Donald E. Osborne,  Director California Artists Management 564 Market Street, Suite 420, San Francisco, CA  94104-5412 415 362-2787 / fax: 415 362-2838 / Skype: calartistsdon  / Email

Susan Endrizzi Morris,  Director California Artists Management P.O. Box  2479, Mendocino, CA  95460-2479 707-937-4787 / cell: 415-302-1083 / Skype: sueendrizzi / Email

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Ives Quartet   Bettina Mussumeli, violin Susan Freier, violin Jodi Levitz, viola Stephen Harrison, cello   (updated March 2011 – please discard any previous version)

The Ives Quartet has captivated audiences from San Francisco to New York, Taiwan to London. Inspired by the passionate, artistic commitment and unique temperament of American composer Charles Ives (1874­–1954­), the Ives Quartet creates powerful live-music experiences through the presentation of fresh and informed interpretations of a carefully curated repertory to American and international audiences. It has established a reputation for passion, precision, and provocative programming, winning accolades for playing that shows both “super-refinement” and “visceral, rock-and-roll intensity.” 

The Quartet presents a regular series of concerts throughout the year in San Francisco, San Jose, and on the Peninsula and appears in noted chamber music series and festivals nationwide. It has championed an unusual repertoire, attracting critical enthusiasm for its practice of “reveling in the unfamiliar” and bringing underappreciated gems of the string-quartet literature to a wide audience.  The repertoire combines established masterworks with underappreciated gems, neglected scores of early 20^th century America, and specially commissioned new pieces. In recent seasons the Ives Quartet has premiered commissioned scores by American composers Ben Johnston, William Bolcom, Donald Crockett, Henri Lazarof, Mark Volkert, Eric Sawyer, and Andrew Norman. Collaborating regularly with ooutstanding performers, the Quartet has appeared in recent seasons with pianists Jon Nakamatsu, Emile Naumoff, Robert Taub, Ralf Gothoni, and Julie Steinberg; violists Geraldine Walther, Robert Levine, Donald McGinness, David Abel, and Paul Hersh; cellists Bonnie Hampton, Andor Toth, Jr., Parry Karp, and George Sopkin; sopranos Angela Brown and Judith Bettina; European clarinetist Dimitri Ashkenazy; guitarist David Tanenbaum; recorder virtuoso Judith Linsenberg; jazz flutist Hubert Laws, and others

In addition, the Quartet devotes time to a wide range of educational projects, from performing for school-aged children to visiting Trinity College for annual residency activities.

The Ives Quartet can be heard on numerous recordings on the Laurel, Music and Arts and AIX Entertainment labels. Its most recent CD, the first in a series of the complete string quartets of Quincy Porter, was released on Naxos in 2008.

BETTINA MUSSUMELI, First violinist, received her B.A. and M.M. degrees from The Julliard School, where she studied violin with Ivan Galamian, Dorothy DeLay and Paul Doktor, as well as chamber music with members of the Juilliard, Guarneri and Cleveland String Quartets. After completing her studies at Julliard, Ms. Mussumeli became co-concertmaster and soloist with I Solisti Veneti, performed throughout Europe, Australia and the Far East, and made numerous recordings for the Erato, RCA, Tactus and Concerto labels. Ms. Mussumeli is currently on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

SUSAN FREIER, Second violinist, received degrees in Music and Biology from Stanford University where she attended as a Ford scholar. She continued her studies at the Eastman School of Music, where she formed the Chester String Quartet. The Chester went on to win the Evian, Munich International, Portsmouth (England), and Chicago Discovery competitions and became faculty ensemble-in-residence at Indiana University at South Bend in 1980.  In 1989 Susan returned to her native Bay Area to join the Stanford University faculty and the Stanford String Quartet.  She has been a participant at numerous festivals and has performed on NPR, the BBC and German State Radio. Her recordings can be heard on the Newport Classics, Stolat, Pantheon, Laurel, Music and Arts, and CRI labels. 

Jodi Levitz, violist, noted Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, was launched on her concert career while still a student at Juilliard when she was appointed principal viola soloist with the Italian chamber group I Solisti Veneti, a position she attained while still a student at Juilliard. She has performed as solo violist throughout Europe, South America, the Far East and the United States.  She has recorded works of Cambini, Giuliani, Hummel, Mendelssohn, Rolla, Schoenberg and Schubert on the Concerto, Dynamic, and Erato labels. Ms. Levitz holds Bachelor and Master of Musical Arts degrees from the Juilliard School.

