What’s this program about?

Vignettes is made up of pieces that each explore a theme or image. Taking music from the baroque era where each movement was designed to explore the nuances of a single theme, to the songlike qualities of Romantics, to the imagery of today’s composers, this program brings the audience inside the thought behind the music. A woman hawking her wares, a starry night, the nuances of grief, a celtic fiddle, a German hymn, and a rain song all feature as inspiration for the pieces included on this program. Join us to explore the ways these ideas have been transformed into sound.

The Music

G.P. Telemann (Germany) - Fantasia for Solo Violin no. 2

Gabriela Lena Frank (Peru/USA) - La Vendedora Cholita 

Reena Esmail (India/USA) - Darshan 

Mai Ohtani (Japan) - Face up 

Angelica Negron (Puerto Rico) - A Través del Manto Luminoso 

Johannes Brahms (Germany) - Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major

Come Ready to

Explore the imagery behind the music, depict your own version of what you hear, and experience classical music from around the world.

Musicians

Peter Paetkau - Violin

Luke Norell - Piano 

*Concert will last approx. 1 hour including short pause

What’s this program about?

Impressions features pieces that can be connected to a style of art that either influenced the piece directly or was heavily prominent in the region where it was created at the time it was written. Caroline Shaw talks about how she was inspired to write this piece after listening to the different “colors” of a Haydn quartet and her mission to take that idea even further into the technicolor. Rini aims to call attention to the importance of traditional art and its influence on how we live. There is an easy connection that can be made between her piece and the Javanese batik style. Ravel rejected the idea of being an impressionist but so did the painters of his time. At the end of the day, it is clear to see how music and visual arts influenced each other. 

The Music

Caroline Shaw (USA) - Entr’act

Peni Candra Rini (Indonesia) - Maduswara

Maurice Ravel (France) - String Quartet in F Major

Come Ready to

Make connections between visual art and music, explore different styles and traditions, and create your own masterpiece.

Musicians

Peter Paetkau - Violin, Thompson Wang - Violin, Maureen Sheehan - Viola, Nicholas Johnson - Cello

*Concert will last approx. 1 hour

What’s this program about?

All of us have traditions, customs, and values that we’ve grown up with. How do we decide as we grow and change which ones we hold on to and which ones we change? Just like our personal growth, composers must often balance a respect for music traditions of the past while adding their own voice and creating something new. In this concert, we have three composers who have taken different approaches to this balance and managed to come up with really incredible results.

More About the Music:

Florence Price was the first African-American Woman to have her symphony played by a major orchestra in the US, breaking into a tradition that was dominated by white composers without sacrificing her own musical voice. Jessie Montgomery is one of today’s biggest names in the classical music world. Her piece, Break Away pushes combines traditional written notes with improvisational elements. Carl Nielsen was a Danish composer who chose to reject the popular musical waves of his time and focused instead on what he thought were the most important parts of musical tradition.

Come ready to…

create with your hands, reflect on your own traditions, and create the biggest effect with the fewest tools!

Musicians: Peter Paetkau and Thomson Wang - Violins, Maureen Sheehan - Viola, Nicholas Johnson - Cello

What’s this program about?

Music is often called a universal language but it can also be deeply rooted in the place it was written. Is it possible for a musical work to be a representative of the culture, customs, and people of the place it was written? And how do those elements affect the way the piece sounds? All of the composers on this program wrote music with a special connection to the place it was created giving us three examples of vastly different cultures united in one concert. 

More About the Music:

Jean Marie Leclair was a French composer long before 20th century nationalism was popular. Nevertheless, regional styles of composition made for recognizably French qualities in his music compared to his Spanish or German neighbors. Guadalupe Olmedo was a Mexican composer and well respected in her time but largely forgotten once she left school to get married. Her only surviving string quartet paints a picture of life in Mexico City during her time. Sergey Prokofiev wrote his second quartet while spending a summer in the Kabardinian region (think Southern Russia close to the Black Sea). The piece is a result of a challenge by a colleague who prodded him to write something uniquely Kabardinian. After a lot of study of folk music, instruments, and local customs, the second string quartet was born.

