Hawthorne String Quartet
Ronan Lefkowitz, Violin
Mark Ludwig, ViolaSi-Jing Huang, Violin Sato Knudsen, Cello
Since its inception in 1986,
the Hawthorne String Quartet has performed extensivelythroughout Europe, South America,
Japan and the United States, including majorfestivals such as Tanglewood,
Ravinia and Aspen. The Quartet has an expansive repertoire ranging from the
classics of the 18th and 19th centuries to
contemporaryworks. They have distinguished themselves internationally for
championing theworks of composers persecuted during the Nazi regime, with an
emphasis on theCzech composers incarcerated in the Theresienstadt concentration
camp(Terezín). The Quartet boasts a rich history of collaborations with ChristopherHogwood,
Ned Rorem, Andre Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, LynnHarrell,
Marta Argerich and the Philobolus Dance Company. In addition, the quartethas
made solo appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the Deutsch
Kammerphilharmonie.
With these orchestras, the Hawthorne String Quartet
gave the American and German
premiere performances of Schulhoff¹s Concerto for Solo String Quartet and Wind
Chamber orchestra.
In October 1991, the Quartet
performed in Terezín and Prague in ceremonies hostedby Presidents Havel and
Herzog to mark the opening of the Ghetto Museum inTerezín and to commemorate
the 50th anniversary of the first transports to theTheresienstadt Concentration
Camp. The quartet has since returned for performances in the Czech Republic.
Most recently they performed concerts in Prague and Terezín in November 2002,
at the invitation of President Vaclav Havel andthe sponsorship of the U.S.
State Department. The concerts were part of adiplomatic cultural mission to
raise funds for Czech flood relief and restoration effortsat Pamatník Terezín.
At the invitation and honorary patronage of US AmbassadorWilliam J. Cabaniss
Jr. the quartet will perform in Prague and Terezín in September
2004. This tour will
commemorate two poignant chapters in Terezin¹s history: the60th anniversaries
of the last transports from Terezin to Auschwitz and the completion of the
propaganda film ³The Fuhrer Presents The Jews With A City.² These transports
liquidated most of the Terezín cultural community, essentiallycondemning them
to death. The prisoners of Terezín (or Theresienstadt, as it was sometimes
known) were forced to produce and participate in the Nazi propaganda film
depicting the Theresienstadt concentration camp as a ³paradise ghetto.² Uponthe
completion of the film, many of the artists in film perished in Auschwitz.
The Quartet's recording, Chamber
Music from Theresienstadt,
has received international critical acclaim and won the Preis der
Schallplattenkritik
in 1991. Their Silenced Voices CD on Northeastern Records also premiered newly recovered
music of composerspersecuted during World War II. The Terezín Chamber Music
Foundation produced these recordings.
Displaying a diverse
repertoire, the Hawthorne Quartet has recorded compact discsfeaturing chamber
music by Arthur Foote, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and ThomasOboe Lee in addition
to several motion picture and documentary soundtracks.
Throughout its travels, the
quartet has performed on radio and television programsworldwide.
In April 1993, the Hawthorne
Quartet began recording with the London DeccaRecording Company. As part of
London Decca's Entartete Musik Project, their firstrecording of the Haas and Krasa string
quartets was released in April 1994. The recording was awarded Belgium's Cecilia
Grand Prix Special Du Jury.
The award was presented in recognition of "an exceptional undertaking and
paying homage to aninterpreter who has made a mark on the history of recorded
sound."
Their next recording on the
London Decca label was Ervin Schulhoff's Concerto for Solo String Quartet
and Chamber Orchestra.
The quartet gave the American premiere ofthis work with Seiji Ozawa and the
Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Upcoming projects include
recordings, the commissioning and performance of newchamber works and the
national release of a PBS documentary on the history of artistsincarcerated in
Terezín and educational programs spearheaded by the Terezín Chamber Music
Foundation.
2004 concert tours will
include chamber and solo appearances at the New York 92nd Street Y,
Kennedy Center, and in the Czech Republic.
The Hawthorne String Quartet
includes Boston Symphony Orchestra violinists RonanLefkowitz and Si-Jing Huang,
violist Mark Ludwig, and cellist Sato Knudsen. Based in Boston, the quartet
takes it name from the New England novelist NathanielHawthorne. The Quartet was
appointed Quartet-In-Residence at Boston College in1998.
DISCOGRAPHY:
Chamber Music from
Theresienstadt Channel
Classics CCS 1691 .
Silenced Voices CD -Northeastern Records NR 248
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Chamber Music KOCH
International 3-7056-2
Haas and Krása String
Quartets London
DECCA 440 853-2
Ervin Schulhoff Concerto
for Solo String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra. London DECCA 444 819-2
Finding a Voice:
Musicians in Terezin
TCMF Collection 34-001
Mistletoe Sax and Strings North Star Music NS 164
Sax Across America North Star Music NS 176
Virtuoso Trumpet KLEOS Classics KL 5114
Cradle Songs: A
Collection of Lullabies from Around the World-IHJ Productions
An Introduction to Entartete
Musik - London DECCA
452-664-2
Thomas Oboe Lee String
Quartets KOCH
International 3-7452-2-III
Concert for Terezin TCMF: Turquoise Bee Records 34-002
DOCUMENTARIES:
DESSA: A Legacy From Theresienstadt
Entartete Musik: The Birth of a Project In the Shadow of the Reich: NAZI
Medicine The Last Dance: Maurice Sendak and Philobolus Terezin: life from death
FILM SCORES:
Lost Momentum
Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A.
Leuchter Jr.
Schindler’s List
The Secret of Roan Inish