Local music lovers will have a chance to experience splendid chamber works performed by some of the world’s most talented young artists as The Castleman Quartet Program launches its 50th anniversary season. In residence this summer at Fredonia, State University of New York, The Castleman Quartet Program’s 2019 concert season will begin with a recital on June 24 featuring faculty member Csaba Erdelyi, viola and Jake Holtzman, piano. The opening events will be followed by a weekend of quartet and solo concerts June 27 through June 30. Charles Castleman, Director, will give a solo recital on Wednesday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. All concerts take place at Mason Hall at The Fredonia School of Music.

The Castleman Quartet Program, now in its 50th season, is a seven-week workshop that brings together 36 gifted and accomplished string players, ages 14 to 28. In residence at Fredonia from June 9 to July 30, this summer’s participants come from across the United States, China, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, including many who study at the world’s leading music schools and have significant competition and performance accolades to their credit. Each participant learns and performs one solo work and one or two string quartets while working under the conditions of a professional position, to further develop their solo and ensemble skills.

This year’s distinguished faculty includes violinists Charles Castleman (Program Director), Laura Bossert, and John Gilbert; violists Allyson Dawkins, Csaba Erdelyi, David Harding, John Kochanowski, and George Taylor; cellists Terry King, Yehuda Hanani, and Thomas Landschoot; and Sonata coaches Kyoko Hashimoto and Claudia Hoca.

Yo-Yo Ma calls The Quartet Program, “The best program of its kind, a training ground for lifemanship.” Alumni have won prizes at the Tchaikovsky, Brussels, Munich, Naumburg, Leventritt and Szeryng solo competitions and, in 40 professional ensembles, have won every major national and international chamber competition. They are represented by top concert management and record companies and are in every important American symphony, chamber, opera and ballet orchestra; one out of three alumni in orchestras is a Principal or Assistant Principal. They are employed in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Venezuela.

All concerts are presented in Juliet Rosch Recital Hall, at Mason Hall on the Fredonia campus. Concerts by the participants will be in three time periods: June 27 to 29, July 18 to 20, and July 24 to 27. Admission is with a recommended contribution of $5 for participant concerts, and $10-15 for faculty/guest artist concerts. The Quartet Program is a registered non-profit organization; donations are welcome and gratefully received.

The participants will also perform free concerts in the community. Public venues will include Reed Library on the Fredonia campus, the Big Dipper Ice Cream Shop, East Main Cafe, and Domus Fare. For updated details on all concert dates and times please see the Facebook page: Castleman Quartet Program. For information on hosting one of these community concerts, message The Quartet Program on Facebook and representatives will be happy to meet with those interested.

For further information, visit the website at www.quartetprogram.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/followquartetprogram, or message at www.facebook.com/followquartetprogram

Unless otherwise noted, all concerts take place in Rosch Recital Hall, Mason Hall, on the Fredonia campus. There are three weekends of concerts presented by Quartet Program participants (in addition to guest artist concerts and masterclasses):

June 27 to 29, July 18 to 20, and July 24 to 27.

Performances:

Saturday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m.: MASTERCLASS: Csaba Erdelyi, viola

Monday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m.: ARTIST FACULTY RECITAL: Csaba Erdelyi, viola

Thursday. June 27 at 3 p.m. SOLO PERFORMANCES

Thursday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m.: QUARTET PERFORMANCES: Works by Mozart, Brahms, Bartok

Friday, June 28 at 3 p.m.: SOLO PERFORMANCES

Friday, June 28 at 7:30 p.m.: QUARTET PERFORMANCES: Works by Beethoven, Ligeti, Smetana

Saturday, June 29 at 3 p.m.: SOLO PERFORMANCES

Saturday. June 29 at 7:30 p.m.: QUARTET PERFORMANCES: Works by Beethoven, Grieg, Hindemith

Sunday July 7 at 3 p.m.: CONCERT AT LILYDALE

Friday, July 5 at 7:30 p.m.: MASTERCLASS: Charles Castleman and Tom Landschoot, cello

Saturday, July 6 at 7:30 p.m.: ARTIST FACULTY RECITAL: Tom Landschoot, cello

Sunday, July 7 at 3 p.m.: CONCERT AT LILYDALE

Tuesday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m.: MASTER CLASS: John Gilbert, violin

Wednesday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m.: DIRECTOR’S RECITAL: Charles Castleman, violin

Sunday, July 14 at 4 p.m.: CONCERT AT LILYDALE

Sunday, July 14 at 7 p.m.: CONCERT AT VAN BUREN POINT

Monday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m.: MASTER CLASS: David Harding, viola

Thursday, July 18 at 3 p.m.: SOLO PERFORMANCES

Thursday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m.: QUARTET PERFORMANCES: Works by Schubert, Janacek, Britten

Friday, July 19 at 3 p.m.: QUARTET PERFORMANCES: Works by Mozart, Barber, Beethoven

Saturday, July 20 at 3 p.m.: SOLO PERFORMANCES

Saturday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m.: QUARTET PERFORMANCES: Works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Borodin

Tuesday, July 23 at TBA : TECHNIQUE CLASS: Allyson Dawkins, viola

Wednesday. July 24t at 7:30 p.m.: SONATA CONCERT

Thursday, July 25 at 7:30 p.m.: SONATA CONCERT

Friday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m.: SONATA CONCERT

Saturday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m.: SONATA CONCERT

Admission is with a recommended contribution of $5 for Young Artist concerts and $10-15 for guest artist series. The Quartet Program is a registered non-profit organization; donations are welcome and gratefully received. For further information, visit our website at www.quartetprogram.com or follow us on Facebook at Castleman Quartet Program.