Come ready to…

hear how a change in position affects the music, discover origin stories of music and musicians, and find the link between music and culture around the world.

What’s this program about?

How do composers depict forces of nature through their music? Artists have always been inspired by the natural world; it has been the subject of countless paintings, poems, novels, sculptures, and more. But music? How can someone write music that evokes the feeling of sitting by the sea or depicts movement of water or the sensation of fresh, spring weather. In this program, we feature three pieces that do exactly that. Each composer has taken a different approach to the task and the results are unique, attention grabbing, and undoubtedly beautiful.

More about the music

Angelica Negrón’s, Marejada, sets the tone for our program. Meaning “surge” in Spanish (a theme which ties all three of our pieces together), Marejada mixes string instruments with a pre-recorded track to create a meditative sensation of spending time at the seashore. Libby Larsen’s Emergence expresses different states of water by using a wide range of sounds and techniques from the string quartet. Finally, WA Mozart’s Spring Quartet is full of playfully surging melodic lines and a feeling of fresh spring air. 

Come ready to…

play with water, find your beach vibes, and recreate a spring day!

Musicians: Peter Paetkau and Emma Burge - Violins, Josue Negrete - Viola, Nicholas Johnson - Cello

Our Season Finale is jam packed with favorites for musicians and audiences alike. ABC veteran, Hannah Shanefield returns to perform Odaline de la Martinez’ “Four Afro-Cuban Poems” with string quartet. All-star composer, Jessie Montgomery’s Strum has become an instant hit in the music world and for good reason. Our last piece of the season is Mendelssohn’s second string quartet. Written in a cyclical fashion, the opening notes of the piece are also the last; a fitting send off as we celebrate the year of music making and look ahead to the next!

Join us for a unique and engaging evening of chamber music at Attacca School of Music on Sunday, May 4th, from 5:00-7:00 PM featuring the talented musicians of Analog by Choice. This special event is designed for music lovers of all ages, offering a hands-on experience in both performance and storytelling.

From 5:00-6:00 PM, enjoy an interactive masterclass with the student chamber groups of Attacca School of Music. Watch as students collaborate with Analog by Choice in real-time, gaining valuable insight into the artistry of ensemble playing and the nuances of chamber music.

From 6:00-7:00 PM, be part of a dynamic and imaginative interactive concert where the quartet will present a unique program inspired by the structure of a novel. In this "build your own quartet" experience, the quartet will weave together "chapters" from different pieces to create a new musical narrative. As each movement unfolds, there will be moments of audience interaction, encouraging young listeners to share their interpretations of the evolving story.

We’re pleased to announce our first collaboration with the students of Class 10C1 at Phan Boi Chau High School in Vinh, Vietnam. Over the past few months, these students have written original works exploring themes of identity and cultural connection, paired with movements from string quartets selected in partnership with ABC. The selected pieces will be recorded by ABC and presented to audiences in Vietnam during the Nghieng Festival on April 13th, blending live performance with recorded music to highlight this unique interdisciplinary and cross-cultural project. This initiative reflects our shared commitment to fostering artistic dialogue across borders, and we look forward to sharing the students’ creativity with listeners in the U.S. and beyond.

Taking inspiration from folk music and cinematic traditions, this program spans a wide range of cultures and styles. Opening with Kodaly’s infamously tricky duet for violin and cello inspired by the music of Eastern Europe, the program continues with Angelique Kidjo’s string quartet arrangement of YanYanKliYan Senamido. Drawing from the musical traditions of Benin, the quartet writing is unfamiliar for players but instantly appeals to listeners. Finally, Korngold’s Second String Quartet takes center stage in a tour de force of cinematic writing.

Our first Letter Concert of the season kicks off with Marie Jaell’s almost unknown Romance for Violin and Piano, Scott Joplin’s innovative ragtime piece designed for the concert hall, and Leos Janacek’s “Intimate Letters” for string quartet; a dream piece for musicians and an audience favorite!