princetonuniversityconcerts.org Friday, September 16, 2016 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INFO: 609-258-2800 TICKETS: 609-258-9220 CONTACT: Dasha Koltunyuk, dkoltuny@princeton.edu, 609-258-6024

BELCEA STRING QUARTET MAKES PRINCETON UNIVERSITY CONCERTS DEBUT

WITH THREE ROMANTIC MASTERPIECES

Recipients of the Gramophone Award for Best Debut Recording, the Belcea String Quartet makes a rare visit to

the United States to perform works by two great melodicists: Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert. On this

long-awaited tour, the Quartet will make their Princeton University Concerts (PUC) debut on Thursday,

October 13, 2016, 8PM, at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall. In honor of the group’s formation at the

Royal College of Music, ticketholders are welcome to a free pre-concert performance at 7PM by Princeton

University students who have participated in the university’s exchange program at the Royal College of Music.

PUC has presented an incredible array of chamber music’s greatest stars throughout its past few seasons. The

Belcea Quartet is one of the only reining European groups to have not yet appeared on the series. Known for the

way in which “[they] seize the music’s energy, shocking us out of our seats with every fortissimo” The Guardian

(London), the Quartet has also long distinguished itself through its leadership by first violinist, Corina Belcea. Not

only did Ms. Belcea, a protégée of violinist Yehudi Menuhin, break the mold in a genre dominated by male

leaders, but she has also since established the quartet at the forefront of outreach to the next generation of string

quartets. The Belcea Quartet Trust is an ambitious new project that offers intensive coaching sessions for

ensembles on the rise. Amid a season also featuring the legendary Hagen String Quartet, with frequent

appearances by the Princeton-favorite Takács String Quartet as they perform the complete Beethoven String

Quartet cycle, the Belcea Quartet promises to bring a surprise element to PUC. The chance to encounter a group

rarely heard live in the United States poises this concert as one of the most exciting on the PUC series this year.

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LISTING INFORMATION

BELCEA STRING QUARTET

WHEN: Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 8PM, a musical preview at 7PM is free to ticketholders

WHAT: SCHUBERT: Quartet No. 12 in C Minor, D. 703 “Quartettsatz”

BRAHMS: Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2

SCHUBERT: Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden”

WHERE: Princeton University Concerts, Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall, Princeton

University

TICKETS: $50, 40, 25 General; $10 Students. Tickets are available online at

princetonuniversityconcerts.org, by phone at 609-258-9220, or in person two hours prior to

the concert at the Richardson Auditorium Box Office.

PHOTOS: Please contact Dasha Koltunyuk at dkoltuny@princeton.edu or 609-258-6024.

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Belcea String Quartet

Photo by Ronald Knapp (www.belceaquartet.com)

For further information please contact Dasha Koltunyuk at dkoltuny@princeton.edu or 609-258-6024

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