Music in the Mountains and the Sunflower Theatre are bringing the Sybarite5 chamber music quintet to Cortez on Tuesday as part of the 2016 festival.
The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets are available for $40 at www.musicinthemountains.com or 970-385-6820.
“We are excited to once again partner with the Sunflower Theatre at KSJD to bring classical music to Southwest Colorado,” said Angie Beach, executive director of Music in the Mountains.
Formed at the Aspen Music Festival, Sybarite5 was the first string quintet admitted to Aspen’s program for advanced string quartet studies in 2008. From 2009-2013, the ensemble continued its tenure at the Aspen Music Festival in a new capacity as the alumni ensemble. The ensemble is now based in New York City and maintains a residency at the cell theater.
“When we were presented with the opportunity to present the Sybarite5, we jumped on it,” said Jeff Pope, executive director of KSJD and the Sunflower Theatre. “It’s also worth noting that this kind of offering couldn’t happen without the strong partnership KSJD and Music in the Mountains are developing.”
Strings magazine calls the Sybarite5 is a group of gifted young string musicians who juxtapose the likes of Stravinsky with Radiohead, or Dvorák with Led Zeppelin.
Sybarite5 is composed of Sami Merdinian and Sarah Whitney, violins; Angela Pickett, viola; Laura Metcalf, cello; and Louis Levitt, bass. The band has taken audiences worldwide by storm, helping to change the perception of chamber music performance. This quintet takes the audience on a ride that engages the senses and redefines the rules.
From Mozart to Radiohead and Visconti to Akiho, Sybarite5’s repertoire and performance style has turned heads throughout the music world. The quintet’s debut “Disturb the Silence,” featuring music by Radiohead and Piazzolla, plus original works written for Sybarite5, was released in 2011 and quickly reached the Top 10 on the Billboard charts. The followup album “Everything In Its Right Place” was released at Carnegie Hall in 2012.
In the 2015-2016 season, the group appears in performances and residencies across the country at series including The Schubert Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, Celebrity Series Stave Sessions in Boston, Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts, National Sawdust, in residence at the cell in New York, as well as the Ravinia and Grand Teton Music Festivals. Sybarite5 is also the only classical contemporary artist selected for the prestigious 2015-2016 Mid Atlantic Arts Tour funded by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.