Anna Polonsky, piano
Jaime Laredo, violin
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, viola
Sharon Robinson, cello
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Piano Quartet in G minor, K. 478
NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA
Elegy
Kennedy Center Co-Commission (D.C. Premiere)
ANTONĺN DVOŘÁK
Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 87
Violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson (of the former Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio) join pianist Anna Polonsky and acclaimed violist/composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama to premiere Ngwenyama’s new piano quartet Elegy—a Kennedy Center co-commission written in response to the social reckoning of 2020.
Featuring composer/performers:
Valerie Coleman, flute
Nokuthula Ngwenyama, vocal/viola
The Phoenix Boys Choir
Herbert Washington, music director/conductor
&
The Elixir Piano Trio:
Samvel Chilingarian, violin
Fang-Fang Xu, cello
Lucy Nargizyan, piano
with appearances by
Edward Long, guitar/vocal
Naysa Roquemore, hanging cymbals
Curated by Nokuthula Ngwenyama
A co-production of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society, ASU/Kerr Cultural Center & Peace Mama Productions
Among the world’s finest string quartets, the beloved Takács returns for two concerts this season, the first a compelling program of new and canonic works. Haydn’s beloved Sunrise quartet is among his late-period gems, and Beethoven’s middle-period E minor quartet from the Op. 59 Razumovsky series opens up new musical horizons as the composer breaks and remakes the rules of musical drama.
Known for lushly orchestrated music of “sheer gorgeousness” (Los Angeles Times), California violist Nokuthula Ngwenyama contributes Flow, a new Cal Performances co-commissioned work, heard here in its world-premiere performance. 
Takács. That single word conjures so many others: Legend. Grammy. Magic: Experience what The Washington Post calls “one of the most esteemed and beloved string quartets today” playing transfixing masterpieces.
Known for lushly orchestrated music of “sheer gorgeousness” (Los Angeles Times) Ngwenyama contributes Flow to the program: