Attending a night at the symphony may conjure up images of an elaborate theatre, expensive tickets and an audience dressed in their finest. Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle is working to change that perception with upcoming performances featuring the Verona Quartet, COT’s inaugural string quartet-in-residence.
Winners of the 2015 Concert Artists Guild competition, the Verona Quartet commissioned a work by composer Michael Gilbertson that became a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist. The quartet is expected to make over 40 appearances around the Triangle that range from masterclasses to performances for the elderly. Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle Executive Director Niccoló Muti joins host Anita Rao to talk about “Rebel With a Cause,” a program that includes the Verona Quartet and features the music of composers who went against the grain.
The performance is on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. at the Carolina Theatre of Durham. The quartet will also perform Beethoven at their upcoming Beer-thoven event. COT presents Beer-thoven featuring the Verona Quartet is at Bull City Ciderworks in Durham on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. Muti says he hopes the event will take the stuffiness and formality out of orchestra music and make it more accessible to the masses. Muti is joined by the Verona Quartet in studio: Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro on violin, Abigail Rojansky on viola and Jonathan Dormand on cello.
