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Culture Days will return September 20 – October 13, 2024.

The Rolston String Quartet: Up Close and Personal!

Music Performance
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Date and time

Location

Jean McNulty Recital Hall, Lakehead University Department of Music, 1st floor

Thunder Bay, ON

Directions: Off Oliver Rd. Just after entering Agora Circle, it is the first building on the left, with doors at each end. Ground floor on main hall, clearly marked on door as Jean McNulty Recital Hall.

Access

Free.

Offered in English.

Wheelchair accessible.

About

Join us for an intriguing educational and artistic presentation by the members of the Rolston String Quartet, Canada’s award-winning ensemble, for a glimpse into their globe-trotting musical life. Several musical excerpts will be shared by its members, violinists Luri Lee and Emily Kruspe, violist Hezekiah Leung, and cellist Jonathan Lo. Formed in 2013, the Rolstons earned First Prize at the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2016, and were named among CBC Radio’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30”. In 2018, they won the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award.

Sporting “spirit, polish and sophistication”, they display “a maturity and cohesion rivalling the best string quartets in the world.” Their North American and European tours have earned them great acclaim. Upcoming highlights include debut performances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Chamber Music Houston, two major tours in Canada, and three European tours with dates in Leipzig, Berlin, Lucerne, Heidelberg, Barcelona, Graz, and elsewhere.

They come to Thunder Bay at the invitation of Consortium Aurora Borealis, for whom they are delivering an exhilarating performance that same evening of three of the repertoire’s most exquisite works, by Haydn, Debussy and Beethoven. People will have an opportunity to meet them in an informal setting in the afternoon at the Culture Days presentation, where they’ll hear them speak of their background and training, the birth of their quartet, what it is like to compete internationally, the joys and challenges of touring, and what lies ahead for them. They’ll offer encouragement to aspiring young musicians, and will illustrate what they do with live musical examples of the various styles that they perform. Everyone welcome! Their full concert (admission by cash at the door) is at St. Paul’s United Church, 349 Waverley Street, 8 p.m., with a short pre-concert talk by Emily and Jonathan at 7:30.

Links

Organizer

Lakehead University Department of Music and Consortium Aurora Borealis

Consortium Aurora Borealis, a vital and vibrant non-profit arts organization in Thunder Bay, is celebrating 41 years of presenting exciting, varied concerts of classical chamber music. Local professional musicians join with distinguished guest artists in seven concerts per season. Founded by Artistic Director Elizabeth Ganiatsos, it has been hailed with great enthusiasm by audience and press alike. Consortium has built a reputation for musical excellence, maintaining a vigorous presence in the city’s cultural scene since 1979. Concerts are presented Saturday evenings at St. Paul’s United Church, a heritage building noted for its fine acoustics.

Consortium’s mission is to educate as well as to entertain, to improve the quality of life in our community, to present concerts accessible to all, and to enlarge the city’s audience for classical music. We produce concerts of music that otherwise would seldom be heard in our area. Well-established, we enjoy great community support; our loyal following depends on us for first-rate, reasonably-priced chamber music performances. We reach out to a great cross-section of people, creating programs with wide appeal. Because Thunder Bay is isolated geographically, not enjoying the richness of cultural life found in larger centres, it’s important that we provide concerts of artistic substance and variety. We’re excited about our growing profile in the community, with record attendance numbers. Consortium Aurora Borealis is very grateful to the Ontario Arts Council for its generous support.

We recently completed our celebratory 40th season, with many crowd-pleasers, great diversity, innovative programming, exciting guest artists, highest artistic standards, attendance figures beyond our expectations, the usual Consortium verve, and standing ovations at all concerts!

Each year, we bring in a distinguished visiting chamber ensemble or soloist to perform in our concert season in late September or early October, usually coinciding with Culture Days. We arrange for these artists to present special educational events under the auspices of the Lakehead University Department of Music while they are in town playing our concerts. These free, informal presentations, be they sometimes master classes, sometimes, demonstrations of unusual, historical instruments, sometimes glimpses into the life of distinguished ensembles, such as the presentation given by Toronto's internationally-renowned Gryphon Trio last year, have been enthusiastically received by all who attended.

These sessions offer an admirable opportunity for a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into concert performance, at the lives of people who make their living performing classical music, and allow the public a close-up look at artists in action. Consortium considers these presentations as being of educational service to the community, as we strive to raise the awareness of what goes into being a classical musician. The presenters are at the top of their field and are all extremely approachable, loving what they do, with a strong desire to impart their knowledge and excitement. We are proud to nurture a love of the arts in our city!

Contact

Jennifer Howie

jhowie@lakeheadu.ca

807 343-8787