"A Radical Welcome" by the Boston Public Quartet at the Strand Theatre (Boston, MA.)
Boston Public Quartet
Presents
"A RADICAL WELCOME"
One Night Only!
THE BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET will present "A RADICAL WELCOME," a concert with music and dance.
Performance:
BOSTON’S STRAND THEATRE, 543 Columbia Road, Boston, MA. 02125
TICKETS:
“Pay What You Want”” tickets are available at bostonpublicquartet.com
BUY TICKETS
PRESS RELEASE:
THE BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET (BPQ) will present "A RADICAL WELCOME," a concert with music and dance at The Strand Theatre on Friday, April 19th at 7:30pm.
“Pay What You Want”” tickets are available at bostonpublicquartet.com.
"A RADICAL WELCOME," will be a "multi-sensory experience,” explained BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET founder Betsy Hinkle. “Accompanying the music there will be dance on stage, with musicians as part of the choreography, as well as students from Rose Conservatory performing West African drumming and violin side by side with BPQ members. We’ll be utilizing aisles for performers to connect with the audience, projecting the musical score and other visual aspects, all intended to encourage questions and conversation for a cross-section of Boston audiences, many of whom we hope will be new to this type of concert experience.”
The concert will feature “On the Impulse to Move” by Lavell Blackwell, with original choreography by Liana C. Percoco in collaboration with dancers Dana Alsamsam, Hannah Brown, Erica Codd and Sophie Nash.
“The piece was inspired by the physical and mental tensions caused by my attempts to practice meditation, which requires stillness,” said Blackwell. “It’s a chronicle of a mind and body trying (and failing) to remain still, drawing musical inspiration from sources as diverse as John Adams and Stevie Wonder.”
The program will also include “Strum” by Musical America's 2023 Composer of the Year, Jessie Montgomery.
Drawing on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement, “the piece has a kind of narrative that begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration,” said Montgomery.
“Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Piano Quintet in G minor,” written in 1903, is one of the renowned Anglo-African composer’s earliest compositions.
It will be played by THE BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET with movements divided by specially curated audience participation.
Scheduled to perform in "A RADICAL WELCOME" are Betsy Hinkle and Grant Houston on violin; Jason Amos on viola; Emmanuel Feldman on cello; and Joy Cline Phinney on piano.
Lavell Blackwell is a composer whose work is performed all over the United States, combining diverse musical influences and techniques to create a singularly piquant and energizing sound. In addition to composing, he currently serves on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music.
"On the Impulse to Move," which received its premiere in 2023, a co-commission led by Winsor Music, Inc. and included THE BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET, the Radius Ensemble, the Apple Hill Chamber Players, the Boston Chamber Music Society, Music from Salem, Castle of Our Skins, the Sphinx Organization and the Coastal Carolina Music Festival.
Jessie Montgomery is a GRAMMY-winning, acclaimed composer, violinist and educator whose music interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st century American sound and experience. Her profoundly felt works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life” (The Washington Post) and are performed regularly by leading orchestras and ensembles around the world.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is a pioneer in classical music and an iconic figure in Black British history. His notable works include “Hiawatha's Wedding Feast” (1898), “The Death of Minnehaha” (1899) and “Hiawatha's Departure” (1900).
Liana C. Percoco is a movement-based performing artist, educator, and choreographer. She is a faculty member at Art Barn Community Theatre and has worked with The Young Company at Greater Boston Stage Company since 2016 choreographing musicals and teaching workshops in dance, devised performance, and yoga for youth theatre artists. Her original dance theatre, site-specific choreography, and dance films have been shown at festivals and venues around the country and supported by local civic grants from NEFA, City of Boston and MCC.
Rose Conservatory provides access to exceptional arts education and performance for the Brockton community, fostering creativity, artistic growth, and well-being for all ages, backgrounds and abilities.
"A RADICAL WELCOME" by THE BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET will be performed at The Strand Theatre on Friday, April 19th at 7:30pm.
“Pay What You Want” tickets are available at bostonpublicquartet.com.
BUY TICKETS
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
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ABOUT THE BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET (BPQ)
At home performing on a street corner in Mattapan Square, the Kennedy Center in D.C. and the Harvard Musical Association in Boston, THE BOSTON PUBLIC QUARTET was created to connect, inspire, and innovate as an ensemble-in-residence in Boston’s diverse neighborhoods.
Founded in 2007, the BPQ is dedicated to normalizing the amplification of historically excluded voices in classical music; musicians, composers, students, and audience members.
ABOUT THE STRAND THEATRE
THE STRAND THEATRE is a venue for a diverse range of performing arts, cultural programming, and community events. Its mission is two-fold:
- to engage the multicultural residents of Boston, with a special commitment to youth and the Upham’s Corner community;
- and to act as a catalyst in strengthening the fabric of the neighborhood.
543 Columbia Road
Boston, MA. 02125
