Mahler Variations with Terra String Quartet

Harriet Langley, violin | Amelia Dietrich, violin | Chih-Ta Chen, viola | Audrey Chen, cello

Join us for a performance by the Terra String Quartet, a celebrated young ensemble currently in residence at Yale. They will present three string quartets by Greg Sandow, a renowned composer, teacher, writer, and consultant. Known for their warmth and joyful playing, the quartet will bring a deeply personal touch to this program. One of the quartets was a surprise birthday gift for Sandow's wife, Anne Midgette, performed by musicians who came to their home. Another was commissioned by Neeta Helms, founder and president of Classical Movements and a close friend, for the Prague Summer Nights Young Artists Music Festival. Adding to the personal connections, two members of the quartet were students in a course Sandow taught at Juilliard. The music reflects Sandow's spirituality and his profound love of Mahler. Meet the composer Greg Sandow during this event

Following the concert, these quartets will be recorded for release on the Acis label, available on streaming platforms and CD.

Concerts are presented at 5pm and 6:30pm. This event will take place at the Rectory inside the Atrium.

This is one of many programs being offered in the 2024-2025 season.

Please note: Seating will be assigned by the presenters.

Tickets are non-refundable.

Classical Movements has a small fund to offer limited discounted tickets to veterans, students, underprivileged families, and disabled concert-goers, with the generous support of John H. Hart. Please contact us for more information.

For ticket requests and wheelchair accessibility; please contact [email protected] or call (703) 683-6040, ext. 1005 for special accommodations.

Tickets and seating assignments will be communicated by email the day prior the concert. All seats have a clear view of the stage.

ABOUT TERRA STRING QUARTET

Prizewinners at the 2023 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and 2023 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, the Terra String Quartet is a vibrant young international ensemble based in New York City. They are composed of graduates of The Juilliard School, The New England Conservatory, Harvard University, and the Curtis Institute of Music. Praised for their “remarkable maturity and musicality” and “superb ensemble playing” (Hyde Park Herald, Chicago), these four musicians hail from across the globe and, through their unique individuality as artists, are committed to infusing the string quartet with equal parts passion, spontaneity, and humor.

TSQ is the 2024-25 fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music, where they coach undergraduate chamber group ensembles, as well the 2024–25 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. They have performed at numerous festivals and venues across the world, with recent concerts at Capital Region Classical, Rockport Music, Guarneri Hall, Chamber Music Raleigh, Randolph College, and the Emilia-Romagna Festival in Italy. TSQ is deeply invested in education and community work, having been the ‘23-24 Project Music Heals Us Arts Leadership Ensemble, and they were also chosen as the inaugural Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival’s Professional Fellowship Quartet at East Carolina University. Their mentors and coaches include the members of the Brentano Quartet, Ara Gregorian, Marcy Rosen, Hye-Jin Kim, Daniel Avshalomov, Natasha Brofsky, Catherine Cho, and Calvin Wiersma. 

TSQ is the recipient of the Silver medal at the 2023 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, Bronze medal at the 2023 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, and the Grand Prize and Gold Medal at the 2022 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. They were also awarded the Christine and David Anderson Career Development Prize at the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition. In their spare time, they enjoy playing Mahjong together.

Read More: https://www.terrastringquartet.com/about

Greg Sandow has a master’s degree in composition from the Yale School of Music, and in a long musical career has been a composer and also a critic, one of the few with a national reputation for writing about both classical music and pop. As a writer, his specialty became the future of classical music, which he’s given talks on in the U.S. and abroad, while also working as a consultant, among other things doing projects with the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra. He’s also an educator, teaching graduate courses first for 26 years at Juilliard, and now at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. As a composer, besides string quartets he’s written four operas, all successfully performed, and has happily worked with, among other musicians, the Fine Arts Quartet and the pianists Jenny Lin and Min Kwon (writing variations on “America the Beautiful” for Kwon’s America/Beautiful project). He lives in D.C. with his wife Anne Midgette, the distinguished former classical music critic at the Washington Post, their irrepressible 13 year-old son, and two crazy cats. His collaboration with the Terra String Quartet is a high point in his musical life.

About the Rectory

Built in 1785 and the home of Classical Movements’ offices since 2014, the building formerly served as the rectory of the nearby historic Christ Church, once the church of George Washington. Since then, it has been owned by several distinguished Virginians and has been a commercial space since the 1960’s.

Located in the heart of beautiful Old Town Alexandria at 711 Princess Street, the Rectory is minutes away from the shops and restaurants of bustling King Street and is easily accessible by bus and metro.

Classical Movements will provide more information about alternative forms of transportation to access The Rectory on Princess Street, 711 Princess St by email before the event. You can also go to https://www.alexandriava.gov/GOAlex for more information about available options. We encourage all patrons to park off-street through the provision of nearby garages or lots. Many parking garages and lots are located conveniently in the area. There is a parking garage at N. Alfred St Garage, 117 N. Alfred St, $5/hr ($25 daily max, $10 evening max) and a surface parking lot at Cameron/St Asaph Lot, 517 Cameron St, $2.50/hour ($10 daily max, $5 evening/weekend max). Visitors are encouraged to bike, walk or take the Metrorail Yellow or Blue lines to the King Street Station and take the free King Street Trolley, or DASH or Metro buses. For DASH schedule information visit, www.dashbus.com. For Metrobus schedule information, visit www.wmata.com. Bicyclists may visit www.alexandriava.gov/GOAlex for the City’s Bikeways Map, which features the City's best on-street and off-road bikeways, as well as locations of grouped bicycle parking.

We discourage you from using on-street parking. To ensure legal parking, read all posted signs before parking.

Limited off-street private parking is available on a first-come-first-served basis at the following locations:

Classical Movements, 711 Princess Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Fitness Together Alexandria’s main entrance, 300 N Washington Street building, Alexandria, VA 22314

Seasons Culinary Services, 715 Princess Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Secret Garden at the Rectory, 711 Princess Street, Alexandria, United States