featuring four of the world’s most diverse and celebrated quartets performing works by classic and modern composers. Compositions by William Bolcom and the stellar playing of The Shanghai Quartet are featured at every performance. Presented at the Alexander Kasser Theater  by Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey.



William Bolcom's 12th String Quartet is the result of a commission by Peak Performances at Montclair State University for the Shanghai Quartet, and will receive its World Premiere on April 2, 2017 in Montclair, New Jersey in a special Bolcom mini-festival focused squarely on the intersection of the composer and the string quartet genre. Called the All Terrain String Festival: Bolcom 4x4, it is described by critic Ronni Reich: "Fitting itself to Bolcom's ability to veer off the road of classical tradition while upholding his elastic yet exacting technique, the festival will feature ensembles that follow suit: the Harlem Quartet, the Chiara String Quartet, the Arditti Quartet, and the Shanghai Quartet." The four-concert festival takes place at the Alexander Kasser Theatre on the campus of MSU on March 31, April 1 (2 concerts) and April 2. 

This sensational festival is not to be missed. Tickets and more are here.


The Harlem Quartet 
All Terrain String Festival: Bolcom 4 x 4 
Mar 31, 2017 7:30 pm    
The Harlem Quartet opens the festival with an evening of classic and jazzier quartet fare, performing works by Mozart, Dizzy Gillespie, Hernandez, Valdes, Bolcom, and Golijov. Special appearances by John Patitucci and The Shanghai Quartet. 

Chiara String Quartet 
All Terrain String Festival: Bolcom 4 x 4 
Apr 1, 2017 5:00 pm    
The brilliant young Chiara String Quartet, known for playing without sheet music, performs works by Jefferson Friedman, Gabriela Lena Frank, and William Bolcom.  With special guest The Shanghai Quartet. 

Arditti Quartet 
All Terrain String Festival: Bolcom 4 x 4 
Apr 1, 2017 8:00 pm    
In a rare U.S. appearance, the celebrated Arditti Quartet performs Bolcom’s Eighth Quartet and, with Eliot Fisk on guitar, the NY/NJ Premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Guitar Quartet and Elliott Carter’s String Quartet No. 5, which was composed specifically for Arditti. The Shanghai Quartet joins the Arditti Quartet to perform Chaya Czernowin's Anea Crystal. 

World Premiere - 12th Quartet 
The Shanghai Quartet 

All Terrain String Festival: Bolcom 4 x 4 
Apr 2, 2017 3:00 pm    
The All Terrain String Festival concludes with The Shanghai Quartet performing the world premiere of Willam Bolcom's 12th Quartet, commissioned by Peak Performances.