| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Contact Dana Scoby |
OAKLAND, CA – January 5, 2004 - The Mills College Music Department is pleased to announce that Quartet San Francisco will be guest Artists in Residence during the 2004-2005 academic year. They will be performing as part of the Music Department's Concert Series, and will offer workshops and coaching to Mills students. They will also be collaborating with Mills graduate and undergraduate students and faculty composers on new works. The appointment of Quartet San Francisco carries on the artist-in residence tradition at Mills. Other quartets to have held this post include the Kronos Quartet, Budapest Quartet and Pro Arte Quartet.
"We're very excited that Quartet San Francisco will be joining our creative music community at Mills next year" says Chris Brown, Associate Professor of Music & Co-Director of the Center for Contemporary Music, "We look forward to their coaching our talented student performers, as well as collaborating with the many innovative composers who come to study at Mills. We are also pleased to have their presence at the same time that the Mills Performing Group will be re-established. It should make for an exciting season of music-making at Mills in 2004-05."
Quartet San Francisco is dedicated to exploring contemporary non-classical material while keeping in its heart the history and tradition of string performance practice, a true blend of traditional and modern at the same time. Quartet San Francisco includes Jeremy Cohen and Kayo Miki on violin, Joel Cohen on cello, Emily Onderdonk on viola. The group has been working to introduce new works to chamber players and audiences, gathering its material from popular music elements of recent decades while staying true to the spirit of traditional chamber music.
For well over half a century the Mills College music department has enjoyed an international reputation as a leader in contemporary music. Lou Harrison, John Cage and Henry Cowell taught here in the 1930s, and in the 1940s Darious Milhaud began an association with the college that would last three decades. Mills programs support studies in composition, electronic music, and performance in both traditional and contemporary styles. Its undergraduate and graduate programs blend an appreciation for the past with a commitment to artistic innovation and technological advancement, and its faculty of leading composers, performers, and scholars prides itself on creative openness and accessibility to students.
For more information on members of the quartet, including concert schedule and recent CD recordings, visit www.quartetsanfrancisco.com. For more information about the Mills College music department, visit www.mills.edu/music.
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