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The KPAC Blog features classical music news, reviews, and analysis from South Texas and around the world.

Flying Colors For Lark Quartet Playing Higdon

Three new chamber works on new Bridge cd

While the Tokyo String Quartet commissioned and premiered "An Exaltation of Larks," it is almost poetic that the Lark String Quartethas recorded the work by JenniferHigdon. In fact, the larks have quite a history with new music and Jennifer Higdon.

The second composition on this new release from Bridge Records, "Scenes from the Poet's Dreams," was hand crafted for the group and pianist Gary Graffman.

"I can't believe 14 years went by from the premiere to recording it!" - Jennifer Higdon on Scenes from the Poet's Dreams

Higdon experimented with "Light Refracted" - a work from 2002 - taking material she had composed before, like a painter who captures a subject in different light. Fans of Higdon's "Blue Cathedral" might just hear something familiar in the opening movement, Inward.

Higdon is currently writing an opera "Cold Mountain" (based on the movie) and will be at Carnegie Hall for this year's Spring For Musicconcerts. Later this month the Cypress Quartet premieres Higdon's sixth string quartet and the second that she has tailored for the San Francisco based ensemble.

We highly recommend this new cd, and hope you enjoy hearing it on KPAC!  

John Clare is comfortable behind a microphone, streaming video or playing violin. A former broadcaster for NPR, John has previously worked with Voice of America, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and stations in Kansas, Nevada, California, and Pennsylvania.