GREAT CHINA TOUR CHAMBER MUSIC Quatuor Molinari, Canada, 2013 | Quatuor Molinari, Canada, 2013 |
  Tour Dates: 14 - 25 November, 2013 Internationally acclaimed by the public and the critics since its foundation in 1997, the Molinari Quartet has given itself the mandate to perform works from the 20th and 21st centuries' repertoire for string quarte...
Tour Dates
15 November Mongmanwai Concert Hall, Tsinghua University, 010-62788104 / 62782334 Olga Ranzenhofer, violin Internationally acclaimed by the public and the critics since its foundation in 1997, the Molinari Quartet has given itself the mandate to perform works from the 20th and 21st centuries' repertoire for string quartet, to commission new works and to initiate discussions between musicians, artists and the public. Recipient of fourteen Opus Prizes awarded by the Quebec Music Council to underline musical excellence on the Quebec concert stage, the Molinari Quartet received in 2004 a prestigious distinction: the Académie Charles Cros of France has awarded the Molinari Quartet a "Heartthrob" for its recording of R. Murray Schafer's Quartets 1 to 7, published on the ATMA Classique label. In addition to many Canadian works, the Molinari Quartet's repertoire includes among others, quartets by Bartók, Berg, Britten, Corigliano, Debussy, Dutilleux, Dun, Glass, Gubaidulina, Kancheli, Kurtág, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Martinu, Penderecki, Prokofiev, Ravel, Rihm, Schnittke, Schoenberg, Shostakovich and Webern. Described by the critics as an "essential" and "prodigious" ensemble, even "Canada's answer to the Kronos or Arditti Quartet", the Molinari Quartet has established itself as one of Canada's leading string quartets. The Molinari Quartet was heard twice as the soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit and was invited to perform in numerous concert series and festivals including IJsbreker (Amsterdam), Présences (Radio-France, Paris), Festival Octobre en Normandie (France), IXth International Festival of contemporary music Musica Nueva (Mexico), Musiques au présent (Québec), Festival Vancouver, Vancouver New Music, Banff Centre, Music Toronto, New Music Concerts (Toronto), Toronto Summer Music Festival and Academy, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Tonus Vivus (Edmonton), Orford Festival, Montréal / Nouvelles Musiques, Ground Swell (Winnipeg), Five-Penny concert series (Sudbury), etc. The Molinari Quartet has commissioned R. Murray Schafer's 7th and 12th quartets and has also premiered his 8th and 10th Quartets, written also for the Molinari. The Quartet has commissioned and premiered several works from Canadian composers such as Otto Joachim, Michel Gonneville, Marc Hyland, Michael Matthews, Kelly-Marie Murphy, David Scott and Ana Sokolovic as well as giving North-American premieres of many works. The Molinari Quartet is the only quartet to have all of R. Murray Schafer's eleven string quartets in its repertoire. Its recordings on the ATMA Classique label have received international critical acclaim. In September 2011, the Molinari Quartet released its recording of Alfred Schnittke's string quartets and has received rave reviews from, among others, The Strad (January 2012) and Gramophone (Editors choice, February 2012). Launched in October 2001, the Molinari Quartet International Competition for Composition has had an enormous success. Over its five editions it has received over 600 new quartet scores from 60 countries. Olga Ranzenhofer graduated with an Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati after studies with the renowned professor Dorothy DeLay and members of the LaSalle String Quartet. Principal second violin of the Orchestre Métropolitain from 1989 to 2001, Olga Ranzenhofer founded in 1997 the Molinari String Quartet. Olga Ranzenhofer was concertmaster of the Société de musiquecontemporaine du Québec from 1994 to 2004 and held the same position with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to 1995. She has participated in many concert tours and recitals, television and radio broadcasts and compact disc recordings in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. She was also a member of the Morency String Quartet from 1987 to 1997. Olga Ranzenhofer is recognized as a leader in contemporary music in Québec and has commissioned many works for violin and piano