Aizuri Quartet with Michael Rusinek perform March 14 - 1

Aizuri Quartet with MichaelRusinek perform March 14

LOGAN — When Utah State University faculty memberDennis Hirst announced plans for this year’s WassermannFestival, he emphasized that it should more accurately

be referred to as the Wassermann Concert Series.He referenced the original intent of the festival’snamesake, Irving Wassermann, for the “series” concept.

“We celebrate Mr. Wassermann’s love of music andteaching,” Hirst said when launching the 2015-16 series.“He wanted to bring great music performances to campusfor our students and, by extension, to our community. Weowe a lot to Mr. Wassermann for that vision.”

At the conclusion of the 2015-16 series, we also owe alot to Hirst for bringing that vision back to the festival.The season has seen an impressive array of artists fromdiverse disciplines and concludes with another event thatexpands and redefines the Wassermann’s musical scope.

Appearing Monday, March 14, is the Aizuri Quartet andclarinetist Michael Rusinek.

Their appearance at USU’s Wassermann Series is a partof the Curtis on Tour program, an initiative of the CurtisInstitute of Music. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at thePerformance Hall on USU’s Logan campus.

Reserved seat tickets are $24 for adults, $20 for USUfaculty and staff and students ages 8 and older canpurchase a $12 ticket. Tickets can be purchased atthe Caine College of the Arts Box Office located inroom L101 in the Chase Fine Arts center or online via alink on the Wassermann website (http://www.usu.edu/wassermann/). More information on the artists isalso available at the Wassermann website.

“This concluding concert brings us music from the stringquartet repertoire, plus a pairing of the quartet withclarinet,” Hirst said. “The program provides an exclamationmark to this year’s series. We’ve had a wonderful anddiverse array of concerts.”

The March 14 concert program in Logan begins withMozart’s “Quintet in A major, K. 581” with the AizuriQuartet and Rusinek. Hirst calls this a significant workfor clarinet that is exquisitely beautiful. It was written byMozart for a friend, the virtuoso Anton Stadler, in 1789 #late in Mozart’s life.

Curtis on Tour features faculty artists from the CurtisInstitute of Music. The Aizuri Quartet is its string quartetin residence, much like the USU facility members whocomprise the highly respected Fry Street Quartet.Clarinetist Rusinek is also a faculty member at Curtisand principal clarinet in the Pittsburgh SymphonyOrchestra.

Aizuri Quartet with Michael Rusinek perform March 14 - 2

The second selection on the program was writtenspecifically for the Aizuri Quartet and this tour, “RIPEFG”for string quartet, by Curtis alum Yevgeniy Sharlat. Theback-story for the piece is touching, and Hirst will includethe composer’s notes in the program. The work is writtenas a remembrance of the composer’s former studentEthan Frederik Green.

Following intermission, the program closes with“String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 56” (“Voices intimae”)by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. In notes, JohnHenken, director of publications for the Los AngelesPhilharmonic Association, writes that the five-movementquartet is “often spare and brooding” and that the subtitle“‘Intimate Voices’ suggests both the conversationalquality of chamber music and the inwardness of Sibelius’ruminations.” In the work Hirst hears a blend of Russianintense emotional expression and French impressionism.

Biographical information for the Aizuri Quartet and itsmembers Miho Saegusa, violin; Zoe Martin-Doike, violin;Ayane Kozasa, viola; and Karen Ouzounian, cello; as wellas clarinetist Rusinek, is on the Wassermann website(http://www.usu.edu/wassermann/).

“The 2015-2016 Wassermann Festival Concert Series wasdesigned with one primary goal,” Hirst said. “We wantedto feature great music making in a variety of disciplines# that’s the experience I wanted for our students and thecommunity. This season represented something new.We’ve covered masterpieces of J. S. Bach to music writtenwithin the last year. We’ve explored the keyboard throughnot just the piano, but also the organ and the harpsichord.And we conclude with a chamber ensemble which inmany ways represents the musical realization of what thekeyboard player hopes to do with two hands. It’s been aremarkable season.”

For information on the concert or any of the WassermannFestival events, contact Hirst at dennis.hirst@usu.edu.

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Writer: Patrick Williams USU/pw 03/08/16

Photo: (WassermannAizuriquartet_sized) Members of theAizuri Quartet are featured in USU’s

Wassermann Festival Series’ final concert of the seasonMonday, March 14.

Photo: (Wassermann_clarinetist_sized) Clarinetist MichaelRusinek is also featured in the

Wassermann concert when he joins the Aizuri Quartet forMozart’s “Quintet in A major, K.