Parker Quartet to perform entire Slee Beethoven String Quartet Cycle

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 honor this year goes to the internationally renowned Parker Quartet, which will perform the entire Slee Beethoven String Quartet Cycle March 6-12 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus. The concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m., except for the final concert on March 12, which begins at 3 p.m.

The complete schedule:

Concert 1, March 6

Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127

Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1

Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3

Concert 2, March 7

Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 74 (“The Harp”)
Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2
Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

Concert 3, March 8

Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3
“Grosse Fuge,” Op. 133
Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1

Concert 4, March 10

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

Concert 5, March 11

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

Concert 6, March 12

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

UB’s annual presentation of the cycle was established during the 1950s by the estate of Frederick and Alice Slee. Besides being the only annual presentation of the cycle, the event at UB is unique in that ensembles appearing in the series cannot dictate the order in which they perform the individual quartets: The Slee bequest stipulates the order in which the quartets are to be performed.

Tickets to all concerts in the cycle are $20. Advance tickets can be purchased 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 beginning an hour before concert time. UB students with valid ID receive one complimentary ticket for each UB music department concert.

The Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet — Daniel Chong, violin; Ken Hamao, violin; Jessica Bodner, viola; and Kee-Hyun Kim, cello — has distinguished itself since its founding in 2002 as one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation, dedicated purely to the sound and depth of its music.

Recent seasons included performances around the United States and Europe, including at Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Music Toronto, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Strathmore, San Antonio Chamber Music Society, University of Chicago, the Schubert Club and Kansas City’s Friends of Chamber Music.

This season, the quartet marks its 20th anniversary with The Beethoven Project, a multifaceted initiative that includes performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets; the commissioning of six composers to write encores inspired by Beethoven’s quartets; the creation of a new video library spotlighting each Beethoven quartet; and bringing Beethoven’s music to nontraditional venues around the quartet’s home base of Boston, including homeless shelters and youth programs.

The members of the Parker Quartet serve as professors of the practice and Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University’s Department of Music. They also hold a visiting residency at the University of South Carolina and spends their summers on the faculty at the Banff Centre’s Evolution: Quartet program.

The quartet’s numerous honors include winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Grand Prix and Mozart Prize at France’s Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, and Chamber Music America’s prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award.