The Strad | MEMETERIA by Thomas May

August 7, 2025 • 11:51 am Comments Off on Across the Americas: The Miró Quartet Celebrates Alberto Ginastera

Across the Americas: The Miró Quartet Celebrates Alberto Ginastera

*Miró Quartet: Daniel Ching, Joshua Gindele, John Largess and William Fedkenheuer*

Here’s an interview I did for The Strad with the Miró Quartet on their new recording of the complete quartets by Alberto Ginastera:

Among the Miró Quartet’s projects marking its milestone 30th-anniversary season in 2025 is a new recording of the three string quartets by Alberto Ginastera. For the String Quartet No. 3, Miró is joined by soprano Kiera Duffy. Long a staple of the ensemble’s live repertoire, these works trace the full arc of the Argentine composer’s creative evolution. As violist John Largess notes, they synthesise Argentine folk idioms with bold modernist language, making extraordinary technical demands.

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Filed under: South America, string quartet, The Strad

March 20, 2025 • 12:34 am Comments Off on James Ehnes in The Strad

James Ehnes in The Strad

James Ehnes; photo courtesy Seattle Chamber Music Society

Along with my feature on Abel Selaocoe in Strings, my other cover story this month is a profile of the fabulous violinist and music director James Ehnes for The Strad:

Over a weekend in early December 2024, James Ehnes was in Seattle to perform all ten violin sonatas of Beethoven, partnering with pianist Orion Weiss. Presented in two concerts, each met with rapt attention, the performances were part of a new initiative of Seattle Chamber Music Society (SCMS) to engage audiences during the long interval between its flagship summer festival and the winter festival starting in late January.

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Filed under: James Ehnes, profile, Seattle Chamber Music Society, The Strad

March 7, 2025 • 11:04 am Comments Off on Rediscovering French Composer Fernande Decruck

Rediscovering French Composer Fernande Decruck

Here’s my recent interview for The Strad with conductor Matthew Aubin on his mission to reclaim attention for Fernande Decruck’s music:

For decades, French composer Fernande Decruck (1896–1954) was known only for her Sonata in C-sharp for alto saxophone, a staple of the classical saxophone repertoire. Many of her compositions were left unpublished at her untimely death at the age of 57 and sank into oblivion.

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Filed under: music news, recommended listening, The Strad

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