ARTIST PROFILE

Antares

BIOGRAPHY

Hailed by The Chicago Tribune for "powerful virtuosity and striking razor-sharp ensemble playing," ANTARES was named First Prize Winner of the 2002 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, where the ensemble was also awarded the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Award, the WQXR Prize, and numerous performance prize engagements. Comprised of four virtuoso instrumentalists, Antares draws from a vast and colorful repertoire for the piano-clarinet quartet formation, as well as its various trio and duo permutations. This versatility allows Antares to create programs which span the traditional eras of classical music from the 18th century through the music of today, and the group has quickly gained a stellar reputation for its dedication to the commissioning and promotion of music by living composers.

In January 2004, Antares received its second ASCAP/CMA Award for Adventuresome Programming, and, since its founding in 1996 in New Haven, CT, the quartet has won top prizes in four national chamber music competitions. A recent New York Times review accurately described Antares' approach to the music they perform: "The four musicians play with superb technical polish and, equally important, a sense that they not only are comfortable with this music but also understand its vocabulary and syntax."

Current engagements for Antares include a return to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for a pair of concerts, as well as performances and residencies at New York's Merkin Concert Hall, the Krannert Center at the University of Illinois, the Aspen School of Music, the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild, Friends of the Arts (NY) and the Newtown Friends of Music (CT).

Recent highlights include the ensemble's highly praised New York debut at Weill Recital Hall and their critically acclaimed recital at The Kennedy Center, presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society, as well as concerts and residencies at the University of Iowa's Hancher Auditorium, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Market Square Concerts (PA), Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, and the La Jolla Chamber Music Society's Discovery Series, where the quartet's performance was described by The San Diego Reader as "exciting, expressive, nuanced and captivating."

Antares' numerous festival appearances include a three-part series at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, the Chautauqua Institution, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Norfolk Contemporary Music Seminar and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, where the group received critical acclaim for works by Dahl, Hindemith, Messiaen, and Schickele. For the summers of 2002 and 2003, Antares was Ensemble-in-Residence at the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho in Fortaleza, Brasil, and in August 2003 they performed at the Tuckamore Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Actively involved in commissioning new music, Antares has premiered works by such critically acclaimed composers as Ezra Laderman, Stefan Freund, Kevin Putz, and members of the Minimum Security Composers Collective. The ensemble's three most recent commissions are by John Mackey, as a collaboration with the Parsons Dance Company at New York's Joyce Theater, a work by Oliver Schneller through a Meet the Composer grant, and Carter Pann's Antares, which was commissioned for the ensemble by CAG and premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In addition, the BMI Foundation has awarded Antares a grant to commission a young composer to write a new work for premiere during the 04-05 season. Antares has recorded Ned Rorem's Summer Trio on the Newport Classics label, Fred Lerdahl's Marches for Bridge Records, as well as works by Ezra Laderman and David Schiff.

The members of Antares are also dedicated to education, giving frequent lecture/performances and master classes and participating in community educational outreach programs. Antares is in residence at Columbia University, NY and Wesleyan University, CT and is on the Touring Roster of the Connecticut State Commission, which provides partial funding for various programs throughout Connecticut and New England.