Annual Kendall Concert features Portland String Quartet

The Portland String Quartet will perform “The Art of Fugue” by J.S. Bach on the 250th anniversary of his death at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. The public is invited to attend the annual Edith C. and Raymond L. Kendall Concert, and the reception that immediately follows in the Olin lobby, free of charge.

Described by The New York Times as a “model of experienced ensemble playing,” the Portland String Quartet is composed of violinists Steven Kecskemethy and Ron Lantz, violist Julia Adams and cellist Paul Ross. The ensemble’s recording of George Chadwick’s “Piano Quintet” with Virginia Eskin was named 1989 Classical Recording of the Year by The New York Times, and their recording of “Bloch: The Five String Quartets” was named outstanding chamber music release of 1983-84 by The Washington Post and The Boston Globe.

The Portland String Quartet members have been performing, teaching and recording since 1969. Artists in residence at Colby College since 1986, their chamber music workshops gained international acclaim when the United Nations educational division sponsored their string quartet workshops in Caracas, Venezuela, in the 1970s. Their 14 recordings on the Arabesque and Northeastern labels include string quartets by Antonin Dvorak, Franz Schubert and Richard Strauss.

“The Art of the Fugue” is made possible by the Edith C. and Raymond L. Kendall ’19 Endowment Fund. The Kendall Fund was established by Edith C. and Raymond L. Kendall, retired professor of education and psychology at Bates.

For more information about the concert, call the Olin Arts Center at 207 786-6135.