STEPHEN HARRISON, cellist, has been on the Stanford University faculty since 1983, when he returned to his native Bay Area to join the newly formed Stanford String Quartet. A graduate of Oberlin College and Boston University, he has been solo cellist of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players since 1985, recording on the Delos, CRI, New Albion, and Newport Classics labels with the ensemble.  Former principal cellist of the Chamber Symphony of San Francisco, Mr. Harrison has served as artist / faculty and Music in the Mountains program director for the Rocky Ridge Music Center.

Press Excerpts:

San Jose Chamber Music Society at Le Petit Trianon last month:

“String quartets are great to drive to, great to clean the house to, great to groom the dog to. The Ives Quartet is different. In a world of many darn good string quartets, there aren’t many that play with their passion and intensity. Composed of two violins, viola and cello, the Ives Quartet puts this music back on the map. This is not your mother’s string quartet playing lovely, lyrical, forgettable period music. This music engages the brain and soul and leaves you in a very different place than when you walked in the room. The Rudhyar piece was an ambitious undertaking. This alone would have been worth the price of admission. Engaging the audience, this piece held the audience’s attention in a rare laser-like focus. The Ives Quartet will be returning in November. They are worth checking out – especially if you want your mind changed about how dynamic string quartets can be.”                                          SparkInsider.com - Sept. 28, 2010

The IVES QUARTET at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose: “The Ives Quartet served up a vivid, burstingly ripe performance of Dvorak’s ‘American’ string quartet.” 

                                                                               San Jose Mercury News - March 9, 2009

Headline: Ives Quartet’s talent is undeniable
“The Slee Beethoven Cycle is one of the great chamber music programs, mandating that every concert in the season contain one string quartet from each of the composer’s three “periods.” Every year, each of the six concerts comprising the cycle is allotted a distinct trio of quartets for each of the programs. Sometimes the series has featured the same ensemble running through a season’s worth of concerts and, at other times, two, three or four groups take turns tackling the programs. This year is one of those multiple group takes on the cycle with the Yings, the Lydian and, Friday night, the Ives String Quartet taking their turns. Based upon their work Friday night, it is apparent that the Ives Quartet is an undeniably talented group of musicians. One of the many peaks in Beethoven’s catalog belongs to the “Grosse Fuge,” op. 133, a massive, demanding piece that is almost symphonic in nature. It also happened to be the mandated centerpiece in the concert slated for the Ives String Quartet. The other works scheduled, the D major quartet from the composer’s op. 18 and the first of the three op. 59 “Rasumovsky” string quartets, also have their charms with the later named score being one of the most beguiling pieces in the cycle. In the earliest work on the program, Beethoven opens up with a lovely, graceful tune that speeds up and gets more insistent and demanding within a fairly short period of time. It is a tricky thing to get right, to manage that transition between the seemingly lightweight to something with more gravitas. Luckily the Ives String Quartet had the measure of the piece, literally from the get-go. The “Grosse Fuge” was a little bit more challenging with dramatic pauses that sounded as if the composer was furiously constructing and deconstructing a monument, building a complex sonic sculpture more to be admired than loved. The bracing-yet-approachable op. 59 quartet closed off the evening, and here the ensemble came through with considerable aplomb, matching the quality of insight that they brought to the earlier op. 18 quartet.”
                                                                                        Buffalo News – December 7, 2008

The Ives Quartet continues to receive excellent reviews for their recording of quartets of Quincy Porter:

“Aficionados of mid-century American music may recognize Porter’s name, but are much less likely to know his music - and that, as this alluring disc makes all too clear, is a downright shame. His string quartets are his major legacy, and the Bay Area’s Ives Quartet gives thoughtful, vivacious performances of the first four. All of them are graceful and imaginative, but probably the most striking is the Second Quartet, with its aggressively rhythmic opening movement and quirky finale.”

