Because there was no Introductions last Saturday due to the annual Lyric Opera of Chicago Operathon, we’ll rebroadcast a program from the summer featuring the Contrapunctus Quartet of Midwest Young Artists.
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Contrapunctus is a string quartet formed through Midwest Young Artists made up of 4 high school seniors from the Chicagoland area: violinist Alan Snow, 17, John Hersey High School, violinist James Hanford, 18, Evanston Township High School, violist Andrea Ferguson, 18, home schooled, and cellist Miles Link, 18, New Trier High School.
Contrapunctus is coached by Robert Bassill in Highwood, Illinois where Midwest Young Artists is based. Contrapunctus has been together for two years, with an exception to Andrea who replaced Nicholas Mowry who graduated last year. Contrapunctus was very active during the 2011-2012 year, receiving the Gold Medal at the Saint Paul String Quartet Competition, held in St. Paul, Minnesota, First Place in the National Discover Chamber Music Competition, held in Highland Park, Illinois, Second Place at the Rembrandt Chamber Players Chamber Music Competition, held at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and Honorable Mention at the highly acclaimed Fischoff National Chamber Competition, held at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Honors of the 2010-2011 year for Contrapunctus include Honorable Mention in the National Discover Chamber Music Competition and a quarter finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
This upcoming fall Alan Snow will be attending Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana majoring in violin performance studying under Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet, James Hanford will be attending Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in New York majoring in physics, Andrea Ferguson will be attending DePaul University in Chicago majoring in violin peformance under Ilya Kaler, and Miles Link will be attending Lawrence University in Wisconsin double majoring in biology and cello performance. Contrapunctus owes its success to Midwest Young Artists, specifically Dr. Allan Dennis, Robert Bassill, and Mandy Dennis.
Program:
Chris Rogerson: String Quartet
III. Dance
Haydn: String Quartet Op. 33 No. 3 “The Bird”
IV. Finale: Presto
Mozart: String Quartet No. 19, K. 465 “Dissonance”
I. Adagio, Allegro
Bartok: String Quartet No. 4
V. Allegro Molto
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6, Op. 80
I. Allegro Vivace assai