Vera Quartet, pianist Meng-Chieh Liu coming to Oakland University

Oakland University, in collaboration with The Chamber Music Society of Detroit, will welcome the multi award-winning Vera Quartet and pianist Meng-Chieh Liu to campus on Sunday, March 15 for “Curtis on Tour,” a global touring initiative of the country’s most renowned conservatories.

The program will include one of Beethoven’s early string quartets, the Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4; String Quartet No. 4 (“Silent Temple”) by University of Michigan composer Bright Sheng; and César Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor.

Meng-Chieh Liu will also give a piano master class at Oakland at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 13. The free class will take place in Room 134 in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance and is open to students and to the general public.

Both the master class and concert take place at Varner Hall, which is located at 371 Varner Drive in Rochester Hills.

Tickets are $30 for the general public, $25 for seniors, and $10 for student. To purchase tickets, visit www.etix.com.

About the Vera Quartet

Grand Prize winner of both the 2017 Plowman and Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competitions, the Vera Quartet is the String Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music. The quartet also won Second Prize at the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition in Ann Arbor and the St. Lawrence Award at the 2018 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition.

Previously Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana’s Jacobs School of Music, the ensemble has held several other prestigious residencies internationally, including at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, Verbier Festival Academy, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and the Rockport, Aspen, and Norfolk chamber music festivals, and was selected by NPR’s “Performance Today” as a Young Artist in Residence.

About Meng-Chieh Liu

A recipient of a 2002 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Meng-Chieh Liu first made headlines in 1993 as a 21-year-old student, when he substituted for André Watts at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia with three hours’ notice. His acclaimed performance was followed by a recital at the Kennedy Center, among other highly praised appearances.

He has gone on to appear with orchestras under conductors Christoph Eschenbach, Gustavo Dudamel, and Alan Gilbert, among others. A dedicated chamber musician, Liu has collaborated with Shmuel Ashkenasi, James Buswell, Bernard Greenhouse, David Soyer, Wendy Warner, and the Borromeo and St. Lawrence string quartets. He was artistic director of Chicago Chamber Musicians from 2011 to 2014; and has also collaborated with artists in other disciplines, including Mikhail Baryshnikov and his White Oak Dance Project. Liu has been a member of the Curtis Institute of Music faculty since 1993 and also serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory.

About Curtis on Tour

Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn global touring initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. Grounded in the school’s "learn by doing" philosophy, it offers students real-world, professional touring experience alongside celebrated alumni and faculty. In addition to performing, musicians offer master classes, interactive programs, and community engagement activities.