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CRS Presents BETA Quartet: Where We Come From
May 21, 2023 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT
$10 – $20
CRS presents the award-winning contemporary flute ensemble BETA Quartet, who will perform a program featuring the world premiere of “Where We Come From” by Detroit-based saxophonist/composer Marcus Elliot, a piece commissioned by BETA Quartet. “Where We Come From” is a 4-movement work that centers around the Divine Feminine theme and demonstrates the power, beauty, and grace that embodies female energy and Mother Nature.
Described as “chamber music at its finest” by Kenneth Tse and “unique and virtuosic” by Barbara Siesel, BETA Quartet is an award-winning ensemble comprised of flutists Eftihia Arkoudis, Tatiana Cassetta, Alyssa Schwartz, and Meg Brennan.
Tickets are available via eventbrite.com. Tickets are $20 general admission and $10 for students. Some seating may be on blankets on the floor.
If not sold out, tickets will also be available at the door for cash only.
The concert will take place in the award-winning White Room at CRS. Please note that the venue is accessible only via a flight of stairs and is not wheelchair accessible. Proof of vaccination is not required but the wearing of masks is encouraged.
The White Room at CRS is located between 12th & 13th streets, above Think Coffee, in Manhattan. The nearest subway station is 14th St / Union Square (4/5/6, N/R/Q/W, L).
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Marcus Elliot is a saxophonist, composer, improviser, and educator based in Detroit, Michigan. Marcus is a 2020 Kresge Artist Fellow, awarded by Kresge Arts in Detroit. He is the current director of the University of Michigan’s Creative Arts Orchestra. His compositions and improvisations have been described by the New York Times as “convincing and confident, evolved in touch and tone…”, and the Detroit Free Press has said, “Marcus Elliot represents next generation of jazz”. Elliot leads and co-leads many different Detroit based bands including the Marcus EllioTickt Quartet, Clockwork, Balance, Beyond Rebellious, and Lanula. Elliot performs in the Shigeto Live Ensemble. He is a Fellow of the Geri Allen Gathering Orchestra. He co-founded the nonprofit Polyfold Musical Arts Collective. Elliot is the director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Jazz Ensembles. Elliot received his master’s degree in improvisation from the University of Michigan.
https://www.marcuselliotmusic.com
BETA Quartet is dedicated to exploring and promoting the cutting edge of modern flute music by premiering and performing works by living composers from around the world. The ensemble is actively engaged through concerts, masterclasses, and educational outreach across the country and abroad.
As strong competitors, BETA has won First Prize at France Music Competition 2° (2020) and West Virginia Music Teachers National Association Chamber Music Competition (2016), First Prize at the Flute Society of Kentucky Quartet Competition (2017), and advanced to the semi-finals of the prestigious Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (2017). The group has performed and presented workshops at the National Flute Association Convention, Florida Flute Association Convention, the Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia, and the WVU International Flute Symposium.
BETA’s activities have been partially funded by grants from The Friends of Flutes Foundation and West Virginia University, and their recognition within the flute community resulted in sponsorship by Flute Specialists, Inc. (Clawson, MI). As of 2019, BETA Quartet is also a Trevor James Low Flutes Ensemble.
Following the release of their self-titled debut album (2017), BETA commissioned Detroit based composer Marcus Elliott to write a work celebrating the feminine divine (2019) and recorded the world premiere of Nuraghi Warriors Dance (Ples Bojevnikov Nuraghi) composed by Anže Rozman and dedicated to the group (2020). Both albums are released with Merandi Records and are available through Spotify, iTunes, YouTube and www.betaquartet.com.
CRS (CENTER FOR REMEMBERING & SHARING) is a spiritual healing and art center founded in 2004 by the writer/lecturer/spiritual counselor Yasuko Kasaki and artist Christopher Pelham. Our mission is guided by A Course in Miracles (ACIM). ACIM says that recognizing that you and your brother are actually one is the only way to experience peace. The mission of CRS is to promote the awareness that limitless creativity lives within each of us. We train minds to recognize the light in themselves and others and provide them opportunities to share their inner vision through the healing and creative arts. Since its founding CRS has provided numerous residencies and performance and exhibition opportunities to artists from all over the world. Currently, CRS is a multi-year sponsor of M³ (Mutual Mentorship for Musicians), a platform created to empower, elevate, normalize and give visibility to women, non-binary musicians and those of other historically underrepresented gender identities in intersection with race, sexuality, or ability across generations in the US and worldwide, through a radical model of mentorship and musical collaborative commissions.