The Opus 76 Quartet Biography
From it's hometown of Kansas City, The Opus 76 Quartet has become known for its entertaining and energetic interpretations of the classics. The Kansas City Star recently described the group's complete Beethoven Cycle as "certainly passionate performances, fully expressing all of Beethoven’s many emotions from the the lighthearted and jocular to the feverish and intense." Internationally renowned classical music journal The Strad featured a recent performance, commenting "a beautiful Sunrise from [the] Opus 76 Quartet...you're still allowed to watch [the performance], in fact we insist that you do." The Spectator, reviewing a recent performance of a Late Beethoven Quartet lauded the group, remarking:” a brilliant young string quartet…[a] luminous performance.” Based at the Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College, The Opus 76 Quartet perform 50 concerts a year nationwide.
The Opus 76 Quartet performed and recorded all 18 Beethoven String Quartets in front of a live audience over a six week period, during the Pandemic of 2020. These performances were broadcast statewide on Kansas Public Radio. The ensemble released complete recordings of these works in association with KPR digitally on iTunes and physically on their own label, available for purchase in their online shop. The group became Digital Artists-in-Residence at the Midwest Trust Center in December 2020, performing an innovative new Digital Concert Series "Eat, Drink & Play!" pairing staples of the classical repertoire with regionally sourced fine food and drink - in documentary format. In 2021, they will make a recording of the Six Quartets dedicated to Haydn by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for Kansas Public Radio. In June 2022, the Opus 76 Quartet will conduct its first European Tour, the highlights of which include venues in London, Paris, Montpellier, Frankfurt, Budapest, Milan & Florence.
In 2020, The Quartet was invited to give masterclasses at the Juilliard School, the Royal Academy of Music, Missouri State and Missouri Western State University. They were asked to perform at the Ad Astra Festival in 2019. In 2018, the Opus 76 Quartet recorded two quartets by living composers David Izzard and Mike Moreland, as well as a quartet by Franz Josef Haydn. The Quartet has also collaborated with “The Priests” on a tour of the USA and internationally acclaimed clarinetist David Krakauer.
The ensemble continues to be featured and reviewed in a number of prominent national and international newspapers, journals and blogs. Norman Lebrecht, reviewing a recent performance of Beethoven's op.132 said it was “tremendously uplifting...[a] breathtaking performance.” The Opus 76 Quartet were recently mentioned in Gramophone Magazine in a review of classical music in the Midwest of the United States. KC Arts Beat recently described the quartet as a “remarkable group of dedicated musicians [who] played with charm and vitality, [and are] well worth hearing again and again,” and praised a recent performance for being “marked by the highest degree of professionalism and musical acumen.”
The Opus 76 Quartet is fully committed to improving society through music - and its non-profit foundation, The Friends of the Opus 76 Quartet, oversees its charitable works in the community of Kansas City. The foundation's goal is to improve society’s ability to listen to one another calmly, and promote greater understanding for the different perspectives on life we all have.
Providing interactive educational programmes and learning resources, such as workshops, podcasts and digital presentations, has helped deliver advocacy for the problems the Kansas City community faces. It's encouraged volunteerism and donations to sister organizations which directly serve those in need, particularly during the Pandemic of 2020, and has worked to demonstrate awareness of the common dignity we all share as human beings - irrespective of social or economic status.
The Opus 76 Quartet continues to be mentored by recently retired founding member of the Takács Quartet, Károly Schranz.
January 2021. Please disregard any previous versions.
