Congratulations are in order for Market Square Concerts, a Harrisburg area arts organization that presents chamber music events. The group is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Since 1981, the group has significantly added to the region’s cultural landscape by offering “great chamber music for your heart and mind” in venues throughout Harrisburg. To celebrate, Market Square Concerts has announced an ambitious season featuring 40 works by 35 composers from 16th century to present day. The season will include both solo instrumentalists and ensembles, and will also feature works by composers with ties to Central Pennsylvania.
The award-winning Arianna String Quartet will open the 2021-2022 Market Square Concerts season with a program that includes Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet Op.18, No.3, Gabriela Lena Frank’s cross-cultural Leyendas, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s poignant String Quartet No. 3. The performance will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7:30 p.m. at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg.
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With performances that show “emotional commitment and fluent virtuosity,” the Arianna String Quartet has appeared throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. The group is currently on the faculty of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where they teach applied violin, viola and cello, and coach student chamber music ensembles.
During the pandemic, the Arianna String Quartet kept in the game by live streaming performances on its YouTube channel. Called “ASQ At Home,” these Friday evening events featured selections especially chosen by a member of the quartet, followed by a virtual reception. The group also organized an online chamber music festival open to high school, college and young professional musicians.
The remaining five concerts in the series will move to the Market Square Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg and all will be held at 7:30 p.m. The first, on Nov. 17 will feature clarinetist David Shifrin, cellist Peter Wiley and pianist Anna Polonsky who will perform clarinet and cello sonatas by Brahms, as well as Beethoven’s own arrangement of his magnificent Septet.
On Jan. 5, the Philadelphia Baroque Ensemble, Tempesta di Mare, and actors from the Gamut Theater will perform English Orpheus: a cabaret on the eternal themes of love, with songs and instrumental music by John Dowland, John Blow, Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel, as well as poetry by William Shakespeare. Then, on Feb. 15 pianist, composer and writer Stephen Hough will perform music by Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann and Alan Rawsthorne, as well as a composition of his own.
The season continues in the spring with Market Square Concerts’ 40th Anniversary Concert featuring music by world-class living composers, including Jeremy Gill, Robert Pound, Avner Dorman and Zev Malina. The season will conclude on April 21 with the annual Stuart and Friends program featuring Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra maestro Stuart Malina.
All performances during Market Square Concerts 2021-2022 season will be conducted with safety in mind. The group will be following the governor’s health and safety guidelines and presently requests those audience members who have not been vaccinated to wear a mask. Updates can be found on Market Square Concert’s website at www.marketsquareconcerts.org.
For the past four decades, Market Square Concerts has dedicated itself to creating community programming that showcases notable professional artists and features a diverse chamber music repertoire. The group offers the public opportunities to learn about chamber music as an art form through a series of concerts held during their regular season, as well as an annual festival. These events feature both established and emerging artists performing compositions both old and new.
Single tickets are $35 with discounts for seniors and college students. Tickets are free for youth up to 12th grade. Tickets may be purchased by calling 717-221-9599, or visiting online at www.marketsquareconcerts.org/concerts.