Special Mothers’ Day ticket pricing now in effect.

Join Musica Viva Kentlands in this exciting performance of the newly discovered “Music for String Quartet” by Leonard Bernstein at the Bender JCC, Kreeger Auditorium at 7:00 pm. Tickets are general admission.  Doors will open at 6:30 pm. Premiering in November 2021, this is the second time this piece will be played in public since its discovery.  There is a limit of 6 tickets per purchase.  If you require more, please contact the Foundation at kentlands@kentlands.org
Tickets may be purchased here

The centerpiece of the event will be the performance of a recently discovered piece entitled Music for String Quartet composed by Leonard Bernstein in 1936 while still a student at Harvard.  Unknown for decades, the piece has only been performed publicly once before at its world premiere last November at the Tanglewood Music Center, Lenox, MA and it has never been published or recorded.  It is only available to be performed as a part of this concert as the result of special permission granted to Musica Viva by the Bernstein family.

A member of the Musica Viva Organizing Committee, Lisa Pickett, played a central role in bringing this piece to light.  Lisa, whose parents were friends and colleagues of Bernstein, tells that “In the late 1930’s Leonard Bernstein was invited to play piano quintets with my father’s New England String Quartet in a series of concerts. While rehearsing one day, Leonard asked the musicians if they would play through a string quartet that he had written. He then gave the quartet parts to my father, which were kept in my parents’ music cabinet for many years, until one day years later, my mother told me about it. We realized what a hidden gem it was, handwritten and signed by Bernstein.”

Other pieces to be performed include Bernstein’s rarely performed Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano and the following:  Mozart’s Quartet in G minor for Violin, Viola, Cello and Piano, k.478 and Schumann’s Quintet in E flat for Two Violins, Viola, Cello and Piano, Op.44.  The Bernstein Trio was composed one year after he wrote his string quartet. Both pieces were favorites of Leonard Bernstein and both of which Bernstein recorded with the Juilliard Quartet in the 1960’s. The concert will feature distinguished musical artists drawn from the Global Music Partnership.  All are award winning performers and recording artists, who also hold key teaching positions at several leading universities and orchestras.

In planning this event, Simeone Tartaglione, Musica Viva’s Artistic Director and Conductor, said that he believed “it is vital we use only those performers who possess the high level of talent that is commensurate with the unique nature and importance of this event” and given the caliber of the musicians who will perform “this will be a night to remember.”  Along with his role with Musica Viva, Simeone is an Assistant Professor of Practice at Catholic University where he also conducts its orchestra.  He is also the Music Director of the Newark (DE) symphony, a published author and an internationally recognized musical scholar and performer.

Thank You to our sponsors.  Please help support them in our community.

Kentlands Community Association