2023-2024 Signature Series
Now in its 24th season, the Signature Series is Four Seasons’ flagship initiative. Comprising six residencies throughout the year, the Signature Series features classical music’s preeminent performers and personalities in thrilling performance – in both Greenville and Raleigh!
The 2023-2024 Signature Series features works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Béla Bartók, Johannes Brahms, Rebecca Clarke, Gabriel Fauré, Aram Khatchaturian, Robert Schumann and more, as well as the return of our popular “Behind the Scenes” concert, this time focusing on string quartets of W.A. Mozart and Felix Mendelssohn. Hand-picked by artistic director Ara Gregorian, our musicians hail from the world’s finest stages and ensembles and are brought together in never-before-seen combinations. In short, our Signature Series performances are must-see events for classical music aficionados and newcomers, alike.
Season Opening Extravaganza
Raleigh Concert – Sun, Oct 1 @ 3:00 PM
Our 24th season kicks off with a thrilling concert featuring three distinct soundworlds: the lush French-ness of Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Quartet in G Minor, Ludwig van Beethoven’s grand and virtuosic Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, and an exhilarating conclusion courtesy of Johannes Brahms’s famous Rondo alla Zingarese. Four Seasons founder & artistic director Ara Gregorian is joined for these concerts by renowned pianist and chamber musician Rieko Aizawa, the two-time Grammy nominated violinist Jesse Mills, and cello legend Marcy Rosen.
Contrasts
Raleigh Concert – Sun, Oct 22 @ 3:00 PM
From Hungarian folk music to lyrical Romanticism, Armenian dances to gentle spirituality, this concert represents a study in contrasts. Acclaimed pianist Adam Neiman joins audience-favorite Alan Kay (clarinet) and Four Seasons’ own Ara Gregorian (violin) in a concert featuring the music of Alexander Arutiunian, Béla Bartók, and Aram Khatchaturian against the backdrop of J.S. Bach and Johannes Brahms. A Klezmer-inspired work by Paul Schoenfield brings the program to its rollicking conclusion.
The Romantic Trio
Raleigh Concert – Sun, Nov 12 @ 3:00 PM
The classical perfection of Felix Mendelssohn paired with the effusive sentimentality of Robert Schumann – there are perhaps no two composers who better represent the sometimes-contradictory nature of music from the Romantic Era. Schumann’s Piano Trio in G Minor and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor reveal this juxtaposition in a performance featuring pianist Gilles Vonsattel, violinist Ara Gregorian, and cellist Michael Kannen.
Behind the Scenes with Mozart & Mendelssohn
Raleigh Concert – Sun, Feb 11 @ 3:00 PM
Learn what made the composers tick with the return of Four Seasons’ popular “Behind the Scenes” concerts featuring the Cooperstown Quartet! This season we take you behind the scenes with two composers who best typify the wunderkind: W.A. Mozart and Felix Mendelssohn. Join us for this exploration of precocious musical genius courtesy of two giants of the string quartet.
Muses & Inspirations
Raleigh Concert – Sun, Mar 17 @ 3:00 PM
Be inspired as pianist Thomas Sauer, violist Ara Gregorian, and cellist Colin Carr highlight distinct combinations of their instruments. Muses & Inspirations pairs Ludwig van Beethoven’s dramatic and ever-popular Third Cello Sonata with Rebecca Clarke’s powerful Viola Sonata. All three artists combine for a performance of Johannes Brahms’s Clarinet Trio, here with viola playing the role of the clarinet.
The Brilliance of Five
Raleigh Concert – Sun, Apr 28 @ 3:00 PM
We conclude the Signature Series season in brilliant fashion with a program highlighting the string quintet. Don’t miss violinists Hye-Jin Kim and Xiao-Dong Wang, violists Ara Gregorian and Yura Lee, and cellist Raman Ramakrishnan as they join forces for Johannes Brahms’s Quintet in F Major – a work the composer once described as being especially beautiful – and Felix Mendelssohn’s sparkling Quintet in B-flat Major. The locamotivesque second movement of Antonín Dvořák’s “American” String Quintet opens the program.
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