Momenta Quartet

“An outstanding ensemble prone to innovation and exploration” – Time Out New York

The Williams College Department of Music presents THE BOX–music by living composers featuring the Momenta Quartet on Friday, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. on the CenterStage of ‘62 Center on the Williams College campus. There will also be a series of master classes by members of the quartet on Feb. 10. These free events are open to the public.

Master Classes in Bernhard Music Center:
2:30 p.m. – Composition Workshop in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall
4:15 p.m. – Violin Master Class in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall
4:15 p.m. – Viola Master Class in Presser Choral Hall
4:15 p.m. – Cello Master Class in Bernhard Room 30

The Momenta Quartet comes to Williams College with a program of cutting-edge contemporary Latin American compositions exclusive to the ensemble’s unique personal repertoire. The program will feature the World Premiere of the second half of Brazilian-American avant-garde composer Arthur Kampela’s notoriously complex Uma Faca Só Lámina (“A Knife All Blade,” 1998). Kampela has waited over 12 years to hear his piece, of which Momenta premiered the first half last season. Kampela will speak about his music at intermission. The program also includes pieces written for Momenta by Venezuelan-American composer Manena Contreras and Bolivian composers Cergio Prudencio and Agustín Fernández and marks the opening night of Williams College’s Puente Sonoro Festival.

Described by Time Out New York as “an outstanding ensemble prone to innovation and exploration,” the Momenta Quartet (Emilie-Anne Gendron and Asmira Woodward-Page, violins; Stephanie Griffin, viola; Michael Haas, cello) has given over 50 world premieres since 2004 and presented refreshing programs of contemporary music with a focus on the creativity of composers from the new world. Momenta is the only American ensemble to champion the music of leading Malaysian composer Kee Yong Chong, for whom they won a commission from the Koussevitzky Foundation. The world premiere of this new work is among the highlights of Momenta’s seventh season, along with additional world premieres by Arthur Kampela (Brazil/USA), Jason Hwang (USA) and Kento Watanabe (Japan/USA); American premieres by Indonesian composers Tony Prabowo and Yudane; and residencies at Temple, Yeshiva and Cornell Universities and Haverford College. Based in New York City, Momenta has performed at some of New York’s alternative venues such as The Stone and Roulette, and at more mainstream venues such as Bargemusic and Symphony Space. In residence at Temple University for six years, Momenta has also performed and lectured at numerous American Colleges and in England, Singapore and Indonesia.

The Momenta Quartet’s 2010/11 season is made possible in part through the generous support of the Aaron Copland Fund for Music. Arthur Kampela’s intermission talk is sponsored by Meet the Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections Program.

THE BOX series was conceived in 2007 by Williams composers David Kechley and Ileana Perez Velazquez to present the music of living composers in a setting more intimate and a performance space more flexible than a traditional concert hall. Performers include visiting artists and groups as well as I/O New Music, THE BOX house band.

Event Program