Chamber society features old and new
SPECIAL TO FLORIDA WEEKLY

COURTESY PHOTO The Afiara String Quartet, a Canadian group based in San Francisco

The second performance of the Chamber Music Society of Southwest Florida's series, under the direction of Artistic Director Janelle McCoy, features the Afiara String Quartet, a Canadian group based in San Francisco and finalists at the Banff International String Quartet competition. They will perform Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 7 in f# minor, Op. 108, Samuel Barber's Dover Beach, and a regional premiere of a John Zorn's Cat o' Nine Tails.

The group takes its name from the Spanish a fiara, meaning "in it trusted." Benjamin Frandzel of the San Francisco Classical Voice called the quartet "a terrifically unified, versatile, idiomatic, and moving ensemble."

When Samuel Barber wrote "Dover Beach," he was by then a trained singer and had a beautiful baritone voice. Vaughan Williams heard him perform it at Bryn Mawr College, admired the work, and encouraged Barber to continue to compose. "Dover Beach," written and first performed in 1931, represents Barber's first work in an extended form for voice and ensemble - a form of which he was to become a master.

COURTESY PHOTO Artistic Director, Janelle McCoy

The New York Times called Shostakovich's "String Quartet No. 7 in f# minor, Op. 108," "...perfectly pitched to the Romantic words, while the instruments played the sound of the waves beneath them."

Zorn's "Cat o' Nine Tails" was composed in 1988. Zorn recalled the process.

"Composing 'Cat o' Nine Tails' was a breakthrough for me in terms of being able to relate to classical players on their own terms," he said. "To take advantage of classical musicians at their best, you give them written material, because that's what they do best…..Making it fun is the best way to get a good performance."

The Chamber Music Society has partnered with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Southwest Florida through a generous donation by the Bireley Family Foundation Arts Fund to give Bigs and Littles the chance to experience music up close and personal.

If you go

>>What:	Chamber Music Society of
	Southwest Florida
>>When:	7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 25
>>Where:	Foulds Theatre at the Alliance for
	the Arts, 10091 McGregor Blvd.
>>Cost:	$20
>>Info:	Call 236-1654 or go to
	www.chambersociety.org