Formosa Quartet
Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 at 3:00 PM
at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave, Berkeley
Jasmine Lin, Violin
David Bernat, Violin
Matthew Cohen, Viola
Deborah Pae, Cello
This Quartet’s cultural identity includes Taiwanese, broader American, pan-Asian and Eastern European roots. The name “Formosa” is taken from the Portuguese for “beautiful.”
Program
Beethoven: String Quartet in F major, Op. 18, No. 1
Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810 “Death and the Maiden”
A Formosa Quartet Set
The Formosa Quartet Set is an assortment of shorts from the quartet’s collection of folk, pop, jazz, and poetry arrangements. Curated especially for each concert, the Set is like a flight of desserts after a main course, offering a chance for audiences to “let their hair down,” tap their toes, and enjoy the string quartet medium in somewhat less-conventional contexts. Poetry inspired by a French grammar book? A #1 pop song from Mexico, Turkey, Nigeria, Ukraine, or Taiwan, translated into quartet-speak? That 40’s tune your grandparents danced to? A musical salute to jazz bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen? Join the Formosa Quartet for this ride through nostalgia, groove, and whimsy!
This concert is sponsored by
David Wong