NOTE: Names of advance ticket buyers will be on a list at the door for check-in!                               

                          🎵🎶🎵🎶  PROGRAM    🎵🎶🎵🎶
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W. A. Mozart:            String Quartet No. 15 in d minor, K. 421/417b (1783)
Jane O’Leary:  Mystic Play of Shadows string quartet (1995)  (US premiere)
                                          INTERMISSION
Maurice Ravel:         String Quartet (1903)

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                                      PROGRAM NOTES
🎵     Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet no 15, in d minor, is the second of his renowned set of six quartets, published together in 1785, dedicated to his mentor and friend Joseph Haydn. The only one of the six in a minor key, it is exceptional for its passages of brooding intensity punctuated by light as only Mozart could create. A side note: Mozart’s son, Raimund, was born while he was writing this music, literally! Years after its publication, his wife Constanze explained that the recurring rising theme of the second movement was inspired by her screams of pain while in labor.
🎶     Mystic Play of Shadows — a few comments by Jane O’Leary
"Up from the mystic play of shadows twining and twisting as if they were alive,
                Out from the patches of briars and blackberries,
                                From the memories of the bird that chanted to me...”
       — from Sea-Drift (Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking) by Walt Whitman
     This piece was written during a midsummer residency in 1995 and inspired by the chorus of birds gathering together in the trees at dusk. The magical living shape of their intermingling calls fascinated me. Musical textures reflect the energy of this 'conversation' which took place each evening — clusters of sound filled with echoing calls and motifs. The individual voices in the quartet join together, 'twining and twisting' as they emerge.
🎵     Maurice Ravel wrote his only string quartet at age 28, as a student at the Paris Conservatoire. He’d been a student there for the better part of fourteen years, having been expelled and reinstated a few times; despised by the director, championed by Fauré, encouraged by Debussy … Ravel submitted the first movement of his string quartet to the 1903 Prix de Rome competition. It was his third attempt to win the prize, and his third loss, ultimately resulting in yet another dismissal from the Conservatoire. The full quartet was dedicated to his teacher, Fauré, who didn’t like it. Ravel’s older friend (and rival) Debussy liked it quite a lot. The quartet drew decidedly mixed responses, though one prominent critic of the time called Ravel “one of the masters of tomorrow.”

                            PERFORMER BIOS
     Barbara Riccardi is a native of New York, where her "formal" training began at age 3. She graduated magna cum laude from Vassar College and studied violin with Boris Koutzen, who truly ignited her passion for music. She also studied chamber music with Casals disciple Luis Garcia-Renart, who kindled her lifelong pursuit that began with a mentorship to the Guarneri String Quartet and its first violinist Arnold Steinhardt, who became her sole teacher for many years, culminating with the formation of the Temescal Quartet. Along with her long-standing friend Jonna Hervig from the Guarneri masterclasses, the Temescal was founded in 2005. Barbara joined the San Francisco Symphony under Seiji Ozawa and subsequently the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, where the vocal masters continue to inspire.
     Dana Myers graduated from the Juilliard School with BA and MA degrees in Violin Performance, after studying violin with Dorothy DeLay and chamber music with Felix Galimir and Robert Mann. Upon graduation, she flew directly to the Netherlands to join Het Residentie Orkest (The Hague Philharmonic). She then returned to the US and joined the Saint Louis Symphony, where she appeared as soloist several times with the orchestra. After 42 years in the SLSO, she and her trombonist husband Tim Myers fulfilled a dream and moved to San Francisco, where she was invited to join the Temescal Quartet. When she is not collaborating musically, she can be found in her garden or behind knitting needles next to her large Siberian cat, Mischa.
     Originally from Toledo, Ohio, violist Linda Green makes her home in Richmond, California, where she freelances in many orchestras and plays in the Temescal String Quartet. Linda played with the Carol Trio and was the assistant principal violist of the Orquestra Nacional do Porto, Portugal. She has been a participant in the Gateways Music Festival, including when the group made its 2022 Carnegie Hall debut. As a teacher, she taught 2000+ instrumentalists in the Oakland Public Schools and co-founded both the Home of United String Ensembles (HOUSE) and the Oakland Symphony–sponsored MUSE VIVO Orchestra.
     Cellist Nancy Bien received her BA in music from CSU Hayward and her MA in performance from the University of Iowa, where she studied chamber music with members of the Stradivari String Quartet. She is the cellist of the Temescal String Quartet, Assistant Principal Cellist of the Marin Symphony, a nine-year veteran of Resonance Jazz Ensemble, and juggles an active freelance schedule, playing in varied ensembles throughout the greater SF Bay Area.