The critically acclaimed Lydian String Quartet will perform with pianist-in-residence Sally Pinkas tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium.
The Lydian Quartet, founded in 1980, has performed worldwide, winning prestigious awards such as the Naumberg Award for Chamber Music as well as prizes at international competitions in Canada, France and England. The quartet's members -- Daniel Stepner and Judith Eisenberg (violin), Mary Ruth Ray (viola), and Rhonda Rider (violincello) -- are currently artists-in-residence at Brandeis University.
Though they focus on works by contemporary composers, Tuesday night's program includes two works of the Romantic period and a contemporary piece.
After a recent concert at Brandeis, Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer wrote of the Quartet: "Even more remarkable, perhaps [than the Haydn "Sunrise Quartet"], was the performance of the Schumann Piano Quintet that closed the program and left the sold-out house cheering."
Pinkas, who has been a pianist-in-residence at the Hopkins Center since 1985, posesses a firm technical command over the keyboard. Her dexterity and sound knowledge of the keyboard allows her to play a diverse array of compositions, ranging from classical to progressive. Her recordings include a solo recording, "Claude Debussy: Etudes and Estampes" and an upcoming solo interpretation of works by Christian Wolff, currently the chair of the Music department.
The concert will open with the Lydian Quartet playing Brahms "String Quartet in B-flat major." Pinkas will then join them for John Harbison's 1981 composition, "Piano Quintet." They will conclude with Robert Schumann's "Piano Quintet in E-flat major," a piece that has won the Quartet several accolades.
Tickets for tomorrow night's concert are available at the Hopkins Center box office. They are $14.50 for reserved seats and $7.50 for Dartmouth students.
