For “American Anthem,” the Verona Quartet is joined by violist Jordan Bak for a program of string works enriched by the added sonority of a second viola. At its heart is Dvořák’s “American” Quintet, written during the composer’s 1893 summer in Spillville, Iowa. Springing from that tradition, Kenji Bunch’s String Circle celebrates contemporary Americana and its fiddle and bluegrass roots, while George Walker’s pensive Lyric for Strings opens the program with a bittersweet reflection that looks ahead to the voice that earned Walker the Pulitzer Prize.
Program
- George Walker Lyric for Strings
- Kenji Bunch String Circle
- Intermission
- Dvořák String Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 97 “American”