Circadian String Quartet
Footprints in the Snow

Monika Gruber & David Ryther, violins
Ed Wharton, viola
David Wishnia, cello

Fleeting impressions, dream-like color and hypnotic form in music for string quartet by 20th century masters Hugo Kauder, Claude Debussy and Philip Glass. Join the Circadian String Quartet in a concert which starts with the lush modal colors and folk infused music of the underappreciated Austrian composer Hugo Kauder, who had to flee nazism. We then explore the ineffable and magical world of the Debussy piano preludes, Ondine, Des pas sur la neige and La danse de Puck, here translated to string quartet. We finish off with the kaleidoscopic String Quartet No. 5 by Philip Glass, which takes us on a journey of color and form and activates the theater of the mind.”

Bay Area based Circadian String Quartet was founded in 2013 to perform classical and contemporary repertoire of folkloric or cultural significance. Since then CSQ has become known for bold original programming ideas that break boundaries or reach across cultures, that is why CSQ loves working with composers. CSQ is proud to have given world and U.S. premieres of exciting new pieces of chamber music written by Sahba Aminikia, Ben Carson, Toronto-based Noam Lemish, and British composer Ian Venables. They first performed Sahba Aminikia’s One Day Tehran live on air on KPFA’s radio show Music of the World with Joanna Manqueros in 2015. Then in 2016 they commissioned Aminikia to write a new piece for string quartet and narrator. The result, a glowing kaleidoscopic mixture of text by Allen Ginsburg and Hafez called The Weight of the World was premiered in 2017 at the Piedmont Arts center.

CSQ has also become known for its original transcriptions and compositions. In 2017 and 2019 their original transcriptions of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and The Firebird premiered to enthusiastic crowds and critical acclaim. In 2016 CSQ collaborated with narrator and historian Nikolaus Hohmann to tell stories from World War Two. For this project CSQ created short original pieces of music and text called Chiaroscuros which helped give their programs a narrative arc. Now there is a growing body of these short works which are now a regular part of all CSQ concerts.

CSQ has been quartet in residence at the Music by the Mountain Festival in Mt. Shasta, featured in the April in Santa Cruz new music festival, and the members also serve as resident teaching artistists for the Villa Sinfonia’s Zephyr Point Chamber music workshop in South Lake Tahoe. Some of CSQ’s recent projects include their collaboration with world class santour player Hamid Taghavi, and the upcoming premiere of Eurydice’s Defiance, David Ryther’s new opera written especially for Kitka soprano Lily Storm and CSQ. These projects highlight the breadth of CSQ’s repertoire as they continue to expand the string quartet’s possibilities.

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