Our 2007/2008 Season
Sunday - 9 March 2007 - 3:00 pm
Los Angeles Piano Quartet
Michi Wiancko, violin
Katherine Murdock, viola
Peter Rejto, cello
Xak Bjerken, piano
About
The Los Angeles Piano Quartet made its debut at The Music Center in Los Angeles in l977, and soon earned recognition as America's premier piano quartet. This accomplished ensemble has been repeatedly re-engaged by major chamber music presenters, and hailed by the public and press in New York, Washington, Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, Dallas, Cincinnati, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Houston, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Buffalo, and Los Angeles. They have been popular guests on Minnesota Public Radio's "St. Paul Sunday" and New York's "Live from WNCN," and featured at the Bermuda and Tucson Festivals and the Eugene and Carmel Bach Festivals.
Following an impressive international debut at the Cheltenham Festival in England, the Los Angeles Piano Quartet was engaged for an appearance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and an extensive tour of Europe. Highlights of subsequent European tours have included two additional appearances at the Concertgebouw, and concerts at the Hamburg Musikhalle and Santa Cecilia in Rome.
The Los Angeles Piano Quartet has been an active force in the creation of new works for piano quartet, commissioning works from such prominent contemporary composers as Stephen Hartke and Gerard Schurmann, whose second piano quartet had its premiere performance by the LAPQ at the 2000 Tucson Festival. The ensemble has been supported in this activity by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America.
Their recordings include Dvorak and Schumann on the MusicMasters label and the two Faurè piano quartets on Pickwick.