and for string quartet. In November 2000, she was awarded the Opus Prize of Personality of the Year by the Quebec Music Council. In the fall of 2009, she was named Canadian Music Centre Ambassador in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the Canadian music scene over the years. Described as 'a stunning and marvelous violinist' the violinist Frédéric Bednarz has played recitals in North America, Central America, Europe and Asia. He has performed concerts in New York's Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall, in Boston, in Kansas City, in all major Canadian cities, in France, Italy, Poland and Japan. A winner of many competitions including the prestigious Prix d'Europe in 1996, the Marseille International Competition and the Val Tidone International Competition, Mr. Bednarz was heard as soloist with the Ottawa and Montreal Chamber Orchestras, the Montreal Civic Orchestra, Ensemble America in New York, OSSIA, the Atlantic Symphony, The Longy Chamber Orchestra, Bach Festival Orchestra, ME. His chamber music collaborations include appearances with Anthony Marwood, Richard Lester, Julius Baker, OlehKrysa, Malcolm Lowe, and the Ying Quartet. Bednarz is regularly featured on radio broadcasts with CBC and NPR, and recorded for the XXI Label, Albany records and Atma. He joined the Molinari String Quartet in 2007 and lives in Montreal with his wife, the pianist Natsuki Hiratsuka. Frédéric Lambert received in 2011 a doctorate degree in viola performance at McGill University under the direction of Professor André Roy. His studies have allowed him to play in master classes for Robert Vernon, James Dunham, Steven Dann, Bruno Pasquier, Régis Pasquier and Ani Kavafian. In 2004, Frédéric Lambert and violinist Emmanuel Vukovich played as soloists with the McGill Symphony Orchestra. This performance earned them the Prix Étoiles Galaxie of Radio-Canada. Frédéric Lambert was a founding member of the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Quartet from 2002 to 2007. Grand Prize Winner and Gold Medal of the 2005 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and winner of the 2004 Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation, the Lloyd Carr-Harris String Quartet rapidly established as one of the most important string quartets in Canada, and participated in many competitions and festivals in Canada, France, England, Italy, United States and more recently, Australia. Mr. Lambert is regularly invited to play with renowned ensembles such as Les Violons du Roy, la Société de musiquecontemporaine du Québec, the McGill Chamber Orchestra and Musicamerata. Since 2006, Frédéric Lambert has been a member of the Société de musique de chambre de Québec. Over the past eight years, he has been a member of the group DRUZKOVKA, an ensemble which plays 'worldbeat' music. As a member of this group, Frederic Lambert writes arrangements and plays viola, violin and mandolin. Their critically acclaimed first album "Au Piano Rouge" was released in 2006. The group has participated in many festivals in Quebec and France. Mr. Lambert joined the Molinari Quartet in the summer of 2007. A graduate from the Montreal Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Pamela Frame where he was teacher assistant, Pierre-Alain Bouvrette was also a prize winner at the 2003 International Chamber Music Competition of Val Tidone in Italy. A guest participant at the Chamber Music Festival of Costa Rica on two occasions, he was also invited to join the Takacs Quartet at the 2001 String Quartet Seminar in Boulder, Colorado. Pierre-Alain has collaborated with artists such as Malcolm Lowe, the Ying Quartet and Oleh Krisha. An active chamber musician, he is also a member of the Ponticello Cello Quartet since 2007 and has joined the Molinari Quartet in the summer of 2007. Pierre-Alain plays an instrument made in 1904 in Naples, Italy by Vincenzo Postioglione. Press "The obvious point of reference here is the Kronos Quartet's cycle of Schnittke string quartets, released as a complete edition in 1998. But after hearing Quatuor Molinari play the same pieces I don't think I'll be going back. In fact, if anyone wants it… " - Philip Clark, The Gramophone (United Kingdom) "… the Molinari players are cantabile-based, almost as though they are signing each score through their instruments." - Julian Haylock, TheStrad |
