UCSB Arts & Lectures presents 2019 Grammy Award nominees Danish String Quartet in two evenings of musicianship: a program created for Arts & Lectures with the 50 voices of the Danish National Girls’ Choir, one of the world’s best girls’ choirs.
The concert will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, at the Granada Theatre; and an evening of classical masterworks by J.S. Bach, Beethoven and Mendelssohn, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at UCSB Campbell Hall.
The Danish String Quartet was recently named Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year, which notes: “These days there is no shortage of bright, shiny young string quartets nipping at the heels of the masters, but there’s plenty about the three Danes and one Norwegian who make up the Danish String Quartet to make them stand out from the pack.”
Comprised of friends who have been playing together since childhood, the Danish String Quartet has become the darling of A&L’s program for its profound and skillful interpretations of classical masters.
The Nordic lads who possess “warmth, wit, a beautiful tone and technical prowess second to none” (NPR) will once again dazzle Santa Barbara with the same irresistible energy that thrills audiences worldwide with two programs.
Performing with the Danish National Girls’ Choir, this “truly fab four” (Los Angeles Times) will join forces with one of Denmark’s strongest musical brands.
Established in 1938 as part of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, the choir has garnered acclaim in Denmark and abroad for their ability to move effortlessly between songs, hymns, modern choral works and well-known pop songs.
The Santa Barbara program features works by Shostakovish and Bach, as well as contemporary compositions and traditional folk tunes.
Danish String Quartet includes Frederik Øland on violin, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, on violin, Asbjørn Nørgaard on viola, and Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin on cello.
Among today’s many exceptional chamber music groups, the Grammy Award-nominated Danish String Quartet asserts its preeminence. The quartet’s playing reflects impeccable musicianship, sophisticated artistry, clarity of ensemble and, above all, an expressivity inextricably bound to the music, from Haydn to Shostakovich to contemporary scores.
Performances bring a musical spontaneity, giving audiences the sense of hearing even treasured canon repertoire as if for the first time.
The recipient of many awards and prestigious appointments, including the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, the Danish String Quartet was named 2013 BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and appointed to the The Bowers Program.
The Danish String Quartet returns to North America in the 2019-20 season as one of the most prominent musical voices in the monumental celebrations of Beethoven’s 250th year. With three North American tours, the Danish engages its expansive audience in programming centered around the towering Beethoven string quartets, as well as important works which inspired, and were inspired by, these revered giants of the classical canon.
The quartet appears in Minneapolis, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Rohnert Park, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Boston and Iowa City. The Danish returns to Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center as the featured string quartet performing the entire Beethoven cycle over the course of six concerts in February.
In 2016, they inaugurated a music festival, Series of Four, in which they both perform and invite colleagues — the Ebène Quartet, mandolin player Chris Thile, among others — to appear at the Danish Radio Concert Hall. Concerts this season include collaborations with pianist Gabriel Kahane and violinist Pekka Kuusisto.
Since its debut in 2002, the Danish String Quartet has demonstrated an affinity for Scandinavian composers, from Carl Nielsen to Hans Abrahamsen, alongside music of Mozart and Beethoven. The Quartet’s musical interests also encompass Nordic folk music, the focus of Wood Works, an album of traditional Scandinavian folk music, released by Dacapo in 2014.
As a follow-up, the Danish String Quartet released Last Leaf for ECM, an album of traditional Scandinavian folk music. This recording was one of the top classical albums of 2017, as chosen by NPR, Spotify and The New York Times.
Named artist-in-residence in 2006 by the Danish Radio, the Quartet was offered the opportunity to record the Nielsen string quartets at the Danish Radio Concert Hall. The two CDs, released in 2007 and 2008 on the Dacapo label, garnered praise for their first recordings:
“These Danish players have excelled in performances of works by Brahms, Mozart and Bartók in recent years. But they play Nielsen’s quartets as if they owned them,” wrote The New York Times.
The Danish String Quartet has received numerous citations and prizes, including First Prize in the Vagn Homboe String Quartet Competition and the Charles Hennen International Chamber Music Competition in the Netherlands, as well as the Audience Prize at the Trondheim International String Quartet Competition in 2005.
In 2009, the Danish String Quartet won First Prize in the 11th London International String Quartet Competition, now known as the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet competition, and return to the celebrated London concert hall frequently.
Violinists Frederik Øland and Rune Tonsgaard Sørenson and violist Asbjørn Nørgaard met as children at a music summer camp where they played soccer and made music together. As teenagers, they began the study of classical chamber music and were mentored by Tim Frederiksen of Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Music. In 2008, the three Danes were joined by Norwegian cellist Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin.
Visit www.danishquartet.com.
Danish National Girls’ Choir is comprised of 50 girls, ages 16-22, several centuries of Danish song tradition and a young, fervently ambitious conductor. These are the key ingredients in the Danish National Girls’ Choir / DR — one of the world’s best girls’ choirs and one of Denmark’s strongest musical brands.
The Danish National Girls’ Choir was established in 1938 as part of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR); over the years, the choir has garnered acclaim in Denmark and abroad. The young ensemble has the ability to move effortlessly among songs, hymns, modern choral works and well-known pop songs.
They are guided by their charismatic young conductor Phillip Faber.
A unique combination of professionalism, commitment and joy in singing makes the Danish National Girls’ Choir a natural ambassador for Denmark, both when they tour abroad and when they sing for world leaders and prominent guests at official events all over Denmark.
Danish String Quartet is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures. Presented through the generosity of an anonymous patron. Presented in association with the UCSB Department of Music.
Tickets for the Danish String Quartet with the Danish National Girls Choir are $30-$65 for the general public, $19 for UCSB students, with valid ID. Tickets for the Danish String Quartet are $25-$40 for the general public; $10 for UCSB students with valid ID.
For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures, 805-893-3535 or buy online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
UCSB Arts & Lectures acknowledges our Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli and Corporate Season Sponsor SAGE Publishing for their support of the 2019-20 season.
— Caitlin O’Hara for UCSB Arts & Lectures.