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888-501-0297 or contact through partner website.
“Rhythmically alive and emotionally responsive”
(Classical Music)
This ensemble of young and distinguished musicians was formed in 1998 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. Taking its name from Mendelssohn’s Elijah (Elias is the German form), it is now one of the foremost quartets of this generation. Their playing is vibrant, energetic, and scintillating. The quartet is composed of Sara Bitlloch and Donald Grant, violins, Simone van der Giessen, viola, and Marie Bitlloch, cello.
Elias has recently performed a “Schumann series” of concerts at Wigmore Hall in London with Jonathan Biss and has premiered works by several contemporary composers. The ensemble has performed in major venues in North America. Recipients of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, the players mounted the “Beethoven Project in which they studied and performed all of Beethoven’s quartets as cycles while sharing their experiences on a special website (www.beethovenproject.com).”
The group’s discography has received critical acclaim. Recent recordings include the Schumann and Dvorák piano quintets with Jonathan Biss, and quartets by Britten, Mendelssohn, and Schumann. The
final volume of the complete quartets by Beethoven, including the live performance at Wigmore Hall, was recently released.
PROGRAM
Elias String Quartet
Stravinsky: Three Pieces for String Quartet
Haydn: Quartet in G-Major, Op. 54, No. 1
– intermission –
Schubert: Quartet in D-minor, D 810 (“Death and the Maiden”)

