The Community Concert Hall welcomes ETHEL on May 2

Inventive string quartet to perform special program, “Grace”

Durango, CO -The inventive string quartet that is setting the standard for new music engagement, ETHEL comes to the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College, Friday, May 2, 2014, 7:30 p.m.

Acclaimed as “indefatigable and eclectic” (The New York Times), “vital and brilliant” (The New Yorker), and “one of the most exciting quartets around” (Strad Magazine), ETHEL is said to invigorate the contemporary music scene with exuberance, intensity, imaginative programming and exceptional artistry.

Founded in 1998 and based in New York City, ETHEL is comprised of Ralph Farris (viola), Dorothy Lawson (cello), Kip Jones (violin) and Tema Watstein (violin). At the Community Concert Hall, the quartet will perform a program entitled “Grace,” the centerpiece of which is ETHEL’s adaptation of Ennio Morricone’s score to the 1986 film, The Mission, which addresses cross-cultural complexities fueled by the quest for redemption against the backdrop of the jungles of South America.

In every sense of the word, “Grace” provides effortless beauty and charm, goodwill, a favor and a reprieve. In complex, stressful times, and in a world overwhelmed by seemingly irreconcilable differences and unsustainable challenges, music offers both an immediate tonic of relief and a medium for long-term healing and understanding.

ETHEL has pursued this aspect of its art over the years, both in the members’ own creative output and in the opening of their hearts and skills to close collaboration with master artists from diverse cultures across the globe. As cultural and musical “pollinators,” the quartet brings its collaborative discoveries to audiences through multi-dimensional musical repertoire and community engagement.

The quartet regularly performs with amplification and is dedicated to exploring the use of emerging technologies. It has been involved at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center in Urbana, Ill., and the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference, where it was the house band in 2010.

As noted in the New York Times, “ETHEL…plays their repertoire vigorously and cultivates a persona closer to (that) of a rock band than of a conventional string quartet.”

Tickets for ETHEL ($23/$29) are available on-line at www.durangoconcerts.com or call 970.247.7657, or visit the Ticket Office inside the Durango Welcome Center at 8th St. and Main Ave., Downtown Durango.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m., with doors to the Concert Hall and concessions, serving beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, opening at 6:30 p.m. On show day, the box office at the Concert Hall will be open one hour prior to curtain, and remain open through intermission.

The Community Concert Hall is a not-for-profit, multi-use performance venue located on the campus of Fort Lewis College. Its ability to bring a diverse spectrum of shows to Southwest Colorado is made possible through a partnership with the college, a state-supported, independent institution of higher education, and through financial and in-kind contributions from generous members of the community.