Tickets: $25, available at Eight Cousins, Bank of Woods Hole Library and the Library (in advance and at the door on concert night).
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Concert Series:
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The Woods Hole Public Library welcomes
the Geostrophic String Quartet for an evening concert of chamber music.
Bill Simmons’ popular Geostrophic String Quartet is returning to the Woods Hole Public Library Saturday, August 2 at 7:30pm with “Birds, Hymns and a Herr,” an evening of Brahms, Haydn and Charles Ives. The concert will open with Haydn’s Quartet in C, subtitled ‘The Bird,” a brief, brilliantly upbeat work whose Scherzo is muted, somber and in a low register, but whose trio is an upper register violin duet with the happiest bird-like trilling imaginable.
The first half closer will be Charles Ives’ string quartet, a student work written as part of a composition course he took as an elective during his sophomore year at Yale. It was found after his death and published in 1960. Since then, it has become perhaps the most analyzed and talked about piece in his portfolio. Based on hymn tunes (he was a church organist in his youth) and subtitled “The Revival Meeting,” it is melodic and uplifting and ends with a brilliant Ivesian twist.
The entire second half will be devoted to Brahms’ string quartet Op 51, no2 in D minor.
Violinist Matthew Liebendorfer, an Oberlin Conservatory graduate, is an active and prominent violinist in the New England chamber music scene. By day, he pursues a career in business technology integration, specializing in relational database technology implementation. Father of four, Matthew is an avid skier and lives in Newton with his wife Kerrie.
Evie McFadden trained as a violinist and music educator at West Chester State University. A life-long devotee of chamber music she is Director of Training at Health Management Resources, a Boston-based firm that designs weight and health management programs for medical centers across the country. In winter, she lives atop Nonantum Hill in Brighton with her husband, cellist Bill Simmons. In the warmer seasons, they live and garden on Onset’s Sunset Cove.
David Hobbie, violist and also an Oberlin College alumnus, grew up in Falmouth and graduated from Falmouth Academy. For the past 30 years, he has been a familiar performer in myriad local musical productions, including the Woods Hole Public Library’s Chamber Music Series. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and Litigation Knowledge Manager for the Boston firm Goodwin Procter, LLP. He now lives in Acton with his wife Jeanne, daughter Svetlana, and dog Kody.
Bill Simmons, cellist and ardent supporter of Woods Hole Public Library, was a longtime Falmouth resident. Now retired, he joined Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s physical oceanography department as an Assistant Scientist in 1969. He founded the Woods Hole Library’s Chamber Music Series in 1979, and produced, directed, and performed in that series through the mid 1990s. In 2011, he founded the Geostrophic String Quartet to help Woods Hole Historical Museum celebrate the life and work of Fritz Fuglister, violinist and WHOI oceanographer.
GSQ’s spirited performances are further enlivened by Bill Simmons’ introductory remarks and commentary. His observations are an enjoyable and instructive addition, further enhancing the concert experience for the quartet’s many loyal followers. The performance is open to the public, with tickets, costing $25, available for purchase at the Library during regular hours as well as at the door on the night of the performance. Tickets are also available at Eight Cousins and at the Bank of Woods Hole. For further information call 508-548-8961.