Espressivo! Piano Quartet

Espressivo! Piano Quartet unites distinguished chamber musicians from two generations: violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson, long celebrated for their work in the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, join pianist Anna Polonsky and violist Milena Pájaro-van de Stadt in a program that moves from Classical poise to contemporary reflection and Brahmsian intensity. Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E-flat major opens the evening with one of the defining works of the genre. At the center stands Nokuthula Ngwenyama’s Joy Steppin’, a FCMKC co-commission written for the ensemble and shaped around the idea of joy as a sustaining and hard-won human force. Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G minor closes the program with sweeping drama and gypsy abandon.