Famed Juilliard Quartet to perform at Oakland University

At 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 9, the Juilliard String Quartet returns to Varner Recital Hall on the campus of Oakland University, to open the 2016-2017 Chamber Music Society of Detroit at Oakland University series.

It will be one of the quartet’s first Detroit area appearances with its new cellist, Astrid Schween. They will play Beethoven’s String Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, “Serioso;” and Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13. And they will be joined on stage by OU piano faculty member and Juilliard graduate Dr Tian Tian for a collaborative performance of Brahms’ beloved Piano Quintet.

The Juilliard Quartet is widely known as the quintessential American string quartet. In addition to giving performances throughout the U.S. this season, the quartet will tour Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Turkey.

The quartet has long been recognized in both its live concerts and recordings for the boldness of its interpretation of the classics, with an equal and parallel tradition of championing the new. Its recordings of the Bartok and Schoenberg Quartets, as well as those of Debussy, Ravel and Beethoven won Grammy Awards, and in 2011 the Quartet became the first classical music ensemble to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

In the seven decades of its association with The Juilliard School, the quartet has mentored some of the world’s foremost ensembles, including the American, Brentano, Concord, Emerson, LaSalle, Shanghai, St. Lawrence, Tokyo, and Whitman string quartets.

Pianist Tian Tian began her piano studies at the age of four in her native China. Upon arriving in the

United States, she studied privately with Logan Skelton of the University of Michigan. She continued her training at the Juilliard School, where she received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music, before earning a Doctor of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music. Dr. Tian maintains a busy performance schedule in the U.S and abroad. As a member of the Studzinsky Trio, she has recently performed in the U.S., China, and Korea. Tian Tian was appointed Assistant Professor of Music in Piano at Oakland University in 2015. She also serves as Artistic Director of the Summer Chamber Music Society of Detroit and returns to China annually to present concerts, lectures and master classes.

Tickets for the concert in Varner Recital Hall are $30, or $15 for students.

Varner Recital Hall is located on the Oakland University campus at 371 Varner Drive. Maps of the campus are available at oakland.edu/map. Ample free parking will be available in lots 24 and 26.

Tickets may be purchased online without service fees at startickets.com:

http://www.startickets.com/search?q=juilliard+quartet&Itemid=124 or by phone at (800) 585-3737. They can also be purchased at the Varner Box Office on OU’s campus. Tickets ordered online or by phone can be picked up at the box office one hour before the performance begins.

Directions and complete ticket information are available at http://www.oakland.edu/mtd/tickets

For more information about Oakland University Music, Theatre and Dance programs and performances, call (248) 370-2030 or visit oakland.edu/mtd.