From BGSU OFFICE OF MARKETING & BRAND STRATEGY
As part of the 2023-24 Bowling Green State University Music at the Forefront concert series, Quince vocal quartet will hold a free, public performance at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14, in Bryan Recital Hall at the College of Musical Arts.
In addition to performing, the group will work with BGSU student composers throughout the year, where four student compositions will be selected for recording when the ensemble returns to campus in April.
Featuring three BGSU alumnae, Quince is a treble quartet dedicated to changing the paradigm for contemporary vocal chamber music.
The ensemble includes three BGSU graduates Liz Pearse (soprano), Kayleigh Butcher (mezzo soprano), and Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (soprano), all of whom studied with Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers as graduate students. They are joined by Carrie Henneman Shaw (soprano). In 2017, before their first return to campus, Butcher told BG Independent News that though BGSU is known as a Midwest hub music activity “we noticed there wasn’t a lot of avenues without starting it ourselves. Amanda and I wanted it to be an all-women’s group because there’s not a lot of that in the contemporary music world.”
[RELATED: Quince’s advocacy for a place in new music for female voices bears fruit]
Described as the “Anonymous 4 of new music” by Opera News in reference to the pioneering female vocal quartet, Quince pushes the boundaries of vocal ensemble literature. By performing almost exclusively the music of living composers, the group seeks to create a landscape of contemporary vocal music that is embodied, complex and expressive, with musical boldness and virtuosity that is often reserved for instrumental groups. Quince has released four studio albums with their fifth album set for release in March 2024.
In 2019, the group launched the Quince New Music Commissioning Fund, a fund designed to grow the repertoire of women and treble voices. Through educational activities, Quince works to bring contemporary music to a larger community of singers and listeners, offering new and empowering pathways to vocal excellence.
The BGSU Music at the Forefront concert series is sponsored by the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music (MACCM) and the Klingler ElectroAcoustic Residency.
For more information, visit BGSU.edu/MACCM.
