As the world-renowned Takács Quartet enters its 49th season, the ensemble is excited to bring a new work written for the quartet by Phoenix composer Nokuthula Ngwenyama, a co-commission from nine major U.S. concert series. Quartet members Edward Dusinberre (violin), Harumi Rhodes (violin), Richard O’Neill (viola), and András Fejér (cello) will perform Ngwenyama’s The Natural World, bookended by Haydn’s String Quartet in B Flat, op. 76 no. 4, “Sunrise” and Beethoven’s String Quartet no. 8 in E Minor, op. 59, no. 2, a glorious slow movement composed while Beethoven contemplated the starry night sky. 

Co-commissioners of the Ngwenyama work include lead commissioner Cal Performances (University of California, Berkeley), Shriver Hall Concert Series (Baltimore), 92nd Street Y (New York City), University of Michigan, Friends of Chamber Music (Portland, Oregon), The Broad Stage (Santa Monica, California), Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Celebrity Series of Boston, Capital Region Classical (Albany, New York).