4/20/98
Contact: Gretchen Stephens, director of the Office of Public Occasions, (740) 593-1762
ATHENS, Ohio -- The musical composition that won composer Aaron Jay Kernis the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in Music was commissioned specifically for the Lark Quartet, whose members are in their third year as artists in residence at the university.
"String Quartet No. 2 (Musica Instumentalis)," a 39-minute piece patterned after the Baroque church sonata and dance suite, premiered Jan. 10 at the Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. Its Midwest debut was March 12 in Athens.
Gretchen Stephens, whose Office of Public Occasions coordinates the Lark's residency here, said Ohio University and the Lark Quartet will win positive exposure as Kernis' composition is performed around the world in years to come.
"It helps promote Ohio University to the world," Stephens said. "Anything that wins a Pulitzer receives that extra element of prestige."
Kernis, 38, began teaching himself to play the piano at age 12. Later he studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Manhattan School of Music and the Yale School of Music, working with a variety of recognized composers. He has won several awards, including the Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rome Prize and a New York Foundation for the Arts Award.
The Lark Quartet features four internationally renowned string musicians, Diane Pascal and Jennifer Orchard on violin, Anna Kruger on viola and Astrid Schween on the cello. The group plans and performs concerts on campus and around Athens to boost enthusiasm for and knowledge about classical music. Prior to arriving at Ohio University, the Lark Quartet completed a residency at Dartmouth College and visiting professorships at San Diego State, Florida Atlantic and Florida State universities. Recent seasons have brought the Lark Quartet to the Lincoln Center, National Gallery and Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., other major cities throughout the United States and in several foreign countries including China, Australia, Russia, Mexico, Switzerland, Austria and France.
"String Quartet No. 2 (Musica Instrumentalis)" was commissioned in 1996 by Ohio University's Performing Arts Series, Merkin Concert Hall and the Schubert Club of Minneapolis/St. Paul, and was completed in December 1997. To cover the cost of commissioning the piece, the three received a grant provided by Chamber Music America with funds from the Pew Charitable Trust.
Other pieces nominated as finalists for this year's Pulitzer were "Century Rolls" by John Adams and "Horntrio" by Yehudi Wyner. This year's Pulitzer Prize winners were announced April 14.