                                                                      San Francisco Chronicle - September 23, 2007

Performance: 4 stars / Sound: 4 stars

“It's striking how effortlessly European are the four quartets recorded here. Porter speaks with such eloquence and invention that they demand to be heard. Coming on the heels of the Potomac’s complete set, the Ives Quartet need not apologise: generously-toned, rhythmically alert and consistently engaged, theirs is a compelling addition to Naxos’ ever-enterprising ‘American Classics’ series.”           BBC Music - September 2007

These string quartets are fairly easy to talk about as a group since the four quartets were written in less than a decade (1922-1931). Consistency abounds on this disc: each has three movements of fast-slow-fast tempi, the musical language is very much in the American Populist style, melodies are rich and frequent, the string writing is idiomatic, and each quartet is solidly constructed chamber music. The Ives Quartet plays each piece with fluency and confidence. Their interpretation shows that they are passionate about releasing what I assume will be a full cycle of Quincy Porter’s nine quartets. The quartets are not presented chronologically. The disc opens with Quartet 3 and its bold fanfare introduction makes a great entry point for the pieces. Quartet 2 comes next, with heavy Bartok references (specifically Bartok’s second quartet, not a bad inspiration to have). String Quartet 1 in E minor is, in my opinion, the most serious of these four quartets (in terms of mood, not of stature). The music is dark and dense yet still lush. Quartet 4 is an odd mix of playful and morose which the Ives Quartet flawlessly navigates. In general, I have to say that the Ives Quartet is definitely the kind of quartet to record cycles. They have a wonderful homogeneity of sound and expression which brings out many nuances in compositions that, in lesser hands, may otherwise all sound the same. The Ives Quartet accentuates the differences between each of these quartets while still speaking with a singular clear voice. I look forward to the next disc in the series and to any cycle of American composers that the Ives Quartet wants to record (William Schuman, for example, would be cool. So would Batzner).                                                                                       Sequenza21.com - August 24, 2007

NEGLECTED HERITAGE: The neglect of important and engaging mainstream

American music from earlier in the 20th century is a scandal. We get

Copland and Barber, of course, but when was the last time you heard a

piece of Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, Vincent Persichetti or Peter

Mennin in concert?

FROM YALE TO YALE: Three years older than Copland, Connecticut native

Quincy Porter (1897-1966) studied with Horatio Parker (as did Ives) at

Yale, with Vincent d'Indy in Paris and Ernest Bloch in New York and

Cleveland. Alongside composing, he taught at Cleveland, Vassar and the

New England Conservatory, finally returning to Yale.

FLUENT, COSMOPOLITAN: This recording of the first four of Porter's nine

string quartets certainly whets the appetite for the rest and for more

of his considerable oeuvre. Porter was a capable violist himself, and

his writing is skilled and idiomatic. At various times, you may be

reminded of Bartók, maybe Shostakovich or one of the more cosmopolitan

English composers, like Frank Bridge.

BOTTOM LINE: Attractive, engaging works, well-played and well-recorded.

                                                                               Dallas Morning News - August 11, 2007

“I certainly doubt that we could ever expect more characterful performances, the Ives Quartet so deeply into Porter’s style and mood. Though technically demanding, there is a sense of the easy virtuosity that removes thoughts of stress in the performances. Detail is crystal clear even in the most hectic passages, while the recording made last year in California is just about as close as we will get to having the musicians in our listening room. Fervently commended.”                                                                               Naxos.com – August 2007

I had not heard any music by Quincy Porter prior to hearing this CD. In fact, as far as I was concerned, he was quite simply a name. I would not have known whether he wrote avant-garde music or jazz or even songs for the shows. However this CD has stopped me in my tracks. Firstly, it reveals a composer who writes great music. Secondly it introduces a musician who, at least on the basis of this CD, deserves to be better known well beyond the USA. And lastly his Nine Quartets represent a cross-section of the composer’s achievement over some five decades. They allow us a unique insight into his personal development in the context of mid-twentieth century music. A few words about the composer may be helpful. Quincy Porter was born in New Haven, Connecticut on 7 February 1897. He was fortunate to study at Yale University where his teachers included the eminent Horatio Parker. Further study with Vincent d’Indy and Ernest Bloch in Paris ensured a solid foundation of compositional skills. In addition to writing music he was a teacher. He taught at Vassar during the 1930s and latterly became Dean and finally Director of the New England Conservatory of Music. He was to return to Yale as professor and taught until his retirement in 1965. He died the following year. A brief study of his catalogue reveals a wide variety of music across a number of forms. We noted his nine string quartets, but there are also two symphonies, a number of concertos and a deal of other chamber music. However there are no operas or major choral pieces: it was only quite late that he came to write songs. It is difficult to place Quincy Porter in the pantheon of American composers. It could be convenient to place him in a theoretical ‘New England School’ which would include Porter, Donovan, Piston, Sessions, Moore and Randall Thompson. This somewhat artificial arrangement would be subject to much debate and discussion amongst musicologists. However Howard Boatwright sums the relationships up well. He writes that Porter was “less traditional than Donovan, less neo-classical than Piston, less complex than Sessions, more sophisticated than Moore and more eclectic that Randall Thompson. Porter’s music went its own way.” As a stylistic guide it would be fair to say that Porter inclined to neo-classicism rather than modernism or romanticism, although as Richard Whitehouse points out, he managed to avoid the adulation of Stravinsky and Hindemith that influenced so much American music. It was in the nine String Quartets that Porter found his true voice. He had developed a great love of playing chamber music and was a competent viola player who knew much of the common repertoire: he played for most of his life and wrote a concerto for the instrument. It was out of this intimate understanding of the ensemble that these Quartets evolved. The four Quartets recorded here are all extremely well wrought. The part-writing is grateful to the soloist: the music is written with a subtlety and sensitivity that is totally satisfactory. There is no effect for effect’s sake – he does not write to shock or impress. The essential style of these Quartets makes “extensive use of chromatic harmonies and sophisticated rhythms in an essentially melodic context.” These four quartets were written between 1922 and 1931 and represent a journey from a derivative First to a stylistically mature Fourth by way of a Bartókian Second and a folk-music tinged Third. I note that the complete edition of String Quartets is currently available on an Albany CD [918] played by the Potomac String Quartet. This includes a number of other, shorter chamber pieces. This is issued on two CDs and represents great value for money. However I have not heard them and cannot pass judgement between editions. The Ives Quartet is based in San Francisco and here make their Naxos debut. The playing is stunning and subtle. As I pointed out above, I do not know these works, but just two hearings reveals a stunning

