MUSE/IQUE Hosts the Doric String Quartet, 11/7

Stop The Presses - so The Dorics can sit on them! In a follow-up to MUSE/IQUE's inspiring inaugural concert, the members of The Dorics will take their seats on printing machines and stacks of paper in the legendary environs of Pasadena's Castle Press. Presented by MUSE/IQUE, The Dorics, First Prize winner in the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, are making their Los Angeles debut on November 7, 2011 at 7:00 pm. They are known to make classical music relevant and contemporary in a compelling and thought provoking way. The unusual concert format in a bindery will have The Dorics and Peter Knell speaking to the audience along with MUSE/IQUE's Artistic Director Rachael Worby. A too-cool pre-concert party rounds out this one-of-a-kind evening.

Hailed as "musicians with fascinating things to say," they will perform a new work from composer Peter Knell that will be run off the old die cut printer. Hold on for a surprisingly raucous night as MUSE/IQUE's Artistic Director Rachael Worby, Peter Knell and The Dorics go wild in a complete mash-up - talking and playing. As they shed any classical starch that remains on them, the audience will get "the inside story of the string quartet." How did it evolve? Why did it evolve? Who plays what? Why? They will take a trip into the heart of a brand new piece of music as Knell and the quartet will deconstruct his piece before their eyes. Imagine, listening to and watching a string quartet where humor and fun are part of the evening!

The program includes the Knell String Quartet No. 2, Haydn string quartet in c, op 64 no 1 - 4th movement, Schubert string quartet in d minor, d.810 "Death and the Maiden" -3rd movement, Bartok string quartet no 4 - 4th movement and lots of surprises. They will be standing on the printing press (the largest in the world) while everyone else will be sitting on other machines and/or bales of paper. Prior to the concert, The Dorics will also conduct a master class at 3:00 pm on Sunday, November 6 at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.

Since its formation in 1998 at Pro Corda, The National School for Young Chamber Music Players, The Dorics - Alex Redington, violin, Jonathan Stone, violin Simon Tandree, viola and John Myerscough, cello - have performed internationally and collaborated with artists including Ian Bostridge, Philip Langridge, Mark Padmore, Piers Lane, Kathryn Stott, Chen Halevi and the Florestan Trio.

In autumn 2010 the Quartet made their highly acclaimed American debut with recitals at the Frick Museum in New York and Library of Congress in Washington. "Doric String Quartet keeps genre young and vital,"(The Washington Post, 2010). "The group projects a sweet, finely blended tone, faultlessly deployed in Haydn's slow movement, where first violinist Alex Redington found subtle colors to embellish a wistful little melody differently each time it returned". Other recent highlights include recitals at the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and in Brussels, Frankfurt, Lucerne, Milan and Paris.

Highlights of the 2011/12 season include the Quartet's debut at the Vienna Konzerthaus, return tours to the USA, including a residency in Augusta, Georgia, and to Denmark and Israel. UK engagements include concerts at Wigmore Hall, a "Music in the Round" tour and performances in Manchester and York as well a continuation of their long-term residency at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford-upon-Avon.

Southern California native Peter Knell has received awards in numerous national and international competitions, including First Prizes in the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra's 10th New Music Festival International Composers Competition, the Indiana State University Contemporary Music Festival/Louisville Orchestra Prize, and the Omaha Symphony Guild International New Music Competition. He has also received a Fulbright Fellowship,a BMI Student Composer Award, two ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Awards, grants from the Paloheimo Foundation and Meet the Composer, and commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation/Ying Quartet, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, Utah Arts Festival, Pacific Serenades, Oakland East Bay Symphony, and Dale Warland Singers, among others.

Mr. Knell holds degrees from Princeton University (BA), the Juilliard School (MM), and the University of Texas at Austin (DMA), and he was a Fulbright Fellow at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. His principal composition teachers have included Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, and David Diamond. He is currently a freelance composer based in Los Angeles.

"Inspiring and Accessible" (Los Angeles Times) Rachael Worby is that rare conductor who is also a curator and a skilled communicator. Her dynamic energy, coupled with the highly successful results she has achieved with diverse organizations, has created a demand for her skills on the international level. As a guest conductor, she has led orchestras throughout Europe, South America, Australia and Asia.

During her tenure as Music Director of the Pasadena Pops from 2000-2010 Rachael Worby quadrupled the number of yearly concerts played, dramatically increased audience attendance, instituted annual free-to-the-public concerts on the steps of Pasadena City Hall, and secured dynamic corporate sponsorship. She expanded the institution's outreach programs to underserved communities, securing significant ongoing funding for programs in South Central Los Angeles and in Pasadena.

In 2006, at the invitation of acclaimed American soprano, Jessye Norman, Ms. Worby conducted both the China Philharmonic Orchestra in Beijing and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra accompanying Ms. Norman in her first appearances in mainland China. The programs presented Ms. Norman's signature arias to sold-out houses. The musical relationship between Ms. Norman and Ms. Worby continues to flourish. They appear together at music festivals and concert halls throughout the world.

MUSE/IQUE is the materialization of conductor/artistic director Rachael Worby's vision of "the orchestra of the future - the 2.0 version. We've taken the pulse of the community here and are thrilled by their excitement about the direction we want to go with MUSE/IQUE, which is an accumulation of my lifelong passions for people and music, and an extension of my own values: education, engagement, curation." MUSE/IQUE validates Ms. Worby's reputation as a musical visionary and fulfills her dream of recreating a concert experience for the 21st century audience.

She continues to create new and diverse community-based programming at the Broad Theatre in Santa Monica, California. A 2012 season highlight will include an orchestral concert in Washington D.C. in celebration of International Women's Day.