The Journal

Issue date: 5/3/07 Section: LifeStyle

Media Credit: Max Gersh Violinist John McGrosso is part of the Arianna String Quartet that performed April 29 in the Winifred Moore Auditorium. The Quartet accompanied Daniel Schene on piano in playing songs composed by Johannes Brahms.

Wiping sweat off their brows in between each movement of a song, the Arianna String Quartet and Webster University music professor and pianist Daniel Schene performed a concert featuring three pieces from classical music composer Johannes Brahms.


It was the first time all four members of the Arianna String Quartet - two violinists, a cellist and violist - performed together in the Winifred Moore Auditorium. In the past, individual quartet members have collaborated with Schene. Approximately 40 people attended the April 29 concert.


"I love that auditorium," cellist Kurt Baldwin said. "I've performed with Daniel before. This was the Quartet's first opportunity to have a performance with him as a group."


Choosing music from Johannes Brahms, a German composer from the Romantic Period, was not easily decided, and the story behind choosing music is never that exciting, Baldwin said.


"Brahms has a large library of literature for a string quartet alone," Schene said. "It was a challenge to find pieces where everyone could perform together."


The Quartet, which was established in 1992, has received national attention by winning the Grand Prize in the 1994 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and First Prize in both the Coleman and Carmel Chamber Music Competitions. Quartet members were given top honors in the 1999 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition.


In the past, the Quartet has toured throughout the United States, Mexico, Japan, Canada and France, including performances at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and Tokyo's Suntory Hall. The Quartet still holds tours.


The University of Missouri-St. Louis is home to the Quartet. In 2000, UMSL expressed interest in having a full-time resident string quartet for its music department, similar to the programs at Julliard or Yale.


The Quartet seized the opportunity, Baldwin said. Currently, the Quartet teaches about 35 students in the UMSL strings program.

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