Tracing the great line and lineage of the music of our collective culture, American Favorites exudes our pioneering spirit. Carpe Diem String Quartet presents new and classic American works in their signature style.
Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $30 General Admission, and $45 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office on the evening of the Saturday night concert. If you prefer to watch the livestream, please select a virtual ticket. Virtual tickets are available on a sliding scale and include on-demand access through May.
We are closely monitoring the pandemic and its impact on in-person events. With the health and safety of our community in mind, ACMC has updated our COVID-19 guidelines in accordance with City of Austin and CDC. View all recent updates to our programming by visiting our COVID-19 Response page.
Program
May Basket | Korine Fujiwara
SOLOS | Jonathan Bingham
String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96, “American” | Antonín Dvorák (1841–1904)
- Allegro ma non troppo
- Lento
- Molto vivace — Trio
- Finale. Vivace ma non troppo
INTERMISSION
Piano Quintet in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 67 | Amy Beach (1867-1944)
- Adagio – Allegro moderato
- Adagio espressivo
- Allegro agitato – Adagio come prima – Presto
Carpe Diem String Quartet
- Charles Wetherbee & Marisa Ishikawa, violins
- Korine Fujiwara, viola
- Ariana Nelson, cello
One of the most unique and sought-after ensembles on the concert stage today, the Carpe Diem String Quartet is a boundary-breaking ensemble that has earned widespread critical acclaim for its performances of traditional repertoire, new music, genre-bending collaborations, and community engagement.
Carpe Diem defies classification with programming and collaborations that encompass and blend new and old classical, Romani, tango, folk, pop, rock, jazz, and multicultural music. The Quartet has contributed to and premiered works by composers from a variety of backgrounds, including Jonathan Leshnoff, Reza Vali, and Erberk Eryilmaz. Carpe Diem has also performed original charts by folk icons Jeff Midkiff and Jayme Stone and rock singer-songwriter Willy Porter.
Devoted to community engagement, Carpe Diem has been awarded six transformative outreach grants from the PNC Foundation ArtsAlive Awards. The Quartet’s outreach performances incorporate diverse repertoire tailored to audience demographics; use cameras, video, and artistic contributions to enrich presentations visually; rely on communication from the stage to introduce music and engage the audience; and explore fun and thought-provoking themes to connect audiences to chamber music. These performances have allowed the Quartet to reach underserved audiences including The Apache Nation and Ohio Women’s Reformatory residents.
Michelle Schumann
Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Since 2006, Michelle has served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, where she “is fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin American-Statesman). Her brand of performance includes an enthusiastic interplay with the audience and her trademark includes bringing diverse music together under a blanket of narrative events.
Schumann is artist-in-residence and professor of piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and additionally holds a Performance Diploma from the Vienna Conservatory.