Visions & Reflections
The Verona Quartet joins Alexander Fiterstein (clarinet) at Bet Shira Congregation in FOCM’s 71st Anniversary Season.
Spanning nearly a century of musical thought, this program presents three distinctive approaches to chamber music. Samuel Barber’s String Quartet combines lyrical warmth with dramatic intensity, while Philip Glass’s Quartet No. 3, “Mishima,” transforms film music into a work of hypnotic rhythmic energy. Osvaldo Golijov’s Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind, featuring clarinet, draws upon Jewish musical traditions to create a deeply evocative and spiritual work. Together, these compositions offer compelling reflections on identity, memory, and imagination.
- Barber
String Quartet - Glass
Quartet No. 3, “Mishima” - Golijov
Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind
Watch the Verona Quartet
Artist Spotlight
Verona Quartet
The Verona Quartet is recognized as a premier ensemble of its generation, praised by The New York Times as an “outstanding ensemble… cohesive yet full of temperament.” Recipients of the 2020 Chamber Music America Cleveland Quartet Award and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association’s 2025 Educator Award, the ensemble has earned a reputation for its “bold interpretive strength” (Calgary Herald) and “opulent sonority” (The Strad). The Quartet serves on the faculty of Oberlin College and Conservatory as Quartet-in-Residence and as Artistic Directors of the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance.
The ensemble’s rise to international prominence was fueled by a swift succession of top prize wins at Wigmore Hall, Melbourne, Osaka, M-Prize, and Fischoff International Chamber Music Competitions, as well as the 2015 Concert Artists Guild Competition. The Verona Quartet has appeared across four continents, captivating audiences at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, Jordan Hall, and Wigmore Hall. They have performed at festivals including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Chamber Music Northwest, and Bravo! Vail. In addition to its position at Oberlin, the Quartet is featured in annual residencies at the ENCORE Chamber Music Institute and North Carolina’s Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle.
Alexander Fiterstein
Alexander Fiterstein is recognized as one of today’s most exceptional clarinetists. He has performed in recital, with distinguished orchestras, and with chamber music ensembles throughout the world. He won first prize at the Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition and received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant Award. The Washington Post has described his playing as “dazzling in its spectrum of colors, agility, and range. Every sound he makes is finely measured without inhibiting expressiveness” and The New York Times described him as “a clarinetist with a warm tone and powerful technique.”
As soloist he has appeared with the Czech, Israel, Vienna, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras, Belgrade Philharmonic, Danish National Radio Symphony, Tokyo Philharmonic, China National Symphony Orchestra, KBS Orchestra of South Korea, Jerusalem Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Lincoln Center, Kansas City Symphony, and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. He has performed in recital on the Music at the Supreme Court Series, the Celebrity Series in Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Kennedy Center, the Louvre in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Tel Aviv Museum, and NYC’s 92d Street Y.