Verona Quartet &
Alex Fiterstein
Saturday, February 27, 2027
7:30 p.m.
Vivid, imaginative selections for string quartet and clarinet
Jonathan Ong and Dorothy Ro, violin
Abigail Rojansky, viola | Jonathan Dormand, cello
Alex Fiterstein, clarinet
One might not expect the worlds of film music and string quartets to intertwine, and yet with our February concert this year, the Verona Quartet and Alex Fiterstein bring a program of music inspired by modern human stories. Erich Korngold and Philip Glass are both composers famed for their evocative film scores, and this narrative approach to composing shows through in their string quartets. The program concludes with Brahms’ beloved late-career Clarinet Quintet, a monumental, magical, and warmly nostalgic work that uses the melancholy timbre of the clarinet to reflect on a life well lived. This ensemble of young music educators (the Verona from Oberlin and Mr. Fiterstein from Peabody) admirably carries these mature works to a rousing conclusion.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold String Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 26
Philip Glass String Quartet No. 3 (“Mishima”)
Johannes Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115
$60 live in-person
About the Artists
The Verona Quartet is recognized as a premier ensemble of its generation, praised by The New York Times as an “outstanding ensemble… cohesive yet full of temperament.” Recipients of the 2020 Chamber Music America Cleveland Quartet Award and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association’s 2025 Educator Award, the ensemble has earned a reputation for its “bold interpretive strength” (Calgary Herald) and “opulent sonority” (The Strad). The Quartet serves on the faculty of Oberlin College and Conservatory as Quartet-in-Residence and as Artistic Directors of the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance. The ensemble’s rise to international prominence was fueled by a swift succession of top prize wins at Wigmore Hall, Melbourne, Osaka, M-Prize, and Fischoff International Chamber Music Competitions, as well as the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition.
A string quartet for the 21st century, the Verona Quartet pairs versatile programming with imaginative collaborations that bridge the time-honored canon and new, interdisciplinary works. Notable commissions and premieres include works by composers Christopher Theofanidis, Julia Adolphe, Texu Kim, and Sebastian Currier, as well as Michael Gilbertson’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated Quartet. The Quartet recently celebrated several world premieres, including a work for string quartet, yangqin (Chinese dulcimer), and dancer by Cheng Jin Koh, commissioned by The Smithsonian Institution in honor of the centennial of the Freer Gallery of Art. The 2025 season marks the launch of a new project with American tenor Ben Bliss, featuring the American Songbook alongside art song literature. Past ventures highlight the group's versatility, ranging from live-performance art installations with artist Ana Prvački to collaborations with the GRAMMY-winning folk trio I’m With Her.
The Quartet’s recording catalog reflects this same spirit of exploration. Their second album, SHATTER, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart in 2023, showcasing works written for the ensemble by Julia Adolphe and Michael Gilbertson, alongside Reena Esmail’s Ragamala with Hindustani vocalist Saili Oak. This followed their debut album Diffusion, praised by BBC Music Magazine for its "radiant glow," and a 2023 release of György Ligeti’s complete string quartet cycle. In 2026, the quartet will release their fourth album featuring the string quartets of Felix Mendelssohn.
The Verona Quartet has appeared across four continents, captivating audiences at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, Jordan Hall, and Wigmore Hall. They have performed at festivals including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, and Bravo! Vail. In addition to its position at Oberlin, the Quartet is featured in annual residencies at the ENCORE Chamber Music Institute and North Carolina’s Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle.
In the 2025–26 season, the Verona Quartet maintains an active schedule with appearances at the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, Telluride Chamber Music, and Montreal’s Ladies Morning Music Club. The ensemble also returns to the Howland Chamber Music Circle and the University of Hartford, while making debuts with Newport Classical and the Spire Center. Collaborative highlights include tours with guitarist Lukasz Kuropaczewski, pianist Henry Kramer, and saxophonist Steven Banks, alongside a string octet program featuring the Borromeo String Quartet. In 2026, the Quartet returns to the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival to collaborate with clarinetist David Shifrin.
The Verona Quartet takes its name from the city of Verona, paying tribute to William Shakespeare and the belief that the spirit of storytelling transcends genre. The Verona Quartet are D’Addario Artists and The Violin Channel Artists.
Alexander Fiterstein is recognized as one of today’s most exceptional clarinetists. He has performed in recital, with distinguished orchestras, and with chamber music ensembles throughout the world. He won first prize at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition and received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. The Washington Post has described his playing as “dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility, and range. Every sound he makes is finely measured without inhibiting expressiveness” and The New York Times described him as “a clarinetist with a warm tone and powerful technique.”
As soloist he has appeared with the Czech, Israel, Vienna, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras, Belgrade Philharmonic, Danish National Radio Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, China National Symphony Orchestra, KBS Orchestra of South Korea, Jerusalem Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center, Kansas City Symphony, and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. He has performed in recital on the Music at the Supreme Court Series, the Celebrity Series in Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Kennedy Center, the Louvre in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Tel Aviv Museum, and NYC’s 92d Street Y.
A dedicated performer of chamber music, Fiterstein collaborates with distinguished artists and ensembles and often performs with the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Among the highly regarded artists he has performed with are Daniel Barenboim, Yefim Bronfman, Mitsuko Uchida, Richard Goode, Emanuel Ax, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Pinchas Zukerman, and Steven Isserlis. Fiterstein performed with the Brentano, Dover, New York Philharmonic, Jerusalem, Pacifica and Shanghai String Quartets as well as with Ensemble Wien-Berlin. He spent six summers at the Marlboro Music Festival and appeared at the Caramoor, Moab, Music@Menlo, Montreal, Toronto, Jerusalem, and Storioni Chamber Music Festivals. He is co-artistic director of the Friends of Chamber Music of Miami.
Performances in the 2025-26 season include concerts with the New York Philharmonic String Quartet, Alaria Chamber Ensemble at Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Palm Beach Chamber Music Society, a solo recital in Beijing, and performances as soloist in the string orchestra version of Osvaldo Golijov’s “The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (NC).
Fiterstein is a founder of the Zimro Project, a unique ensemble dedicated to incorporating Jewish art music into chamber music programs. He performed as principal clarinet of the West-East Divan Orchestra at the invitation of Daniel Barenboim and has appeared as guest principal clarinet with the Israel Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta, KBS Orchestra with Yoel Levi, and with the St. Paul and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras.
Fiterstein has a prolific recording career and has worked with composers John Corigliano and Osvaldo Golijov and had pieces written for him by Samuel Adler, Mason Bates, Paul Schoenfield, and Chris Brubeck, among others. Fiterstein was born in Belarus, immigrated to Israel at the age of 2 with his family and later studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy. A Juilliard graduate, he won first prize at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and received awards from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. He is currently Professor of Clarinet and Chair of Winds at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Fiterstein is a Buffet Crampon and Vandoren Performing Artist.