For Immediate Release October 12, 2011

Contact: Diane Maxwell, 408-961-5841 dmaxwell@montalvoarts.org

UP-AND-COMING: ARIEL STRING QUARTET AT MONTALVO

Israeli Ensemble Launches Villa Chamber Music Series
Remarkable technical ability and ample supplies of youthful passion. The Washington Post SARATOGA, Calif. Montalvo Arts Center opens its 20112012 Villa Chamber Music Series with an exciting young Israeli ensemble, the Ariel String Quartet, appearing on Sunday, October 30, at 3 p.m. in the historic Villa. The program for the concert will include works by Mozart, Brahms, and Leo Janek. Characterized by its youth, brilliant playing, and soulful interpretations, the Ariel Quartet has quickly earned a glowing international reputation. Previously the resident ensemble in the New England Conservatorys prestigious Professional String Quartet Training Program, the Quartet recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. Formed in Israel and mentored by Itzhak Perlman, the Quartet moved to the United States in 2004 to continue its professional studies and has since rapidly gained the attention of the music world. Grand Prize winner of the 2006 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, it also has been awarded First Prize at the international competition Franz Schubert And The Music Of

Modernity in Graz, Austria (2003). The Quartet won the Szkely Prize for its performance of Bartk, as well as Third Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2007, after which the American Record Guide described the group as a consummate ensemble gifted with utter musicality and remarkable interpretive power and called their performance of Beethovens Quartet Op. 132 the pinnacle of the competition. The Ariel Quartet has performed at such venues as the Louvre in Paris, Kaisersaal in Frankfurt ("a tour de force," said Frankfurter Allgemeine), Jordan Hall in Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society, Corcoran Gallery, Kennedy Center, and National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Highlights of the 201112 season include residencies for the Perlman Music Program and El Paso Pro Musica and performances in Europe and throughout North America. The Ariel Quartet remains committed to performing extensively in Israel and returns home frequently to appear in concert. In addition to performing the traditional quartet repertoire, the ensemble regularly collaborates with many Israeli and non-Israeli musicians and composers, including pianists Roman Rabinovich, Alexander Gavrylyuk and Yaron Kohlberg; the Jerusalem String Quartet; composers Matan Porat, Matti Kovler, and Menachem Wiesenberg; clarinetist Moran Katz; violist Roger Tapping; and the Zukerman Chamber Players. The Ariel Quartet has also been quartet-in-residence at the Yellow Barn Music Festival in Vermont for the past two years.

ARIEL STRING QUARTET

What: A young and vibrant Israeli ensemble launches Montalvos 2011 2012 Villa Chamber Music Series. When: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 3 p.m. Where: Historic Villa, Montalvo Arts Center, 15400 Montalvo Road, Saratoga,

CA 95071. Admission: $30 general public; $25 Montalvo members; $10 students; $20 when purchasing three or more dates from this series. Tickets available at montalvoarts.org, ticketmaster.org, or by calling the Montalvo Box Office at 408-961-5858, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Box Office is also open one hour prior to performance.
### About Montalvo Arts Center Montalvo Arts Center is an oasis of culture and nature whose mission is to create and present arts of all types, nurture artists, and use our historic Villa, buildings, and grounds in innovative ways that engage people in the creative process. Located in Silicon Valley's Saratoga hills, Montalvo Arts Center occupies a Mediterraneanstyle villa on 175 stunning acres, including an international artist residency program. Senator James Phelan left the historic villa and grounds to the people of California for the encouragement of art, music, literature and architecture. In January 2005, the organization changed its name from Montalvo to Montalvo Arts Center to commemorate its 75th year as an arts center and to better communicate its mission to expanding local, national and international audiences. For more information about Montalvo Arts Center, call 408-961-5800 or visit http://www.montalvoarts.org/