For More Information:
Bretta Vigue, (904) 261-1779

Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival to Present Final-Ever Performance Of Guarneri String Quartet on October 27

Fernandina Beach, Fl—October 2, 2009—The Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival is honored that the world renowned Guarneri String Quartet will perform its final concert on Amelia Island on October 27.

Founded in 1964, the Guarneri long has been one of the most revered string ensembles in the world. “The Final Concert” of the Guarneri String Quartet, which will feature Schubert’s Cello Quintet in C Major and Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 132, will start at 7:30 PM at Amelia Plantation Chapel. Tickets are $60 and can be purchased on-line at www.aicmf.com or by calling the Festival office at 904/261-1779.

Violist Michael Tree, a founding member of the Guarneri, said during a recent interview: “We elected to hold our final concert on Amelia Island due to our friendship with Christopher Rex, your Festival’s artistic and general director, who was kind enough to invite us to the first Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival in 2001. I remember that we performed in the Old Courthouse in downtown Fernandina Beach and were seated next to the jury box. I don’t think more than 100 people were able to fit inside that room, and it has been gratifying to see our audiences grow over the intervening years. We have been treated very well on Amelia Island. The atmosphere has always been friendly and relaxed, making our appearances an extremely enjoyable experience.”

He continued: “I think our final performance as an ensemble will be a very poignant experience for us. After all, we have been together for 45 years, toured the world and made many, many friends around the globe. However, we really will not be retiring. Each of us will continue to perform individually at recitals and festivals, and we will be continuing our respective teaching duties. So while our Amelia Island performance marks a closing, we intend to remain very active in the world of music.”

Mr. Tree studied violin with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music. Subsequent to his Carnegie Hall recital debut, he appeared as a violin and viola soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States. He has recorded more than 80 chamber music works, among which are ten piano quintets and quartets with Artur Rubinstein. Mr. Tree serves on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, the University of Maryland, and Bard College. He plays a Domenicus Busan viola dated 1750.

Composed of violinists Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley, violist Michael Tree and cellist Peter Wiley, the Guarneri has circled the globe countless times, playing in the world’s most prestigious halls in North and South America, Mexico, Europe, Asia, and Australia. In the process, it has been recognized in documentaries and educational presentations on radio, television and in a full-length, Academy-Award-winning film. The Guarneri is the only quartet to receive the Award of Merit from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters. The ensemble also received Chamber Music America’s highest honor, the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, in 2004.

About the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival
The Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Having completed its eighth season in June 2009, the nationally renowned Festival is dedicated to bringing classical music at the highest level to the general public, schools and senior centers of Amelia Island and surrounding communities of northeastern Florida. A schedule of three performances in February 2010 will kick off the Festival’s ninth season, while the balance of the Festival will be held in May. For more information about the Festival, visit our web site at www.aicmf.com.

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