News & Media Mentions

The Brentano String Quartet will celebrate 30 years as a quartet with a performance in Shannon Hall in Memorial Union on Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. This concert is part of the 2021-22 Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series and the David and Kato Perlman Chamber Music Series. 

The Quartet includes Misha Armory on viola, Serena Canin and Mark Steinberg on violin, and Nina Lee on cello. The group formed in 1992 and spent 15 years as Princeton University’s ensemble-in-residence before relocating to the Yale School of Music, where it has taught and performed since fall 2014. 

This year marks a significant milestone for the Brentano String Quartet: its 30th anniversary as a group. The commemorative program will include the following selections: 

• Haydn, Quartet in D-Major, Op. 71, No. 2
• Bach/Adolphe, “ContraDictions”
• Bach/Mackey, “Lude”
• Schubert, Quartet in G-Major, Op. 161, D. 887

“The program opens with the piece which started our very first concert together in 1992,”  Steinberg said. “I still remember the excitement, the great hope, and the great privilege I felt playing this music with people I love. All of that persists 30 years later, and it is a delight to share this wonderful and not so known Haydn quartet again with our listeners.” 

Since its inception, the Brentano String Quartet has received many prestigious awards, including the first Cleveland Quartet Award, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, and the United Kingdom’s Royal Philharmonic Award for Most Outstanding Debut. 

The Quartet has traveled all over the world, performing traditional quartet repertoire as well as newly commissioned pieces in renowned concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

“The Brentano String Quartet has a timelessness to its music that is impossible to replicate,” Wisconsin Union Theater Director Elizabeth Snodgrass said. “For the past 30 years, as more and more new string quartets pop up, this ensemble has shown its staying power. In the members’ practiced hands, each piece they perform becomes completely their own. We are lucky to welcome them to the Wisconsin Union Theater Concert Series with the help of Dr. Kato Perlman’s generous support.”

Patrons can choose between a ticket to the in-person concert or to a virtual livestream of the performance through the event webpage or at the Memorial Union Box Office.

This season marks the 102nd year of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Concert Series, the longest-running classical music concert series in the Midwest. The 2021-22 Concert Series aims to inspire audiences during this return to live, in-person performances by both new and familiar musicians.

The Wisconsin Union team is dedicated to creating a safe environment for all patrons and team members and upholding the highest cleaning and sanitation standards. The Union team thoroughly and regularly cleans and disinfects its spaces, including performance spaces. 

Patrons and team members are required to follow the current University of Wisconsin–Madison health and safety protocol of wearing a face covering when indoors on campus, unless actively eating or drinking. The Wisconsin Union Theater team will continue to monitor and follow university guidelines. The Theater team has established the temporary additional health and safety measure of ensuring at least 10 feet of space between performers and audiences in performance spaces. 

Click here for more information about the Brentano String Quartet performance.