(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- State Theatre New Jersey presents Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet on Wednesday, February 14, 2018 at 7:00pm. The Quartet is comprised of Andrea Buschatz on violin, Matthew Hunter on viola, Knut Weber on cello, and Markus Groh on piano. They will be performing Mozart’s Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478; Mahler’s Piano Quartet, Fragment in A minor (1876); Schnittke’s Piano Quartet, Mahler Fragment (1988); Elfman’s Piano Quartet (in its World Premiere); and Schumann’s Quartet, Op. 47 in E flat. Tickets range from $75-$85.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a special concert and reception featuring all seating and the Piano Quartet entirely on the historic State Theatre stage. Doors open at 6pm for a wine and dessert reception in the State Theatre lobby. The dessert reception will also continue during intermission.
The Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet, one of the few existing ensembles of that instrumentation, has existed as a Berlin Philharmonic chamber music ensemble since 1985. This highly praised group is collaboration between three award-winning permanent members of the Berliner Philharmoniker: Konzertmeister Andreas Buschatz, violist Matthew Hunter, and cellist Knut Weber, along with the renowned concert pianist Markus Groh.
This outstanding ensemble is committed to not only representing the standard repertoire of classical, romantic, and modern pieces, but also finding undiscovered masterpieces of the literature that encompasses over 400 works; including a new world premiere piano quartet by Danny Elfman. Daniel Robert Elfman, also known by his stage name “Danny,” is an American composer, producer, and actor. He is famous for his writing of some very familiar melodies for American cinema and TV shows, including title themes for The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives, and the scores of several of Tim Burton’s movies.
Andreas Bushatz received his first instruction on the violin when he was just six years old. In 1992, as a young student, he joined Wolfgang Rausch’s class at the Detmold Hochschule für Musik and in 1999 became a student of Thomas Brandis at the Berlin Hochschule der Künste. He was the recipient of a prestigious grant from Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes (the German National Academic Foundation).
Buschatz went on to take the position of deputy leader of Berlin’s Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, and then became Concertmaster of the Deutsche Kammervirtuosen of Berlin. In October 2010 he was named the Concertmaster of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He has appeared as soloist with ensembles including the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra, Bremen State Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Mainz State Theatre.
Markus Groh - Within little more than a decade German born pianist Markus Groh has established himself as one of the most versatile pianists of his generation, after having won the 1st prize in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition Brussels in Belgium, 1995.
Groh performs solo recitals all over the world in some of the most important venues of cities. His first SACD Solo recording featured the b minor Sonata, the Fantasy and Fugue on B-A-C-H and the Totentanz of Franz Liszt and received outstanding reviews in major newspapers (The Times, FAZ among others) as well as in major music magazines including critic's awards like “Editor's Choice” (Gramophone Magazine, U.K.), “Recording of the month” (Musicweb International, U.S.), “Supersonic Award” (Pizzicato, Luxemburg), and “6 of 6 points” (Piano News, Germany)..
Matthew Hunter was 26 when he discovered the viola. He was pursuing the career of violinist and had devised a special training program for that instrument: if he could play Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto” in tune on the larger viola, then—according to his theory —the piece would be child’s play for him on the violin. He became so infatuated with the viola’s dark chocolate tone that he made the switch over to the deeper instrument. Shortly after that he won the Gee International Viola Competition.
Hunter, who began music lessons at the age of seven, cites as his formative teachers Julian Olevsky, Roman Totenberg (former assistant to Carl Flesch in Berlin), Michael Tree, and Jaime Laredo. In 1985 he became Masao Kawasaki’s assistant at Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. He also earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy at Dartmouth College as well as a Master of Music and Artist’s Diploma. Hunter came to the Berliner Philharmoniker from Ottawa, where from 1991- 95 he was associate principal viola of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. He is a versatile musician, who also plays the guitar (for example in performances of Mahler’s “Seventh Symphony”), makes arrangements and plays in several Philharmonic chamber ensembles, including the Berlin Philharmonic Stradivari Soloists. Since 2003 he has also been on the teaching staff of Berlin’s Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik.
Knut Weber received his first musical training from the Slovenian cellist Milos Mlejnik. He studied in Cologne with the Alban Berg Quartet and Claus Kanngiesser as well as with Wolfgang Boettcher in Berlin, where in 2002 he passed his concert exam with distinction.
Weber went on to become a scholar and principal cellist of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra before being engaged by the Berliner Philharmoniker. He is a member of the “12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic” and also appears regularly as a soloist and in various chamber ensembles in Europe, Asia, North, and South America.
STATE THEATRE NEW JERSEY is located at 15 Livingston Ave in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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