The Jerusalem Quartet will visit Kalamazoo during its 20th anniversary world tour, which includes stops in Washington, DC and New York in North America, as well as Paris, Berlin, and London on its European leg. The program it will play for the Fontana Series this Saturday in Stetson Chapel at Kalamazoo College is a special one that marks where the quartet has been, and where it is going.
American-born Israeli violist OriKam joined the three founding members of the Jerusalem Quartet five seasons ago, when the original violist left to become principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic. Kam was already well known to the quartet. He says the classical music community in Israel is relatively small, and there are many opportunities to perform together.
The story of the Jerusalem Quartet is not a typical meet-at-the-conservatory, win-a-competition tale of most latter day string quartets. The founders began playing together as teenagers. Then they joined the Israeli army. After their service, going to music conservatory seemed superfluous.
"Their commitment to the quartet is such a strong thing that it overshadowed everything else, including their personal drive to go conquer the world on their own," says Ori Kam. "I think that's very special, for teenagers. And I think it's that commitment that's always been the most irresistible thing about the Jerusalem Quartet: the certain life-and-death quality toward their relationship with the audience and the music and the stage, which is quite rare."
The program will feature works by Haydn and Dvorak, which represent a return to the beginnings of the quartet, and a Bartok Quartet, which represents the future. An album of Bartok Quartets is scheduled to be released in 2016 on the harmoniamundi label.
