World Premiere

Portfolio Project at the Nelson Music Room

Premier performances of works by Duke and UNC-G graduate composers.

For the sixth year, the Ciompi has commissioned current Duke graduate composers to write short string quartet movements. This year we will also include works by three graduate composers at the University of North Carolina Greensboro premier performance in this concert which provides a chance to meet the next generation of composers and experience music on the cutting edge. Reception to follow.

Graduate Student Composers Whose Work Is Featured
Erich Barganier – Duke
Ally Harvel – UNC Greensboro
Ronja Mokráňová – Duke
Clem Pearson – UNC Greensboro
Jacob Smith – UNC Greensboro

The Portfolio Project
The Ciompi Quartet Portfolio Project began in the summer of 2020 as a way for the Quartet to engage with composers in Duke Music’s graduate program during the COVID-19 pandemic, when live performances were curtailed and composers and performers needed creative outlets for their music. The success of the initial project inspired the Ciompi Quartet to continue the Project and it now enters its fifth year.

Learn More About The Portfolio Project

Portfolio Project at the Nelson Music Room

Ciompi has commissioned current Duke graduate composers to write short string quartet movements. This premiere performance provides a chance to meet the next generation of composers and experience music on the cutting edge. There is a reception to follow the concert for supporters to have the opportunity to meet these young composers and discuss their work.

Graduate Student Composers Whose Work Is Featured
Mozhgan Chahian Boroojeni
Tyler Jordan
Monthati Masebe
Sidney Boquiren: Premiere of A New Work (Duke Alumnus)

An American in Shanghai: Forgotten Stories

Featuring Min Xiao-fen, pipa and voice

When cultures mix, music is usually where they find common ground. 1930’s Shanghai put American jazz trumpeter Buck Clayton in contact with Chinese songwriter Li Jin-Hui, resulting in music that blended American jazz with Chinese popular song. The Ciompi Quartet and pipa virtuoso Xiao-Fen Min have commissioned two new works for pipa and string quartet by composers Alan Chan and Andrew Waggoner that explore the sonic possibilities of these disparate musical worlds. Chan’s work re-imagines 30s era songs through a jazz lens, while Waggoner creates a dramatic dialogue between the Min’s virtuoso Pipa and the string quartet. The program includes a quartet by Jewish refugee Wolfgang Fraenkel, who escaped to Shanghai in 1939 and became an influential teacher and musical figure in the life of the city.

Andrew Waggoner: Forgotten Stories for String Quartet and Pipa (2024) WORLD PREMIERE – Ciompi Commission
Alan Chan: “Catch Me at the Canidrome” for String Quartet and Pipa (2024) WORLD PREMIERE – Ciompi Commission
Wolfgang Fraenkel: Music for String Quartet (1949)

This concert is FREE

Watch The Live Stream Here