The Hope College Great Performance Series will present the Enso String Quartet on
Thursday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.
Recognition of the award-winning young ensemble has included a 2010 Grammy nomination
for "Best Chamber Music Performance." "The Washington Post" has said that the quartet
gives "a thrillingly athletic performance."
Shortly after the group's inception at Yale University in 1999, Enso had success at
the Banff International String Quartet Competition and won the Concert Artists Guild
International Competition, and the quartet has consistently received high praise for
performances ever since. The quartet's debut recording was described by "Strad Magazine"
as "an auspicious start to their recording career," and was followed by the recent
Grammy-nominated release of the quartets of Ginastera. MusicWeb International summed
up the album as "playing of jaw-dropping prowess revealing masterpieces of the 20th
century quartet literature," noting, "seek out this group - they are clearly bound
for greatness." The disc was selected as one of MusicWeb's Recordings of the Year
for 2009.
The Enso String Quartet's members are sought after as teachers and chamber music mentors.
In addition to giving countless outreach performances in schools throughout the country,
the quartet has held residencies with Rice University's Shepherd School of Music as
lecturers in string quartet and with Boston University's Tanglewood Institute, and
currently with the Interlochen Adult Amateur Chamber Music Camp and Connecticut's
Music For Youth.
The quartet has spent time developing programs suited to a range of ages, and has
worked with Young Audiences of Houston and New York, and with the International Music
Foundation in Chicago. The quartet was also featured in the inaugural Young Artist
Residency with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
The Enso String Quartet members hold degrees from Yale University, The Juilliard School,
Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Guildhall School of Music (UK)
and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). Together they held residencies at
Northern Illinois University with the Vermeer Quartet and at the Shepherd School of
Music at Rice University. The Enso Quartet is based in New York City.
The ensemble's name, Enso, is derived from the Japanese zen painting of the circle
which represents many things: perfection and imperfection, the moment of chaos that
is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life, and the fullness
of the spirit.
Individual tickets are $18 for regular admission, $13 for senior citizens, and $6
for children 18 and under. Individual tickets and season subscriptions are available
at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, which is open weekdays
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets.
Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Ave., on College Avenue at 12th
Street.