Cypress String Quartet
Saturday, March 7, 2009 8PM

Elite Chamber Music Quartet to Perform  

ISLAMORADA, Florida Keys— The Cypress String Quartet has captivated audiences around the world with virtuoso performances, and soon Keys residents will have the chance to hear this outstanding quartet.

As part of ICE’s Upper Keys Concert Series, the acclaimed quartet will perform Saturday, March 7, at 8 p.m. at the Coral Shores High School Performing Arts Center.

Formed in 1996, the San Francisco-based foursome of violinists Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, violist Ethan Filner and cellist Jennifer Kloetzel perform with poise and exuberance. Chamber Music Magazine called the group “Generation X ensemble to watch.” The Washington Post described the quartet’s music as “beautifully proportioned and powerful.”

The quartet plays more than 90 concerts each year at venues across America and internationally, including the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Stanford Lively Arts, Krannert Center and the Ravinia Festival.

“In addition to superbly playing the chamber music works of the old masters, the quartet also champions the music of American composers,’ noted Susan Gordon, organizer of the Upper Keys Concert Series. “This concert includes a moving though little-heard piece by American composer Charles Thomlinson Griffes --Two Sketches Based on Indian Themes -- written in 1919, a year before his death at 35.”

The quartet will also play works by Wolfgang Mozart and Antonin Dvorak.

AD1 Chamber Quartet

Widely celebrated for its passionate dedication to the genre, the quartet combines technical precision with imaginative musicianship to create an unforgettable concert experience. The members of the Cypress Quartet play on exceptional instruments, including violins by Antonio Stradivarius (1681) and Carlos Bergonzi (1733), a viola by Vittorio Bellarosa (1947) and a cello by Hieronymus Amati II (1701).

Tickets for the performance are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at Upper Keys TIB Bank branches and both the Key Largo and Islamorada Chambers of Commerce.  For more information, go to www.keysice.com or call 305-766-3585.

ICE (Islamorada Community Entertainment) is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing entertainment and cultural events to Upper Keys residents and visitors, and provides musical and arts scholarships to local students.

www.cypressquartet.com