UPDATE 5/21/21: Due to a healthy Black Fly season and the new CDC guidelines this performance will move inside Denmark Arts Center.
Denmark Arts Center opens its summer 2021 music series in Bicentennial Park. They begin the season with the New Orleans-based Lott String Quartet (LSQ). Artists-in-residence at the University of New Orleans, Lott String Quartet have quickly established themselves as one of the pre-eminent ensembles in the Southeast. LSQ is comprised of Kurt Munstedt, Benjamin Thacher, Rachel Hsieh, and Luke Fleming.
Selected to attend the 2019 and 2020 St. Lawrence String Quartet Chamber Music Seminar in Stanford, CA and nominated for a Gambit Magazine’s Big Easy Entertainment Award for best chamber music performance, the Lotts have sought innovative new ways of connecting with their community, whether that be performing the national anthem at professional sporting events or performing free concerts for the community and students in a local record shop. They remain committed to bringing the great works of string quartet literature to life for their audiences and sharing their enthusiasm both as performers and educators.
Thanks to the generosity of Maine Arts Commission, Lott String Quartet has an Artists-in-Residence with Brownfield/Denmark Elementary School and Molly Ockett Middle school. “Denmark Arts Center is delighted to be part of a program that brings live music into the schools in western Maine,” noted Executive Director, Susan Beane. Denmark Arts Center began working with Craig Bryan, Molly Ockett Middle School Choral & Instrumental Music instructor, and Dr. Rajaniemi, Principal of Brownfield/Denmark Elementary school, in January 2020. This program was schedule before the ensuing pandemic. The hard work of both Mr. Bryan and Dr. Rajaniemi has provided the possibility for a live music presentation and via zoom for the schools, and in the park for our community, a long-waited experience.
On Saturday, May 29, 2021, at 4:00 p.m., in Bicentennial Park, in Denmark, Lott String Quartet will perform a classical afternoon rain or shine. This is a bring your lawn chair and weather appropriate clothing event, as all Denmark Arts Center performances will be in the park this season. There will be no programs for the afternoon performance, nor an intermission, in keeping with CDC guidelines.
The Lott String Quartet will present an afternoon of contemporary and romantic classical music. The program will include George Walker’s poignant Lyric for Strings (1946), Mendelssohn’s dramatic and final String Quartet in F minor, op 80 (1847), and Caroline Shaw’s kaleidoscopic Entr’acte (2011).
PROGRAM
Lyric for Strings George Walker (1922-2018)
Entr’acte Caroline Shaw (1982- )
String Quartet in F minor, op. 80 Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Denmark Arts Center (DAC) Performances and Kids Camps will be held in Bicentennial Park across from the Arts Center. DAC will follow CDC guidelines for outdoor events. Performances will be a Pay-What-You-Can this summer (suggested donation $10). Pre-registration is required.
The gate will open at 3:30 p.m., with the concerts beginning at 4:00 p.m.
To purchase tickets or find more information, please visit www.DenmarkArts.org/event
