FRIENDS OF MUSIC OPEN NEW SEASON WITH OCT. 5 CONCERT IN SHEPHERDSTOWN

The Friends of Music will present the first concert of their 2019-2020 season on Saturday, October 5.

The concert will feature the Friends’ resident small ensemble, the Two Rivers String Quartet. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Shepherdstown, WV.

Entitled “Classic Contours,” the concert will include three works:

• Arvo Pärt (b. 1935) –– Fratres

• Charles Gounod (1818–1893) -–– Quartet No. 3 in A minor

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) -–– Quartet No. 14 in G major

Jed Gaylin, the Friends of Music’s Music Director, calls the Quartet “one of the Friends’ most important assets.”

“For this concert,” he said, “these talented musicians will bring us a program that runs from mystical to rollicking and at the same time celebrates clarity of expression. The music of Arvo Pärt is imbued with a kind of spiritual minimalism that entrances in its simplicity. Gounod’s quartet shifts from a similar kind of austerity through charm into playfulness. Mozart’s quartet, which is a homage to his older witty friend, Haydn, is also filled with cheer and brilliance.”

Admission to the concert will be free for Friends of Music members. The ticket price for others will be $25 per person ($22.50 before September 23).

Tickets and memberships can be purchased on the Friends’ website at www.friendswv.org or by mail (FOM, PO Box 220, Shepherdstown, WV 25443). Visa and Master Card will be accepted.