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St. Olaf to host pianist Lydia Artymiw and Rosalyra String Quartet

By Meredith Utt '08
December 6, 2004

The Rosalyra String Quartet, featuring guest pianist Lydia Artymiw, will perform a recital on Friday, Dec. 10, at 8:15 p.m. in Urness Recital Hall, Christiansen Hall of Music. The concert, presented by the St. Olaf Department of Music, is free and open to the public.

The performance will include four movements of Joseph Haydn's "String Quartet in D Major" plus three movements from Mozart's "Piano Quartet in G Minor." A Brahms piano quartet will also be performed.

Hailed by the New York Times as "a pianist with beautiful touch, a creative imagination and a feeling for color," Artymiw has appeared with more than 100 orchestras worldwide and performed recitals in major cities across the globe, including recitals with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. The recipient of numerous awards, Artymiw has released seven solo albums for the Chandos label in England.

Currently a faculty member at the University of Minnesota, Artymiw began piano studies at age 4 and made her professional debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 8. She later graduated from Philadelphia's University of the Arts. In 2000 she received the University of Minnesota's Dean's Medal for Outstanding Professor, and in 2001 she became the first performing artist at the university to be awarded a Distinguished McKnight Professorship.

Founded in 1988, the Rosalyra String Quartet is an internationally?acclaimed ensemble featuring principal-chair players from the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra: Sarah Kwak and Vali Phillips, violins; Sabina Thatcher, viola; and Beth Rapier, cello. The award-winning ensemble has performed across the United States and has served as quartet-in-residence at the Pensacola Summer Music Festival in Florida and the Minnesota Orchestra's Summer Chamber Music Series.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.