The Ciompi Quartet: Memories and Aspirations

Join the Ciompi Quartet, Duke's internationally respected resident ensemble, for an evening of profound reflection and radiant musical expression in Memories and Aspirations. This thoughtfully curated program features two of the Ciompi's most significant commissions: a single movement from Memoirs (2003) to honor the recent passing of American composer Paul Schoenfield and "My Tioga", (2014) by Melinda Wagner, which brings back her memories of Tioga County in the Endless Mountains of northern Pennsylvania.

The program opens with a dramatic transformation of J. S. Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, originally composed for organ during the young Bach's years in Arnstadt. In this virtuosic string quartet transcription, Bach's monumental architecture becomes all the more striking-its driving bass line, intricate variations, and powerful fugue emerging with fresh clarity and intensity.

The evening concludes with another youthful masterwork: Franz Schubert's String Quartet No. 4 in C Major. Written when the composer was just fifteen, the quartet brims with energy, ambition, and glimpses of the lyrical voice that would shape his mature style. Its bright spirit and melodic generosity offer a luminous counterbalance to the program's more introspective moments.

Together, these works trace a moving arc from memory and tribute to aspiration and early artistic promise, beautifully illuminated by the Ciompi Quartet's expressive precision and depth.

This is a free event but tickets are required!