Del Sol Quartet

The Del Sol Quartet is a string quartet based in San Francisco, California that was founded in 1992.

Del Sol Quartet
OriginSan Francisco, CA
GenresContemporary classical, minimalism, just intonation
Occupation(s)String Quartet
Years active1992–present
LabelsBright Shiny Things, Sono Luminus, Other Minds, New World, Sacred Bones, Innova, Navona
Websitedelsolquartet.com
MembersSamuel Weiser, violin

Benjamin Kreith, violin Charlton Lee, viola

Kathryn Bates, cello

In 2012, the San Francisco Chronicle described it as having been "a stalwart force for new music in the Bay Area, a vigorous and fearless champion of living composers without always getting its due recognition."[1]

Del Sol has commissioned and premiered hundreds of works from a diverse range of international composers, including Frederic Rzewski, Mason Bates, Gabriela Lena Frank, Huang Ruo, Michael Harrison, Ben Johnston, Chinary Ung, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Kui Dong, Mohammed Fairouz, Theresa Wong, Erberk Eryilmaz, Tania León, Ken Ueno, Peter Sculthorpe, Pamela Z, Reza Vali, Per Nørgård.

Current quartet members are Benjamin Kreith (violin), Samuel Weiser (violin), Charlton Lee (viola), and Kathryn Bates (cello).

Founding

Founded in 1992, the Del Sol String Quartet began its life in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, followed by residency at San Francisco State University in association with the Alexander String Quartet. In 2002, Del Sol released its CD Tear. Del Sol was named winner of the Chamber Ensemble/Mixed Repertory category for 2005-2006 by Chamber Music America and ASCAP, and also received an ASCAP award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music[2] Other early appointments included the 2003 "Emerging Quartets and Composers Residency" with the Muir String Quartet and Joan Tower in Park City, Utah; Quartet-in-Residence at University of New Mexico; residencies at The Walden School and Tahoe Music Festival; and Northeastern University in 2007. Del Sol appears on programs presented by Other Minds, San Francisco Performances, Montalvo Arts Center and Santa Fe New Music/Santa Fe Opera. (from website)

Outreach

The quartet has given lectures/performances by invitation from presenters including the San Francisco Symphony Adventures in Music series, San Francisco Libraries, Music at Kohl Mansion, Young Audiences of the Bay Area, American Composers Forum and San Francisco Performances.

Recordings

Del Sol has released 11 full-length CDs since 2002 garnering international praise from publications including the New York Times,[3] Gramophone,[4] The Strad,[5] Chamber Music,[6] and the San Francisco Chronicle.[7]

Interest in Just Intonation

The quartet demonstrates a particular interest in string quartet writing in just intonation, particularly in the work of American composer Ben Johnston, along with composers such as Michael Harrison, Theresa Wong and Mathew Rosenblum. They are currently the only string quartet touring multiple quartets by Ben Johnston, which are notoriously difficult, and were the first group to premiere Johnston's music at the Library of Congress[8] in Washington, D.C in 2016. In 2019, the quartet launched the "Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival", a music festival dedicated to works of just intonation.[9] They were highlighted performers at the Pittsburgh "Beyond 2020: Microtonal Music Festival".[10]

References
  1. "Del Sol Quartet interprets new works deftly". 10 December 2012.
  2. http://www.ascap.com/press/2008/0108_chambermusicamerica.aspx
  3. Times, The New York (2015-10-07). "Classical Playlist: Conrad Tao, 'Scrapyard Exotica' and More". ArtsBeat. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-09-13. Retrieved 2014-09-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. 2016-03-02T00:00:00+00:00. "Scrapyard Exotica. Bates: Bagatelles. Fairouz: The Named Angels. Ueno: Peradam". The Strad. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  6. http://www.chamber-music.org/pdf/LGen.pdf
  7. "Terry Riley, 'Dark Queen Mantra' - SFChronicle.com". www.sfchronicle.com. 2017-09-27. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  8. "Frederic Rzewski, Jennifer Koh & the Del Sol String Quartet Webcast | Library of Congress". www.loc.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  9. "Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival". Del Sol String Quartet. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  10. Kriegeskotte, Christian (2020-03-13). "University of Pittsburgh Hosts Beyond 2020 Microtonal Music Festival". I CARE IF YOU LISTEN. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
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