The Weis Center will welcome Esmé Quartet on Friday, February 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Weis Center Concert Hall.
The Quartet includes: Wonhee Bae, violin I, Yuna Ha, violin II, Dimitri Murrath, viola and Ye-Eun Heo, cello.
When at the Weis Center, they will present: “Spring” from Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter by Kui Dong, “Fall-Winter” from Infinite Season by Juri Seo, String Quartet in F Major by Maurice Ravel and String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Praised for their warm sound and powerful stage presence, the Esmé Quartet was formed in 2016 at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany by four musicians who had been friends since their youth. The Quartet has rapidly gained a worldwide reputation as a chamber ensemble of exceptional artistry and achievement.
In Spring of 2018, the quartet won the first prize as well as sweeping four special prizes at the prestigious Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London, and in the same year it became HSBC Laureate of the Académie du Festival d’Aix. This recognition followed prizes at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition and the 55th Possehl Musikpreis Lübeck. In October 2020, the quartet was awarded the first Hans-Gál Prize by the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz, and Villa Musica.
The Esmé Quartet was named the first Artists-in-Residence at the Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul, Korea for the 2020-2021 season. Recent appearances include the Lucerne Festival, Wigmore Hall, the Flagey Musiq3 Festival in Brussels, Auditori Barcelona, Opéra de Lille, and as the quartet in residence at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal, the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival and Classic Esterházy in Eisenstadt.
They made their highly acclaimed debut tour of the United States and Canada in Spring 2022 followed by their debut tour of Japan in Fall 2022. In Spring 2024, the Esme Quartet made their debut Australian tour to high acclaim, and toured the US and Canada with the 2017 Cliburn Competition gold medalist Yekwon Sunwoo. Other recent highlights include a tour of Italy, and return engagements to the Festival Musiq3 and Wigmore Hall, along with concerts in Austria, Germany and Portugal.
The Esme Quartet performed John Adams’ “Absolute Jest” with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra with the composer conducting in January 2024. They performed Michel van der Aa’s The Book of Water with British actor Samuel West at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in February 2023.
Their first CD “To Be Loved” on Alpha Classics of works by Beethoven, Unsuk Chin, and Frank Bridge, was released in January 2020 and was named one of the best classical CDs of 2020 by WQRX Public Radio in New York City. Their second CD “Yessori” Sound from the Past, also on Alpha Classics of works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Soo Yeon Lyuh, was released in March 2023.
Belgian-American violist Dimitri Murrath joined the Esme Quartet in April 2023, upon the departure of violist Jiwon Kim.
The Esmé Quartet studied with Heime Müller and was mentored by artists such as Günter Pichler, Oliver Wille, Eberhard Feltz, Andraś Keller, Christoph Poppen and Jonathan Brown.
The Quartet takes its name “Esmé” from the old French word for “beloved.”
TICKETS
Tickets are $30 for adults, $24 for seniors 62+ and subscribers, $20 for youth 18 and under, $20 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), free for Bucknell students (limit 1) and $20 for non-Bucknell students (limit 2).
Tickets can be reserved by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at lisa.leighton@bucknell.edu.
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.