performance, hidden depths and fine expression. This is a Quartet that is perfectly at home with this fine music. The sound quality is exceptional and of course the programme notes by Richard Whitehouse are extremely helpful. I have only two concerns. I am not sure why Naxos felt that it was necessary to put the works in anything other than chronological order (the disc order is 3, 2, 1, 4) and will Naxos actually bring out a

second - and perhaps even a third - volume? If the answer to the second question is ‘Yes’ then I heartily recommend this series. But if ‘No’ then I guess that I must suggest an investment in the Potomac String Quartet edition – at least you can guarantee owning all nine quartets – and it is a well-received recording with great reviews.

                                                                        MusicWebIbnternational.com – August 2007

Headline: Passion pours from Ives Quartet concert

“If you’re a chamber music nut, you know the Bay Area is saturated with terrific string quartets: the Kronos, St. Lawrence, Alexander, Turtle Island, Cypress and so on. But even the biggest nuts haven't all heard about the Ives Quartet, and that’s a crime. 

Because the Ives, which gave a typically superb performance Saturday night at Le Petit Trianon in San Jose, is right there in the upper echelon of chamber groups based in the region. It sill flies under a lot of people’s radar; the Trianon wasn’t exactly packed. But that’s bound to change if the quartet continues to perform at this level, with this much energy and panache. At Saturday’s concert, the group’s last of the season, the Ives’s arresting sound was again on display: robust, rigorous and beautifully blended. Whether the group was playing Beethoven, Dvorak or Quincy Porter, the 20^th-century American composer whose works are becoming an Ives specialty, the music felt thoroughly absorbed, idiomatic, performed from the inside-out. What’s remarkable is that the quartet, which dates in various convolutions to 1983, has recently undergone personnel changes. Bettina Mussumeli, its first violinist,  is finishing only her second season; violist Jodi Levitz, her first. Both are refined, passionate players, and have quickly melded with cellist Stephen Harrison and second violinist Susan Freier. Beethoven’s early String Quartet in C minor, Op. 18, No. 4, opened the concert: a delicate equipoise, beyond quiet, was achieved in the Scherzo. The rocking Allegro seemed to vibrate the air in the hall; all those poor, invisible atoms knocked about. Next came Porter, a New England Yankee who emerged a generation after Charles Ives (the quartet’s namesake), studied with Ives’ composition teacher, Horatio Parker, at Yale and taught at Yale for years. The Ives, which hopes to record all nine of Porter’s string quartets for the Naxos label (the first four are due out in July), played his String Quartet No. 3, from 1930. It sounded dynamic, sturdily American, at times Yankee-Stoic, yet also optimistic, tuneful, hymn-like. And what energy the Ives pumped into the finale, a mad dance, with surprising echoes of Eastern Europe. That made a neat connection to Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, for which the Ives was joined by pianist Paul Hersh, an estimable player. The five performed with all the passion one could ask for – but too much sound for the reverberant little hall. The result was a fiery performance.”          San Jose Mercury News – May 14, 2007