A brand new piano quartet has been added to Garth Newel Piano Quartet’s repertoire. The Quartet has selected Roberto Sansuini as the winner of this year’s International Composition Competition. Hailing from Parma, Italy, Roberto will receive the Glorvina and Richard Lynn New Music Prize along with a travel stipend to attend Garth Newel Piano Quartet’s premiere (July 21st) of his new piano quartet. In addition, Roberto will be in residence at Garth Newel Music Center’s 2024 Summer Festival from July 17th – 21st.
Of the winning work, Roberto said
“It was with some trepidation that I started writing my Piano Quartet. I felt very strongly the weight of the great romantic chamber music tradition. However, the extraordinary expressiveness of such a formation, the range of colours and nuances that it allows, as soon as I started the work, got me so involved that I forgot all my ‘reverential fears’.
My piano quartet does not have a title that refers to something ‘other’, an image, a feeling or any other extra-musical content. The listener is free to find what he or she wants in it.
The piece is in one movement and is divided into four sections of different characters even though only two simple musical elements underlie the entire composition”.
As longtime patrons and friends of Garth Newel, Glorvina and Richard Lynn wanted to support the creation of new works at the music center.
“We sponsor this prize because creating music must always be an ongoing thing. It is important to remind people that new music IS music and the best place to experience it is at Garth Newel. No one performs it better than the Garth Newel Piano Quartet,” said Glorvina Lynn.
Garth Newel Piano Quartet received submissions from all around the globe to this year’s composition competition, reaching as far as South Korea, Peru, and Hungary in addition to submissions from around America.
“It’s amazing to see how the desire to create new chamber music is universal” says Jeannette Fang, pianist of the Garth Newel Piano Quartet. The Quartet offers their great appreciation to all of the talented composers who shared their creativity for the competition.
Founded in 1973, Garth Newel Music Center – located in Hot Springs, Virginia – is one of the most active chamber music organizations in the country. Its resident ensemble – the Garth Newel Piano Quartet – performs over 60 concerts annually both at the Center and on tour. Through this competition, the Quartet seeks to broaden the piano quartet repertoire and to support the Center’s ongoing commitment to contemporary music.
