Borromeo Sunday Concert Series

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Presents Look a Little Closer: Beethoven Manuscripts

Featuring Borromeo String Quartet in the Sunday Concert Series

Musical performance: Sunday, July 19, July 26, Aug. 2 at 1:30 p.m.;

Special Lecture: Saturday, July 18 at 1:30 p.m.

BOSTON, MA (May 2015) – Throughout July, the Borromeo String Quartet, one of the most important string quartets of our time, will make its return to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for a 25th Anniversary Event, the first of a three-part concert series in the Museum’s popular Sunday Concert Series.

In Calderwood Hall, the quartet will perform three concerts: July 19 (Bartok, String Quartet No. 5 / Beethoven, String Quartet No. 15, Op. 132); July 26 (Bach, C-sharp Minor Fugue / Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 12 / Beethoven, String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131), and Aug. 2 (Schubert, String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor “Death and the Maiden” / Beethoven, String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge.)

On Saturday, July 18 at 1:30 p.m., the quartet will hold a special discussion and presentation with the audience to discuss how the members use technology to delve deeper into manuscripts and composers’ intentions.

The Borromeo Quartet has performed a vast repertoire worldwide and collaborated with many of today’s most notable composers and performers. Well-known for having an innovative approach to the classical genre, the Borromeo Quartet has gained acclaim for its unique use of laptop computer for reading music. This method has allowed the group to perform reading from the full score and share their notes on manuscripts using projections to vividly illustrate the quartet’s creative process. The group now teaches students around the world and have been the faculty ensemble-in-residence at the New England Conservatory for over 22 years.

Throughout an illustrious career, the Borromeo Quartet has received various musical awards including Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Martin E. Segal Award, and the Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. WGBH radio recently hailed the Borromeo Quartet as “champions of new music,” who, “thrive on making the old classics sound vital and fresh.”

Often a sell-out event, the Sunday Concert Series takes place on Sunday, July 19, 26, and Aug. 2 at 1:30 p.m. in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Calderwood Hall, located at 25 Evans Way, Boston, Mass. Tickets are required, which may be purchased in advance or at the door, and include Museum admission. Admission is $27 for adults; $24 for seniors, $17 for students with valid IDs; and youth age 7 and under are not admitted.

The special Saturday, July 18 discussion at 1:30 p.m. also requires tickets and include Museum admission: $15 for adults, $12 for seniors; $5 for students; free for members and children, ages 7 to 17.

The Sunday Concert Series is sponsored in part by Hemenway & Barnes LLP. Additional support for music at the Gardner is provided by The Mattina R. Proctor Foundation. The piano is dedicated as the Alex d’Arbeloff Steinway. The harpsichord was generously donated by Dr. Robert Barstow in memory of Marion Huse and its care is endowed in memory of Dr. Barstow by The Barstow Fund. The museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum • 25 Evans Way Boston MA 02115 • Hours: Open daily from 11 am to 5 pm and Thursdays until 9 pm. Closed Tuesdays. • Admission: Adults $15; Seniors $12; Students $5; Free for members, children under 18, everyone on his/her birthday, and all named “Isabella” • $2 off admission with a same-day Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ticket • Info Line: 617.566.1401 • Box Office: 617.278.5156 • www.gardnermuseum.org

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—a work of art in totality—is at once an intimate collection of fine and decorative art and a vibrant, innovative venue for contemporary artists, musicians and scholars. Housed in a 1902 building, modeled after a 15th century Venetian palazzo, and a 2012 wing, designed by Renzo Piano, the Museum provides an unusual backdrop for the viewing of art. The Collection galleries installed in rooms surrounding the verdant Courtyard contain more than 2,500 paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative arts featuring works by Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Manet, Degas, Whistler and Sargent. Visit the Gardner Museum online at www.gardnermuseum.org for more about special exhibitions, concerts, innovative arts education programs, and evening events.