Brentano String Quartet is set to perform a piece written in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Assassination called One Red Rose.
The free performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 27 at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium at Alexander Hall.
Princeton University’s Music Department chair Steve Mackey wrote One Red Rose, which premiered at Carnegie Hall last February.
“One Red Rose was commissioned by Carnegie Hall, Yellow Barn and the Nasher Center to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy” Mackey said in a statement. “I am a composer, not an historian and my first job is to craft a satisfying musical narrative with sound and time but I have tried to connect the music to this watershed event in significant ways. Both my personal recollections of that day as a seven year old, watching T.V. while home from school with the flu, and my recent research in preparation for this project had an influence on the music.”
The program also includes Beethoven’s Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3 and Mendelssohn’s Quartet in D Major, Op. 44, No. 1.
Reservations are required; for tickets call (609) 258-9220.
Brentano String Quartet is the resident string quartet at Princeton University. Its duties at the university include performing least once a semester, conducting workshops with graduate composers, coaching undergraduates in chamber music and assisting in music department classes.
The Quartet recently made its silver screen debut in the film A Late Quartet, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener, and directed by Yaron Zilberman. The film which featured music performed by the ensemble, including their recording of “Beethoven: The Late Quartets” for the Aeon label. Cellist Nina Lee appears as herself in the film as well.
