Villiers Quartet: Delius String Quartet and other 20th century English chamber works

Program: Frederick Delius, String Quartet (original 1916 version); Alan Bush, Dialectic; Peter Racine Fricker, String Quartet No. 2; Andrew Waggoner: Every Sentient Being. This concert is part of the symposium "British Music & Europe in the Age of Brexit," presented in association with the Franklin Humanities Institute: Humanities Futures. Attendance at the symposium is not required to attend the concert, which is free and open to the public. *Pre-concert talk at 7 PM in the Music Library Seminar Room, Biddle Music Bldg., given by Daniel Grimley (Merton College, Oxford).* The Villiers Quartet is winner of the First Prize of the 2015 Radcliffe Chamber Music Competition, and Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Oxford. Hailed as one of the most charismatic and "adventurous" quartets of the British chamber music scene (The Strad), the Villiers Quartet have developed an international reputation as exceptional interpreters of English composers including Elgar, Britten and Delius. Formed in 2011, they have been declared "one of the best quartets around today" (Jerry Horner, Fine Arts Quartet), and their performances of Shostakovich and Tischenko have been hailed as "masterful playing" (Classical Source). The Villiers Quartet have performed at numerous festivals and halls including the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, the Brit Jazz Fest, the Barnes Music Festival, Kings Place, St. John's Smith Square, the Holywell Music Room and the British Music Society.