Thorwald Jørgensen, theremin with Friction Quartet – Saturday, May 19 at 8 pm

Music for theremin & strings

Thorwald Jørgensen, theremin

Friction Quartet – Doug Machiz, cello; Otis Harriel, violin; Taija Warbelow, viola; Kevin Rogers, violin

Simon Bertrand The Invisible Singer US Premiere
Dalit Warshaw Transformations 
Thorwald Jørgensen Distant Shores for theremin
Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet no. 1 “Kreutzer Sonata”
Thorwald Jørgensen Macheo for theremin
Eden Ahbez Nature Boy for theremin
Prince Little Red Corvette arr. for string quartet by Doug Machiz
Sergei Rachmaninoff Vocalise arr. by Thorwald Jørgensen for theremin and string quartet
Alexander Alyabyev Le Rossignol arr. by Thorwald Jørgensen for theremin and string quartet

The Bay Area’s Friction Quartet joins Thorwald Jørgensen, one of the world’s leading classical theremin players, for a beautiful and rare musical experience. Together they will give the US premiere of a new work, The Invisible Singer by Canadian composer Simon Bertrand, alongside other works for this unique quintet, including Transformations by Dalit Warshaw.

After graduating from the Utrecht and Tilburg Conservatory in The Netherlands, Jørgensen quickly established himself as one of the most prominent players of the theremin and makes a full-time career of playing the instrument. He has performed to great reviews as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral thereminist around the world.

Friction Quartet, whose performances have been called “terribly beautiful” (San Francisco Classical Voice), “stunningly passionate” (Calgary Herald) and “chillingly effective” (San Francisco Examiner), exists to modernize the chamber music experience and expand the string quartet repertoire. They are steadfast advocates of new music and are excited to be to participate in this unique collaboration.