The third concert of the season finds the Ciompi Quartet exploring works inspired by folk music. They play the bright, childlike melodies of Britten’s Three Divertimenti, the young composer’s sketch for a quartet that never materialized. They then turn to two contemporary pieces: Pulitzer Prize-winner and Greenville, NC native Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte, a Haydn-inspired minuet; and the world premiere of a newly-commissioned piece, Skye & Glass, by Duke Ph.D. graduate and University of South Carolina professor David Kirkland Garner, influenced by roots music and played by Celtic fiddler Jamie Laval. Dirty Linen Magazine raved that Laval’s “superb technique, fluid dexterity, subtle bowing, and purity of tone are unparallelled.” The program culminates in Dvořák’s well-known “Slavonic” quartet, which takes its essence from traditional melodies of the composer’s homeland.

Benjamin Britten: Three Divertimenti for String Quartet
Caroline Shaw: Entr’acte for String Quartet
David Kirkland Garner: Skye & Glass for String Quartet and Fiddle
Dvořák: String Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 51