Haunted Minds: An Aspect Night Out

Music is a tool for transformation: Pain, fear, hope, anxiety that might otherwise just sit in the soul is poured into something that takes on a life of its own, potentially turning personal struggle into a monument of the times.

Our beloved friends at the Aspect Chamber Music Series have put together a meditation on that process of transformation, for an evening they’ve entitled Haunted Minds. And they’ve invited us to join them at Columbia University’s beautiful Italian Academy for a Night Out!

We’ll start with Bartok’s first String Quartet — the beginning of his journey to completely transform a genre that so many of the greats had mastered. By the end of Bartok’s career, the string quartet would never be the same. The piece was born of personal tragedy that Bartok turned into something that continues to change the world.

The second half of the program is Shostakovich’s 8th String Quartet - a masterwork that looms so large it hardly needs an introduction. It was born of the mortal, unimaginable fear that Stalin’s forces would come and disappear the great composer in the middle of the night — and has become one of the most powerful testaments to the horrors of totalitarianism the concert hall knows.

The talent for the evening is the internationally renowned young superstars, the Ariel String Quartet, and the program is given a larger coherence with one of Aspect’s signature illustrated talks - this one by Columbia University’s very own musicologist Nicholas Chong.

And, because Aspect knows how to do it, tickets will come with free wine and snacks! They typically run $45 a pop, but it’s Groupmuse after all, so we’ve got a stack for a mere $20 — more than half off!

Supplies are limited, so grab yours!

And have a great Night Out!

What's the music?

The Ariel String Quartet

Attendees

Steven R.

+1

Lorenzo V.

Stephanie P.

Cheonae K.

+1

Morgan O.

+1

Sankar N.

Michael G.

Lizzie W. Groupmuse Superhost

Shanker S.

Terri B.

Paloma D.

Martin B.

Natascha P.

+1

Jenna L.

William W.

+1

Gemma K.

Danielle K. (she/her)

Marjie C.

+1

Scott G.

Jacob L.

+1

Jonathan D.

+1

Elisabeth W.

+1

Lindsey F.

+1

Alex L.