There’s spring in their step: Meet the Bozzini Quartet

 

From left to right, are Nadia Francavilla, Isabelle Bozzini, Clemens Merkel and Stéphanie Bozzini. They make up Bozzini Quartet, currently in residence at Concordia University. The musicians play about 40 concerts a year across North American and Europe. They especially enjoy collaborations with living composers.

The Quartet will give a spring concert on May 10 in the Chapelle Saint-Louis of Saint-Jean Baptiste Church, 4230 Drolet St., in Montreal. On the program are The White Shift and The Atonement, by Rudolf Komorous (Canada), Koan, by James Tenney (U.S.A.), and Folkestones, by Linda Catlin Smith (Canada). For more information, go to quatuorbozzini.ca/.

Music Department chair Rosemary Mountain provided additional information about the quartet’s Concordia connection: “The Bozzini Quartet and Bradyworks together make up Concerts M, the artists-in-residence in the Music Department since 2002. The two groups work closely with the composition students and faculty at the Music Department.

“Individual members of the groups present workshops during the term, where they demonstrate the particular characteristics of their own instrument and its repertoire; also, the ensembles each perform a ‘reading’ during the year of student works-in-progress.

“At the end of the year, the two ensembles present a selection of student works, giving a professional and engaging performances in the Oscar Peterson Concert Hall.

“As these concerts are recorded by students from the Recording classes in the Music Department, the composition students whose works are performed can thereby add a high-quality documentation of their work to their portfolio, as well as having the chance to hear it live and discuss it with the performers afterwards.

“Naturally, the students (and faculty!) also benefit from hearing the varied repertoire of twentieth-century music performed regularly by the Bozzini and Bradyworks throughout the year, both at Concordia and other venues in Montreal. Needless to say, this is one of the factors in the growing interest in studying music composition at Concordia.”