Our Ensembles
The
Op. 20 String Quartet is
Seattle’s newest early-music ensemble, making its debut this season on
Gallery Concerts.
Founded on the occasion of the 200th
anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn, the inventor of the genre of
string quartet, this
ensemble is named after Haydn’s first opus of true string quartets.
The
Op. 20 String Quartet performs works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven
using period bows and gut-strung string instruments.
Trio Paradies, which made its debut on Gallery Concerts last
season, takes its name from the late 18th-century composer
and pianist Maria Teresa von Paradies, a friend of Mozart in Vienna and
the subject of Dr. Messmer’s experiments to cure her blindness.
The ensemble specializes in the piano trios and string/piano duos
of the Viennese Classical and early Romantic periods, performed on
historical fortepianos and with period strings.
