Del Sol Quartet–Friday, February 8

“I could be wrong, but I’m guessing it’s been a while since you’ve rocked out to a string quartet recording”—those are the opening words from a New York Times review of a Del Sol Quartet recording. This San Francisco-based quartet has been exploring the boundaries of the string quartet genre since its founding in 1992. They’ve made a point of collaborating with artists from other media and have been responsible for commissioning and performing new works of a slew of international composers over the years, and they have nine critically-acclaimed albums to show for it.

Benjamin Kreith and Samuel Weiser, violins, Charlton Lee on viola and cellist Kathryn Bates will bring us a program they’re calling “Reinventing Traditions”, which will include Lou Harrison’s String Quartet Set, Bay Area composer Erica Oba’s “Halcyon”, “Hoppa” by Turkish composer Erberk Eryilmaz and American contemporary composer Ben Johnston’s Quartet #4: “Amazing Grace”.