Santa Fe New Music Presents ETHEL, America's Premier Post-Classical String Quartet

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

(Santa Fe, NM: August 31, 2009) Santa Fe New Music announces a special concert to open its 2009-2010 season, featuring the groundbreaking string quartet ETHEL making their Santa Fe debut.

The concert takes place on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the brand-new New Mexico History Museum Auditorium.

Acclaimed as America's premier postclassical string quartet, ETHEL boldly infuses contemporary concert music with fierce intensity, questioning the boundaries between performer and audience, tradition and technology.

The high-octane New York group was formed in 1998, and is comprised of Juilliard-trained performers: Cornelius Dufallo (violin), Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello) and Mary Rowell (violin).

ETHEL performs adventurous music of the past four decades, many of which will be famliar to SFNM audiences, including repertoire by Julia Wolfe, Phil Kline, David Lang, John Zorn, Steve Reich, Evan Ziporyn, and Mary Ellen Childs.

Recent season highlights have included: the world premiere of Phil Kline's SPACE at the gala reopening of Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall; the world premiere of ETHEL's TruckStop ®: The Beginning at BAM's Next Wave Festival; the world premiere of RADIO by Osvaldo Golijov at the debut of WNYC Radio's Jerome L. Greene Space; the TROMP Festival with Colin Currie and Todd Rundgren; and the Grand Canyon Music Festival, where ETHEL is Ensemble-in-Residence as part of the Native American Composers Apprenticeship Project.

ETHEL's latest recording, Light (Cantaloupe Records), was selected as #3 on Amazon.com's "Best of 2006: Top Classical Editor's Picks." For more info, visit ETHEL's website.

SFNM’s Artistic Director John Kennedy says that “ETHEL is overdue for a Santa Fe appearance. In the spirit of their performance and the range of their repertoire, ETHEL is at the cutting-edge of many of the stylistic trends that are defining the music of our time.

“SFNM is also very pleased to be presenting our first concert at the beautiful new New Mexico History Museum Auditorium, which is an august new venue for the community.”

NM History Museum Auditorium, 113 Lincoln Avenue. Tickets: $25; available at www.events.sfnm.org; or Nicholas Potter Booksellers, 211 East Palace Avenue.Through concerts, commissions, and educational events, Santa Fe New Music promotes understanding of, enthusiasm for, and participation in the music of our time, serving as an advocate for new classical music and its future. SFNM was founded by Artistic Director John Kennedy in 2000. Santa Fe New Music is a 501(c)3 corporation.