Free July Chamber Concerts at Santa Croce

 

Ensembles participating in the Fiesole Music School session of the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) this summer will give free concerts in the ancient refectory of Santa Croce on July 19 and 20. ECMA aims to form a growth and exchange circuit for chamber ensembles, involving top-class European educational institutions and festivals from all over Europe and beyond.

The performances, which begin at 9:30 pm, will take place under The Tree of Life fresco by Taddeo Gaddi (1340) and murals on the theme of Last Supper.  In this unique hub of art and faith, three chamber music groups will perform on Tuesday. The musicians of the Quasi Trio — David Šimeček (clarinet), Kateřina Ochmanová (piano) and Judita Škodová (çello) received theirs master’s degree in chamber music at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts, open the evening with compositions by Mozart.  Next on stage is an ensemble from the Unites States, the Zorá Quartet, who will plays pieces by Beethoven, closing the concert by with the Quartet in F major op. 96 “Americano” by Antonin Dvořák, written during the composer’s stay in the States. Founded in 2018, members of the Nerida Quartet currently studies in Bern with Patrick Jüdt.

Wednesday’s event features Arete String Quartet and Selini Quartet in the same venue. Founded in 2019, Arete String Quartet won the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2021, will open the concert with an interpretation of the Quartet in B minor op. 33 n. 1 Hob: III. 37 by Franz Joseph Haydn, and the Quartet n.1 by György Ligeti.

The Selini Quartet will perform Quartet no. 8 in C minor op. 110 by Dmítrij Shostakovich. Coming from Russia, Romania, and Greece, the four musicians founded the Selini Quartet in Vienna in 2017 and won numerous prizes in competitions such as Ysaÿe International Competition 2021 and Szymanowski International Competition 2018. Selini Quartet was admitted to ECMA in 2019.

The ECMA Pro project  promotes the development of the international activity of ensembles, is co-funded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Commission. The concerts are held as part of the Florence Summer Festival and are organized in collaboration with the Opera di Santa Croce.  (elif aytemiz)

For information, call 055/597851 or visit www.scuolamusicafiesole.it.