Dalí Quartet to perform first half of Slee Beethoven cycle

The Dalí Quartet, a Latin American-inspired but classically trained string quartet, will perform the first half of this season’s Slee Beethoven String Quartet Cycle at UB.

The three concerts will take place at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14-16 in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall, North Campus.

The Verona Quartet will perform the cycle's remaining three concerts in the spring.

UB may be the only place in the country — or the world, according to Department of Music staff — that presents all 16 Beethoven string quartets annually.

The annual presentation of the cycle was established at UB during the 1950s by the estate of Frederick and Alice Slee.

UB’s presentation is also unique in that ensembles appearing in the series cannot dictate the order in which they present the individual quartets: The Slees’ bequest stipulates the order in which the quartets are to be performed.

The schedule:

Concert 1, Nov. 14:

• Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127
• Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1
• Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3

Concert 2, Nov. 15:

• Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 74 (“The Harp”)
• Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2
• Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131

Concert 3, Nov. 16:

• Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3
• “Grosse Fuge,” Op. 133
• Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1

The quartet also will conduct a masterclass at 11 a.m. on Nov. 16; the class is free and open to the public.

Tickets are $20 per concert. Advance tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, at the Center for the Arts box office from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and at the Slee Hall box office an hour before the concert. UB students are entitled to one complimentary ticket — to this and all UB music department concerts — and may pick up their ticket right before the concert.

Inspired by its namesake, the great Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, the quartet is renowned for its technical skill and musical excellence with a Latin soul alongside classical roots.

Trained by world-renowned artists, quartet members Ari Isaacman-Beck, first violin; Carlos Rubio, second violin, Adriana Linares, viola; and Jesús Morales, cello, hail from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the U.S., and have degrees from esteemed institutions including the New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Juilliard, Indiana University Bloomington and the Simón Bolivar Conservatory in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Dalí Quartet has many accolades to their name, including Chamber Music America’s 2024 Ensemble of the Year, as well as recipients of the 2023 ACMP Foundation’s Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award for Excellence and Diversity in Chamber Music, the 2021 Chamber Music America’s Guarneri String Quartet Residency, the 2021 Silver Medal at the inaugural Piazzolla Music Competition, and the 2019 Aspire Award from The Atlanta Symphony for accomplished African American and Latino Musicians.

Based in Philadelphia, the Dalí serves as Quartet-in-Residence at West Chester University’s Wells School of Music, where they perform concerts, and hold masterclasses and workshops.