DaPonte String Quartet. Photo by Stuart Nudelman

A new series of chamber music series kicNEW CHAMBER SERIES WITH DAPONTE STRING QUARTET SUNDAY, JULY 24 3PM

New this year, a series of four chamber performances begins with the DaPonte String Quartet at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 24, at the Denmark Arts Center.

2022 marks the DaPonte String Quartet’s 31 year as a quartet. Not long after forming in Philadelphia, the quartet surprised the musical world by moving to Maine where, as the New York Times noted, they create an experience “like watching the Celtics play in the local gym.” The move was prompted by a temporary rural residency grant from Chamber Music America and the NEA and was unusual enough to earn them a feature on CBS Sunday Morning. Once they arrived in Maine, they forged an unbreakable love-bond with the state and decided to stay.

Although their main commitments are in Maine, the DSQ are sought after to perform and teach everywhere. They have performed at Carnegie Hall; appeared in France, Scotland, Canada, and more than twenty American states; broadcast on nation-wide radio and television both in the United States and Canada; received awards from the NEA, Philadelphia Musical Fund Society, Music Teachers National Association, Chamber Music America, and Maine Arts Commission (which named them Fellows in Performing Arts for 2016); been profiled on national TV; and appeared on several of the nation’s most prestigious concert series. Guest artists who have performed with them include Awadagin Pratt, Kate Aldrich, Gilbert Kalish, and Peter Serkin. Former New York Times music critic Allan Kozinn called their playing “consistently polished,” “thoughtful and rich hued” and filled with “sheer intensity” and “a searing incandescent energy.”

The program includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet for Basset Horn and Strings in A and Johannes Brahms’ Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in A Minor. Guest artists are clarinetist Mark Simons and violinist Alexander Romanul.

HEPA air purifier systems and ventilation will be engaged for indoor performances. For more information about this and to learn about upcoming events, visit denmarkarts.org/events.

The Denmark Arts Center is an award-winning 501(c)3 cultural organization founded in 1994 in the rural community of Denmark. Housed in the town’s historic 1883 Odd Fellows Hall, the DAC offers year-round events and workshops in contemporary dance, theater, music and visual art to community members young and old. DAC is at 50 West Main St., Denmark. For more information, visit http://www.denmarkarts.org.