Dalí Quartet to conclude Slee Beethoven cycle

The Department of Music’s 2025-26 presentation of the Slee Beethoven String Quartet Cycle concludes this weekend when the Dalí Quartet visits UB to perform the second half of the cycle.

The concerts will take place April 16-18 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee.

The schedule:

Concert 4, 7:30 p.m., April 16:

• Quartet in F minor, Op. 95 (“Serioso”)
• Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6
• Quartet in A minor, Op. 132

Concert 5, 7:30 p.m. April 17:

• Quartet in A Major, Op. 18, No. 5
• Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 130

Concert 6, 7:30 p.m. April 18:

• Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4
• Quartet in F Major, Op. 135
• Quartet in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2

Tickets are $20 per concert and are available at Ticketmaster, at the Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, or at the Slee Hall box office an hour before concert time. UB students with a valid ID are entitled to one complimentary ticket at the door.

In addition to the performances, quartet members will present a public masterclass at 11 a.m. April 18 in Slee Hall, offering students and audiences an opportunity to engage directly with the ensemble and learn more about its artistry and approach to chamber music.

Inspired by its namesake, the great Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, the quartet is renowned for its technical skill and musical excellence with a Latin soul alongside classical roots.

Violist Jaime Amador will appear with the quartet for the UB engagement, joining Ari Isaacman-Beck, first violin; Carlos Rubio, second violin; and Jesús Morales, cello.

The Dalí Quartet has many accolades to their name, including Chamber Music America’s 2024 Ensemble of the Year, as well as the 2023 ACMP Foundation’s Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award for Excellence and Diversity in Chamber Music, the 2021 Chamber Music America’s Guarneri String Quartet Residency, the 2021 Silver Medal at the inaugural Piazzolla Music Competition, and the 2019 Aspire Award from The Atlanta Symphony for accomplished African American and Latino Musicians.

UB may be the only place in the country — or the world, according to Department of Music staff — that presents all 16 Beethoven string quartets annually.

The Viano Quartet presented the first four concerts in this year’s cycle back in October.

The annual presentation of the cycle was established at UB during the 1950s by the estate of Frederick and Alice Slee.