VC LIVE | 2021 BANFF Centre International String Quartet Festival [WATCH NOW]

Tune in on September 2, 3, 4, and 5 here on The Violin Channel for the 2021 Banff Centre International String Quartet Festival

 

Similarly to last year, the 2021 Banff Centre International String Quartet Festival is going virtual, bringing world-class chamber music to the comfort of your home.

Led by Festival Director Barry Shiffman, the event will feature concerts with the Banff Quartet Festival Chamber Orchestra, VC Young Artist Viano Quartet with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, Callisto Quartet with cellist Desmond Hoebig, Dalí Quartet, Kelemen Quartet, film screenings, and more!

"The festival was a natural response to the success of our Banff International String Quartet Competition," Artistic Director Barry Shiffman this week told us.

"With an audience that is so passionate about chamber music, we wanted to offer a festival in the years between our triennial competition."

"The Town of Banff and Banff Centre was hit very hard by the pandemic and it was clear we could not produce an in-person festival either last summer or this year. We were able to curate a festival experience with content created for the festival from around North America and Europe, and we found a wonderful response to the offerings."

"It was so important to keep musicians working and to continue to engage and inspire our audience. Canceling was never an option," he said.

 

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 2021

2021 BANFF CENTRE INTERNATIONAL STRING QUARTET FESTIVAL

DAY 4

 

 

5 PM (ET) - Concert: Viano Quartet with pianist Marc-André Hamelin, Recorded in Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts

• Five Pieces for String Quartet (1924) | Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942)
  Viennese Waltz
  Serenade
  Czech folk music
  Tango
  Tarantella
• The Evergreen (2020) | Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)
  Caroline Shaw about ‘The Evergreen’ “One day in January 2020, I took a walk in an evergreen forest on Swiikw (Galiano Island), British Columbia, Canada. I found myself slowing down. My steps were shorter, less frequent. I stopped trying to get to my destination with any real intention or speed. Eventually, I stopped moving altogether. I looked, and listened, and felt and smelled, and breathed. Like a thousand creatures before me there, some of them also human, I paused and wondered and thought, "There is wisdom in these trees." It's been said before, in ways more eloquent and complex than my little story here. Still.”
• Piano Quintet in A Major, Opus 81 (1887) | Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
  Allegro, ma non tanto
  Dumka: Andante con moto
  Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace
  Finale: Allegro

 

 

9:30 PM (ET) - Concert: Banff Festival Chamber Orchestra Concert, Recorded at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta Canada

• Serenade for Strings in E minor, Opus 20 (1982) | Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
• Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems (2015) | Dinuk Wijeratne (b. 1978)
• Chamber Symphony in C minor, Op. 110a (1960) | Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), arranged Rudolf Barshai 
  Largo  
  Allegro molto
  Allegretto
  Largo
  Largo
• Postcards from the Sky (1996) | Marjan Mozetich (b. 1948)
  Unfolding Sky
  Weeping Clouds
  A Messenger

 

 

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

2021 BANFF CENTRE INTERNATIONAL STRING QUARTET FESTIVAL

DAY 3

 

 

9:30 PM (ET) - Concert: Kelemen Quartet, Recorded in Haydn Hall, Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt, Austria

• String Quartet No. 3 (1927) | Béla  Bartók (1881-1945)
  Prima parte: Moderato
  Seconda parte: Allegro
  Ricapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato
  Coda: Allegro molto
• String Quartet No. 4 (1928) | Béla  Bartók  (1881-1945)
  Allegro
  Prestissimo, con sordino
  Non troppo lento
  Allegretto pizzicato
  Allegro molto

 

 

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

2021 BANFF CENTRE INTERNATIONAL STRING QUARTET FESTIVAL

DAY 2

 

 

9:30 PM (ET) - Concert: Dalí Quartet

• Tango Ballet (1956) | Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
  Títulos
  La Calle
  Encuentro – Olvido
  Cabaret
  Soledad
  Retorno a Calle 
• Four, for Tango (1987-89) | Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
• String Quartet No. 3 in E Flat Major (1823) | Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (1806-1826)
  Pastorale. Andantino (mvt 2)
• String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20 (1948) | Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)
  Allegro violento ed agitato
  Vivacissimo
  Calmo e poetico
  Allegramente rústico

 

 

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

2021 BANFF CENTRE INTERNATIONAL STRING QUARTET FESTIVAL

DAY 1

 

 

1:00 PM (ET) - Film Screening: Rolston Sessions 2  

• Rolston Sessions 2 was filmed during the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition and features interviews and performances with the ten participating quartets. Produced by Riddle Films in association with Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

 

 

9:30 PM (ET) - Concert: Callisto Quartet with cellist Desmond Hoebig

• String Quintet in C Major, D. 956 (1828) | Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
  Allegro ma non troppo
  Adagio
  Scherzo
  Allegretto