Violinist Chase Spruill to Discuss Opening Event of Community MusicWork’s Nyman North American Premiere Weekend
Discussion will focus on the premiere of British composer Michael Nyman’s String Quartet no. 5 during the Nyman North American Premiere Weekend (March 21st – March 23rd).
In 1985, British composer Michael Nyman set out to write his first string quartet, and in the words of the composer himself, his mission became almost two-fold: “To create an almost orchestral sounding chamber music… and to exorcise the impressive and oppressive history of the string quartet…” Nyman’s career as composer has consistently evaded a proper descriptor, ranging an enormous pallet of cultural influences from the Early Baroque era to the energized stylings of Jerry Lee Lewis. His second, third and fourth quartets followed in 1988, 1990 and 1994, each capturing audible snapshots of the composer’s most current and traceable intrigues. Almost 20 years later, Michael Nyman’s String Quartet no. 5 emerges, and Community MusicWorks takes part in this journey by presenting the North American premiere of the work in the year of the composer’s 70th birthday, offering audiences the opportunity to decide for themselves where contemporary music–as noted by Nyman–has indeed arrived.
Sponsor: The Peck Building
Chace Spruill Community MusicWorks Profile: Chase graduated with a Bachelor’s in Music Performance from Sacramento State University in 2010, and has been a resident artist at Sacramento State since that time with his chamber group, Citywater New Music Ensemble. Chase has extensive teaching and performing experience (he began teaching group violin classes at the ripe old age of 13, in his hometown of Vacaville, CA), and we feel incredibly lucky to have him join the CMW community this year.
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