The Artisan Quartet will lead off the current BPA Chamber Music Series on Saturday evening October, 8, 2011, at 7:30 in the Uptown Blanco Ballroom, 317 Main Street, Blanco.  This quartet in its present configuration was born in 20009 with the addition of Paula Bird (violinist) to unite with Richard Kilmer (violinist), Bruce Williams (violist), and Douglas Harvey  (cellist).  The group recently recorded part of the soundtrack for the documentary “When I Rise” about Metropolitan Opera singer Barbara Conrad Smith.  The Quartet will make its Carnegie Hall debut on March 22, 2012. 

Four world-class musicians make up the Artisan Quartet. Richard Kilmer, performer and teacher, studied at the Eastman School of Music and currently serves as Principal Second Violinist with the Austin Symphony.  For fifteen years he lived in Amsterdam, toured worldwide with the Amati Quartet and the Mendelssohn Trio, and performed in the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. He has also appeared as soloist with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Michoacan in Mexico and with the Sinfonica Nacional de El Salvador.   

Paula Bird, performer and teacher, currently plays first violin with the Austin Symphony and serves as  Associate Concertmaster and master class clinician with the  Sunriver Music Festival in Oregon. Bird is a principal player, soloist, and chamber player with the Conspirare Choir and the Victoria Bach Festival.

She also holds a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.  

Bruce Williams is the principal violist in the Victoria Bach Festival and the Austin Symphony.  After performing with the Fort Worth Symphony early in his career, Williams traveled to Israel to become principal violist in the Haifa Symphony and toured Israel and Europe as a member of the Haifa Clarinet Trio.  He is also a member of the Allegro Clarinet Trio which has been touring the United States for years and has been featured on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today,” and recorded on Centaur records as The Meisenbach / Golden Duo. 

Douglas Harvey became the youngest principal in the Austin Symphony’s history in 2002 and also serves as principal for the Austin Lyric Opera Orchestra.  Harvey has soloed with symphonies in San Antonio, San Angelo, Austin, Flint, and elsewhere, and is active in many central Texas chamber music groups. He also performed in concert alongside legendary virtuosos Aaron Rosand and Douglas’s teacher, Paul Olefsky, at Steinway Hall in New York City in 2006. 

The Quartet’s concert in Blanco will include some of the music they will play at Carnegie Hall:  String Quartet in A Major, op. 18, no. 5 by Ludwig van Beethoven, String Quartet in G Minor, op. 27 by Edvard Grieg, and Mambo 7/16 by Roberto Sierra.  The Beethoven was inspired by the composer’s hearing   Mozart’s famous quartet in A major.  Grieg’s in String Quartet G Minor, his only completed one, revolves around various dance rhythms and is notable for its thick, lush harmonies.  The Mambo in 7/8 by Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra is a “two and a half minutes of pure fun” take on the aggressive Cuban dance.  

The Artisan promises to provide an exceptional emotional experience.  Ticketholders can also receive a 10% discount on dinner that night at the exceptional Uptown Blanco Restaurant.  For tickets please visit www.blancoperformingarts.com or call 210-316-5164.  BPA thanks you for your interest in bringing quality classical music to our town.

Student rush tickets will be available for $5 for persons 18 and under at 6:30 pm at the ticket table located at the Ballroom door.