Roulette Presents Eclipse Quartet, 5/21 & 22

May 21 & 22 Roulette presents Eclipse Quartet. Described as "an all-female, musical powerhouse comprised of award winning musicians, Eclipse Quartet will present two fascinating evenings of programming featuring the New York premiere of Roscoe Mitchell's 9/9/99 version II, Morton Feldman’s epic Piano and String Quartet, 1985 (featuring guest pianist Vicki Ray), String Quartet 1931 by Ruth Crawford Seeger, Amazing Grace by Ben Johnston and, the New York premiere of Sean Heim’s No Quartet. The fearless repertoire encompasses a wide spectrum of styles, the first night a courageous journey of color and minimalism as the quartet share the stage with pianist Vicki Ray, one of the leading interpreters of contemporary piano music, to perform one of Feldmans last, intense and meditative pieces, and the second night diving deeply into the surreal and improvisational world of iconic musician and composer Roscoe Mitchell."

Featuring Grammy Award winning violinist Sara Parkins, violinist Sarah Thornblade, associate principal second violin of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, sought after violist Alma Lisa Fernandez and versatile, seasoned cellist Maggie Parkins, Eclipse Quartet are a unique group dedicated to 20th century and present day composers. They boast a dynamic and bold repertoire that features standard new music, micro-tones, subtones, electronic and improvised pieces, they are intrepid, unafraid, and unquestionably talented, making their upcoming New York engagement an event not to be missed. Furthermore, the inclusion of pianist Vicki Ray only propels this already wonderfully progressive group further forward. Ray, who has worked with some of the most prominent musicians and composers of our time, is highly regarded as a champion of new music and is a perfect addition to an already thoughtful and provocative group.

As a group Eclipse Quartet have worked with Roger Reynolds, Julia Wolfe, Ben Johnston, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Annie Gosfield, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Philip Glass, John King and Lois V. Vierk and have premiered new works by Zeena Parkins, Carla Kihlstedt, Justin Haynes, Gernot Wolfgang, Stephen Cohn and David Jaffe. They have performed across the globe, most notably the Scarlatti Festival in Naples, Italy, the Martha's Vineyard Chamber Music Festival and the Angel City Jazz Festival. Individually, they are all incredibly achieved in a variety of musical avenues including education, motion picture soundtracks, chamber orchestras, commissions, professional recordings and more.