The Kessler Academy 2024 takes to the Annex stage, August 10

The Microcosmos Quartet will join the string orchestra made up of young players

Music on Main presents The Kessler Academy 2024 on August 10 at 3 pm at the Annex

THE KESSLER ACADEMY’S string orchestra comprises young players who receive an intense educational experience of preparing for and performing a string orchestra concert through a conductor-less, week-long mentorship program of consecutive days of rehearsals of repertoire composed in the past 100 years. Featuring the Microcosmos Quartet—made up of Marc Destrubé and Andrea Siradze on violin, Tawnya Popoff on viola, and Hannah Addario-Berry on cello—this year’s concert on August 10 presented by Music on Main consists of Arnold Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 and Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for Strings, Sz.113 BB.118.

Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht was first written in 1899, with the composer crafting a new arrangement for string orchestra in 1917. It is the artist’s most-performed piece. Bartók’s Divertimento, meanwhile, takes its name from the Italian word for diversion and was written in 1939 in the Swiss Alps on the eve of war.

Led by the Microcosmos Quartet, the Kessler Academy, now in its 10th year, is named in honour of the late Susan Kessler. The woman and her family and friends helped bring this musical initiative to life in 2015 as part of her 100th birthday celebrations.

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Gail Johnson

Gail Johnson is cofounder of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.

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