Mute but splendidly august the Canadian Rockies hold court for this event; Banff International String Quartet Competition or BISQC.
The semifinal quartets compete in five rounds for seven days (Aug 30 to Sept 5) to claim a spot in the final round to win or place. There are 300 resident audience members for the week, a hundred for the weekend and a hundred others daily from the local community, all making this pilgrimage in homage to the string quartet literature.
It is billed as 42 hours of listening. The schedule is three 2½hour concert performances per day plus lectures. Truly, endurance is required. Each time I have come an audience member has been hospitalized.
Four quartets represent the letter A and one, Quatuor Zaide (France), appropriates Z. Three share the remaining letters. The Gemeaux Quartet dropped out. Now there are nine:
Afiara (Canada) Cecelia (Canada)
Amaryllis (Germany/Switzerland) Hausmann (USA )
Asasello (Germany) Noga (France)
Atrium (Russia) Peresson (USA)
Quatuor Zaide (France).
Results resonate throughout the music world including the Capital District.
The first of the now ten triennial competitions starting in 1983 produced as grand-prize winner, the Colorado Quartet, now resident at Bard College.
Similarly these winners and placers regularly perform at regional venues: Amernet SQ (US), Ariel SQ (Israel/US), Cavani SQ (US), Daedalus SQ (US), Fry Street SQ (US), Jupiter SQ (US), Mendelssohn SQ (US), St Lawrence SQ (Canada), Ying SQ (US).
Round one will take place over the next two days. Each quartet presents a program of a Haydn Quartet and a 20th century work.
Live stream this session and join me here for feedback and reflection http://www.cbc.ca.radio2/cod
Find out more about Banff and BISQC.
http:// www.bisqc.ca
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