A string quartet with no second violin opens San Diego New Music's new season at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library on Friday, Sept. 25.
The concert, titled "Glissade," replaces the traditional second violin with a double bass. That one substitution reshapes the ensemble's sound, adding a low end that standard quartets lack. Four musicians will perform: violinist Tiffany Wee, violist Chi-Yuan Chen, cellist Jeffrey Ho and double bassist Jeremy Kurtz-Harris.
Kurtz-Harris has served as principal bassist of the San Diego Symphony since 2004. He has taught classical bass at San Diego State University since 2006, according to his website. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Rice University and a former fellow at the New World Symphony.
The program features three works. Fred Lerdahl's "Waltzes" uses the full four-player group in what Lerdahl calls a "low" string quartet. The viola and cello are pushed into high registers while the bass anchors the bottom, according to the Athenaeum event listing.
James Tenney's "Glissade," the concert's title piece, narrows to viola, cello and bass, running their sliding tones through a live delay system. Tommy Dougherty's "Mean Time" strips the ensemble to its extremes: a duo for violin and double bass alone.
The concert's name nods to both ballet and mountaineering. A glissade is a gliding step in dance and a controlled slide down a snowfield, according to the event listing.
San Diego New Music first pitched a modern-music series to the Athenaeum in 1994 and presented its first season there in 1996 under the name "Noise at the Library," according to the event listing.
There are no physical tickets.
Attendees must reserve in advance and receive an email confirmation; names will be on a list at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at 1008 Wall St. in La Jolla. Seating is first-come, first-served, with priority given to Donor-level Athenaeum members and above.
For questions or reservations, contact [email protected] or call (858) 454-5872.
