Where We Converge invites audiences into a sweeping evening of string quartet writing with the internationally celebrated Borromeo String Quartet. The program traces what a single ensemble can carry across more than seven decades of voices: the contrapuntal rigor of Shostakovich, the folk-rooted intimacy of Florence Price, the kinetic invention of Caroline Shaw, the spiritual reach of Aaron Jay Kernis. At its heart is the world premiere of a Nova Linea Musica commission by composer Mehmet Ali Sanlikol.
The evening opens with Dmitri Shostakovich's Prelude and Fugue in B-flat Major, in an arrangement by Borromeo first violinist Nicholas Kitchen: a work that sets out the contrapuntal architecture and emotional clarity that animate the rest of the program. Florence Price's Five Folk Songs in Counterpoint follows, weaving African American spirituals and traditional melodies into rigorous quartet writing by one of the twentieth century's most important Black composers, finally finding the place in the canon her music has long deserved.
Caroline Shaw's Entr'acte continues the program's exploration of what a string quartet can hold. Composed in 2011 after Shaw heard the Brentano Quartet perform Haydn, the work has become one of the most performed pieces of contemporary American chamber music, and a touchstone for a generation of listeners discovering the string quartet anew. The Kernis "Mysterium" movement deepens the program's spiritual current, drawing on the composer's gift for music that holds awe and intimacy in the same breath.
The world premiere of Mehmet Ali Sanlikol's Nova Linea Musica commission sits at the center of the program. A composer whose music draws on Turkish classical and folk traditions, Sufi mysticism, and contemporary jazz, Sanlikol brings a singular voice to the string quartet form. Hearing his new work in conversation with the program's broader arc, from Shostakovich's mid-century counterpoint to Shaw's contemporary American voice, offers a rare window into what the string quartet can carry across cultures and centuries.
The Borromeo String Quartet has spent more than three decades shaping the international landscape of chamber music. Hailed by the Boston Globe for its "edge-of-the-seat performances" and "simply the best" interpretations, the ensemble serves as quartet-in-residence at the New England Conservatory, the Taos School of Music, and the Heifetz International Music Institute, where Nicholas Kitchen is Artistic Director. The Borromeo has performed on the world's most prestigious stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, and Suntory Hall, and has enjoyed a long-term relationship with the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum since 1991. Honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Cleveland Quartet Award, and Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. A pioneer in artistic technology, the Borromeo was the first string quartet to perform from laptops onstage and the first classical ensemble to produce its own live concert recordings and videos.
Tonight's program continues Nova Linea Musica's commitment to resourcing the creation of new chamber music and bringing composers, performers, and listeners into the same room: an evening with one of the most compelling string quartets of our time, in honor of where we converge.
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