Hosted by WQED's own Jim Cunningham.

Pay what you wish! $15 suggested. Tickets required. All ages welcome. Purchase in advance from Chamber Music Pittsburgh either online or by phone at 412-626-6121. Any remaining general admission tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis at the door on the night of the event. Subject to availability.

About The Artist:

The Clarion Quartet restores to life music by composers whose works were once banned. The force of political oppression denied these compositions their rightful place in the chamber music repertoire, but now their rediscovery serves as a clarion call, giving voice to works of genius.

The members of the Clarion Quartet, colleagues in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, joined their passion for chamber music and their particular interest in exploring Entartete Musik, works that were termed “degenerate” by the Nazis and banned during the years leading up to the Holocaust through the immediate aftermath of the World War II. The highlight of the Quartet’s 2016 debut season was a unique performance during an international tour with the Pittsburgh Symphony. The Clarion Quartet traveled to the former Theresienstadt (Terezín) concentration camp in the present-day Czech Republic and performed a concert on this site to honor those composers whose creativity was stifled, who suffered abuses ranging from exile to execution.

The quartet’s debut recording, Breaking the Silence, was released in 2018 on the TYE/Naxos label. The album features the program that was performed at the Theresienstadt concert, including quartets by Viktor Ullmann, Erwin Schulhoff, and Erich Korngold.

With thanks to an Alumni Entrepreneur Grant from the Curtis Institute of Music as well as a grant from the Fine Foundation, the ensemble is turning its sights to the future with plans for many more performances and an ever-expanding repertoire.

Through a yearning to bring justice to creative voices that have been silenced, the Clarion Quartet is dedicated to providing renewal, hope, and healing through its music and work.