Clarion Concerts Presents Fall Concert Series with GRAMMY® Award-Winning Pacifica Quartet

Featuring world-class, live chamber music with works by Florence Price, Antonín Dvořák and Ludwig van Beethoven

HUDSON, NY, UNITED STATES, August 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Clarion Concerts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing world-class chamber music to the Hudson Valley, New York region, will kick off its fall concert series with a performance by multiple GRAMMY^® Award-winning Pacifica Quartet, one of the most notable chamber ensembles in the world. Since 1994, the Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition, awards and critical acclaim, and is celebrated for its "virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and fearless repertory choices." The ensemble includes Simin Ganatra, violin, Austin Hartman, violin, Mark Holloway, viola, and Brandon Vamos, cello. The concert will take place in Hudson's historic Christ Church Episcopal, a Gothic revival structure designed by William G. Harrison and consecrated in 1857, and listed on the New York State and National Historic Registers.

"We are very much looking forward to presenting a program of three composers who each, in their own voice, use the string quartet to express something deeply personal about identity, place, and possibility," said the Pacifica Quartet. "From Florence Price’s distinctive and radiant voice, to Dvořák’s open-hearted American Quartet, and concluding with the searching, transcendent world of Beethoven’s Op. 130, we are excited to go on this musical journey with the audience at Clarion Concerts next month."

"Clarion Concerts is thrilled to feature the world-renowned Pacifica Quartet and a significant performance that celebrates the rich lineage of classical music history and excellence, with works by Florence Price, the first African-American female composer to have a work performed by a major national orchestra, Dvořák, known for blending traditional Czech, African-American and Native American folk music with classical forms, and Beethoven, who played a critical role in bridging classical and romantic styles with deep artistic expression," said Melissa White, Artistic Director of Clarion Concerts. "It's especially exciting for this rare opportunity to hear Beethoven's monumental Op. 130 performed with the Große Fuge as its original finale."

For nearly 70 years, Clarion Concerts has brought world-class chamber music to the Hudson Valley region, and reached communities across the Northeast. It continues to honor this legacy by expanding its commitment to commissioning new works and performances, with special recognition for Black composers and musicians. Clarion Concerts also works to educate younger audiences and help build awareness about classical music through its unique concert experiences and musical education initiatives.

Event Details
Clarion Concerts Presents Pacifica Quartet Live in Hudson
Date: Sunday, September 27, 2026
Time: 3pm ET
Location: Christ Church Episcopal | 431 Union Street, Hudson, New York 12534



Ticket Information
Purchase tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clarion-concerts-presents-multiple-grammy-award-winning-pacifica-quartet-tickets-1996757065133?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Individual in advance – $50.00 | Individual at the door –$55.00
Young adults (30 and under) – Choose Individual ticket option, discount code YOUNG
Full-time students – Choose Individual ticket option, discount code FULLTIME
Children 16 & under with an adult are admitted free – Choose Individual ticket option, discount code FREE
Walk-ins are welcome, if space permits.

Program
- Florence Price - String Quartet No. 1 in G major
- Antonín Dvořák - String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96, "American"‍ ‍
Intermission (15 minutes)
- Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major, Op. 130, with Große Fuge, Op. 133


About Clarion Concerts
Clarion Concerts is committed to building awareness and educating audiences about chamber music and its expansive repertoire. We achieve this by commissioning and presenting new works, with special recognition for Black composers and musicians. Originally founded as The Clarion Society in 1957 by Newell Jenkins and Jack Hurley, the organization became known worldwide for early music concerts played on both modern and period instruments through the Leaf Peeper Concerts in Columbia County, New York. In June 1996, Clarion Concerts of Columbia County, Inc. became independent under Music Director Sanford Allen, the first African-American full-time member of the New York Philharmonic and an international soloist. He expanded Clarion’s repertoire to include 19th- and 20th-century music together with its Baroque roots. Today, Clarion Concerts upholds its commitment to performing works by Black composers and other persons of color. To learn more and get involved, visit clarionconcerts.org and follow us on Instagram (www.instagram.com/clarionconcerts/?hl=en), Facebook (www.facebook.com/people/Clarion-Concerts/61576150734632/) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/clarion-concerts).


About Pacifica Quartet
Formed in 1994, the Pacifica Quartet quickly rose to prominence, winning chamber music’s top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. An ardent advocate for living composers, the Pacifica Quartet has commissioned and premiered works by Keeril Makan, Julia Wolfe, and Shulamit Ran. Ran’s Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory – commissioned in partnership with the Music Accord consortium, Wigmore Hall, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall – received its New York premiere with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

The ensemble’s acclaimed discography reflects its adventurous spirit. Its GRAMMY^® Award-winning recordings of Elliott Carter’s Quartets Nos. 1-5 on Naxos and the complete Shostakovich cycle on Cedille Records – praised by The Telegraph as “nothing short of phenomenal” – are now reference points for those repertoires. Their most recent GRAMMY^®-winning album, Contemporary Voices (Cedille Records), showcases works by Shulamit Ran, Jennifer Higdon, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich; the Chicago Tribune named it among the “Best Classical Recordings of 2020,” praising the Quartet’s “unmistakable and apt ferocity.” A second recording with Anthony McGill, American Stories, featured world premiere recordings by Richard Danielpour, James Lee III, and Ben Shirley, as well as a piece by Valerie Coleman, and was nominated for a 2024 GRAMMY^® Award.

Based in Bloomington, Indiana, the Pacifica Quartet has served as full-time faculty and Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music since 2012. They previously held residencies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2003-2012), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2009-2012), and the University of Chicago, where they served as resident performing artists for 17 years. For more information go to https://www.pacificaquartet.com/ and follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PacificaQuartet/, Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pacificaquartet/ and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPo1GWJZLV9HO73D4bCKHzA.

Roberta Tsang
RTPR
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Pacifica Quartet live performance: Beethoven's Grosse Fuge (Grand Fugue), Op. 133