Live concerts this weekend in Taos
THERE ARE TWO long-awaited concerts happening this weekend at Taos Center for the Arts (TCA) theater, located at 145 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. On Friday and Saturday (Oct. 29 and 30) at 5:30 p.m. the Taos Chamber Music Group (TCMG) is hosting for the second time this year the American String Quartet (ASQ).
Nancy Laupheimer, TCMG’s director and the flutist who will be opening one of the performances, said “following TCMG’s successful opening concert at the TCA in September we are thrilled to welcome back the Americans, who have graced our roster for many seasons.” Laupheimer said there were a few hurdles to securing these performances, “the Quartet kept in touch via Zoom calls. As soon as I knew that they were ready to tour again, we made a plan for them to come to Taos.”
The Quartet violist Daniel Avshalomov said, “for all the reasons you can imagine Taos is one of our favorite places to play. Chief amongst those is that we know most of the audience by name – some have been attending our concerts for decades, and that makes just walking onstage such a comfort.”
When asked to describe their repertoire choices, the Quartet’s violist Daniel Avshalomov wrote, “The Beethoven program harkens back to our very early seasons. Before we got established, some calls to perform were what might be called last-minute, and we had a shortlist of dependable fireworks we could offer in short order. Opus 59, no. 3 was our ‘party piece’ and topped that list. And Op. 131 (the composer’s favorite) was the first one we learned – not that we had the wisdom or maturity to plumb its depths all those years ago, but our instincts guided us to begin studying routes up that particular mountain early on, so that later ascents could be mounted without injury, so to speak. A joy every time.”
The American String Quartet will perform two different shows. The first, Oct. 29, features Beethoven’s Quartets Opus 59, no. 3 and Opus 131 in a belated 250-year birthday tribute that TCMG had originally scheduled with the Quartet for 2020. The second program,
American String Quartet
Oct. 30, includes works by Johannes Brahms, Dmitri Shostakovich, George Walker and, with Laupheimer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Tempo reached out to Laupheimer and asked her a few questions about the concert and what to expect.
How and when did the relationship with ASQ begin?
I met the Quartet in 1980 when they were the faculty string quartet for the Taos School of Music. It was their second summer in Taos and my first. Two of those original members, violinist Laurie Carney and violist Dan Avshalomov, became dear friends over the years. Violinist Peter Winograd and cellist Wolfram Koessel are as warmhearted and generous of spirit as Laurie and Dan, and I know they think of themselves as part of our Taos family. The Quartet first appeared on the Taos Chamber Music Group series in 2007, and have graced our roster, as a group and individually, many times over the last 15 years.
How were the Zoom calls with the quartet leading up to now?
The Zoom calls were one of the few lifelines during the first year of the pandemic, especially. Laurie started it with the other members of the Quartet, Bob McDonald (artistic director and pianist of Taos School of Music and also a dear friend who has played with TCMG many times) and some other Taos and Santa Fe friends and colleagues. Sometimes we talked about music but often just reminiscences about camping trips and dealing with daily challenges.
You’ll be opening for one of the concerts. How did you decide on the music, and what are you most looking forward to?
The Quartet picked the programs which are different for each performance. I am only playing the second on Saturday. The Friday show will be just the Quartet. To be able to bring them to Taos is indescribably potent, given how much live music is meaning to people, now more than ever.
For me personally, having developed a close friendship with such brilliant musicians is truly a gift. I have performed with the Quartet several times over the years and of course, listened to them play often, so musically I have a good sense of what we will share together when I join Peter, Dan and Wolfram, who will play the Mozart Flute Quartet with me. I performed with pianist Kim Bakkum for TCMG’s first program of its 29th season in September which was wonderful.
Now to have a true chamber music experience with the Quartet, where we can drop into our shared language and passion for the music, will be magical. Despite not having played together in person for so long, I look forward to that ineffable connection and communication that happens between us and with the audience in a live performance.
“As with our first presentation, the safety of musicians, staff, volunteers and audience remain foremost. The TCA will accommodate limited, socially distanced seating for those wearing masks and providing proof of vaccination.”
The programs will run approximately 70-75 minutes with no intermission.
Tickets are available at tcataos.org/ tickets For more details about the
performance go to taoschambermusicgroup.org.