The concert opens with Alberto Ginastera’s String Quartet No. 1, Op. 20, from 1948. Ginastera, universally acclaimed as Argentina’s greatest composer, was born in Buenos Aires in 1916 and died in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1983. As a composer and an educator, Ginastera initially held a strong commitment to galvanizing an Argentinian musical identity. However, ongoing political and artistic conflicts with oppressive ruling regimes gradually caused him to spend the latter part of his life in the United States and Europe.

The piano was always central to the life and work of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907). His mother, a music teacher, first taught Grieg how to play piano at the age of six. Grieg studied piano at several different schools. It wasn’t long before the Norwegian violinist, Ole Bull, a friend of the Grieg family, noticed young Edvard’s talent and strongly suggested he be sent to Leipzig Conservatory. Which he was.

The four Venezuelan musicians of the Soto Quartet, Jesus Linarez and Gabriela Lara violins, Pedro Mendez, viola, and Lidanys Graterol, cello, were brought together by El Sistema in Venezuela. The Soto String Quartet takes its inspiration from famed Venezuelan artist Jesús Rafael Soto (1923-2005). The energy expressed in Soto’s art resonates with the members of the Soto quartet, who believe that the artist’s significant contribution to Venezuelan art deserves to be better known.