Zemlinsky Quartet and Stephen Swedish to perform in Siebert Chapel

Zemlinksy Quartet

Carthage hosts the Zemlinsky Quartet, with special guest artist Stephen Swedish, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in A. F. Siebert Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public.

Since its founding in 1994, the Zemlinsky Quartet has become a much lauded example of the Czech string quartet tradition. Featuring František Souček (first violin), Petr Střížek (second violin), Petr Holman (viola), and Vladimír Fortin (violoncello), the ensemble performs works by many leading Czech and foreign composers, as well as contemporary compositions.

The ensemble has received top prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition (2007), the Prague Spring International Music Competition (2005), and the London International String Quartet Competition (2006), where it was also awarded the Audience Prize. Most recently, they have been the recipient of the €8000 Advancement Prize of the Vienna Society of Music’s Alexander Zemlinsky Endowment Fund.

Stephen SwedishAmerican pianist Stephen Swedish has established an international reputation as a soloist and one of the great chamber music pianists and collaborators on the stage today. He has partnered in recital with some of the greatest artists in the world including violinists Henryk Szeryng, Josef Gingold and Eugene Fodor; violist William Primrose; and cellists Janos Starker, Raphael Wallfisch and Wolfgang Laufer, among many others.

He received his Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Music degrees from the renowned School of Music at Indiana University, where his major teacher and mentor was Menahem Pressler, pianist of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio. While only in his second year at Indiana, he was invited by cellist Janos Starker to be his regular recital partner and, together they toured North America and Europe.

Mr. Swedish has taught on the artist-faculties of the Oberlin College-Conservatory of Music, the University of Maryland School of Music, and Texas Christian University. In 1996, Stephen Swedish was appointed an Artistic Ambassador by the U.S. State Department. In that capacity he has traveled to such faraway places as Cyprus, Malta, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazahkstan, the Republic of Georgia and Chile.

The concert is co-sponsored by Steinway Gallery of Milwaukee.