The Antares, first-prize winners of the Concert Artists Guild International Competition were hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “powerful...striking…razor sharp.” They have won two ASCAP/CMA Awards for Adventurous Programming ('99, '04) and have appeared in concert across the country. The Antares Quartet is based out of New York City and features Garrick Zoeter on clarinet, Jesse Mills on violin, Rebecca Patterson on cello, and Eric Huebner on piano. The group will be performing two concerts at Music in the Loft, one at 8PM on Saturday November 22nd and one at 3PM on Sunday November 23rd. The program will feature the music of Antonín Dvořák, Johannes Brahmes, John Mackey, and the 08-09 Music in the Loft composer-in-residence Matthew Tommasini.
Interview with cellist, Rebecca Patterson:
BB: Can you give us a little bit of background on the group?
RP: I met Garrick Zoeter (clarinet) at Yale playing the Hindemith quartet and later founded Antares in 1996. We played at the Norfolk Music Festival the following year and entered four different international chamber competitions. We played these four competitions (Fischoff, Yellow Springs, Coleman, Carmel) on back-to-back weekends and won all of them. It was an exciting month, because we were on the road for a month. Based on this experience we decided to stay together and make a career out of it. We were initially called the ‘Elm City Ensemble’ (founded in New Haven) but changed the name to Antares in 2001 with a member change on violin and piano. Jesse Mills joined us on violin and Eric Huebner on piano. Our career was additionally pushed forward when we won the Concert Artists Guild Competition in 2002 and we’ve been performing ever since.
BB: To date, what has been your most memorable musical experience with the Quartet?
RP: I had to think about this one. Performing in Brazil was very exciting because the audiences are over-the-top enthusiastic. It makes for an exhilarating performance experience. Another extremely memorable experience was the opportunity to play Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, for Messiaen’s wife, Yvonne Loriod, at St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, NY about four years ago.
BB: What do you enjoy most about performing chamber music in this type of ensemble?
RP: Tough one. As an ensemble I think we really click together and understand how each of us plays. Beyond that however, the thing that makes this group unique is the instrumentation (clarinet, violin, cello, and piano). The types of colors and sounds that one has available are much wider than that of a string quartet or even that of the piano trio. We get to perform very unique repertoire mainly because the clarinet adds another dimension of color to the ensemble. Since the repertoire is not as standard we are able to obtain a nice balance between standard and contemporary.
BB: Your group has won two ASCAP/CMA Awards for Adventurous Programming. What goes into the creation of programming ideas for your group and how do you strive to be different than other groups in your programming?
RP: The nature of the group itself lends itself to unique programming. It is a great balance to be able to program standard repertoire (Brahms, Mozart…etc) alongside new repertoire for the quartet. We always try to program a new piece on every concert no matter which venue but at the same time we do tailor the program to the venue and audience. We are not an exclusively new music ensemble but rather we prefer to balance our programs with both standard and new music.
On these lines it can be exciting and difficult to create a program with a new piece that hasn’t been written yet since we are not necessarily sure of how the audience will receive it or how it will match up with other music we perform.
BB: Antares works a lot on commissioning and recording new music. Tell us a little bit about how the group goes about engaging contemporary composers.
RP: Two different ways: We have a lot of friends we enjoy working with. With these composers we generally apply for grants in order to support these projects. Or we work with the presenter as is the case with Music in the Loft which is exciting because we meet new composers through these connections. Sometimes private donations help support these endeavors but we usually apply for grants or through schools. It is a long process.
We hope you will join us for this exciting concert! Please check out our website at www.musicintheloft.org for additional information and directions to the venue.
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