Kontras Quartet
& Lewis Achenbach
Wednesday
January 11, 2023
5:30 pm
Dixon, IL
Friday
January 13, 2023
7:00 pm
Lake Forest, IL
Sunday
January 15, 2023
2:30 pm
Chicago, IL
Kontras Quartet
New to Rendezvous Arts, the Kontras Quartet has been described as "a tightly crafted and beautiful instrument" (CVNC Arts Journal) and has been commended by Gramophone Magazine for their "scrupulous shading and control" and "enjoyable musical personality" (Fanfare Magazine). Kontras means "contrasts" in the Afrikaans language—fitting for a string ensemble whose colorful repertoire spans centuries, genres, and continents. The Quartet's recent engagements include tours of South Africa and Switzerland; broadcasts on Performance Today and a three-month residency with Chicago's WFMT 98.7 FM; appearances on NBC and PBS; and sold-out performances in San Diego, Chicago, Washington D.C., Telluride, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, and Arizona. The Kontras Quartet records for MSR Classics and DoubleTime Music and has released three critically acclaimed albums, including the premiere recording of Dan Visconti's Ramshackle Songs. Watch this video for a sneak peek of the treat that this performance will be!
Lewis Achenbach
Painter
Visual artist/painter Lewis Achenbach is also new to Rendezvous and we couldn’t be more excited to watch him paint as the Kontras Quartet performs.
“Color, movement, expressivity, and freedom of gesture are attributes shared by painting and jazz as both art forms evolved since the early 20th Century. Modernists creating visual art—famously including Jackson Pollock, Stuart Davis, and Piet Mondrian—were inspired by live performances and recordings of improvisational music. Lewis Achenbach is of that lineage but goes beyond their responses and references by making paintings in the very time and place that the inspirited sound spills forth. Daring to take risks as spontaneously as the musicians he admires, Achenbach is both observer and participant in their play, painting in public view while they perform. He simultaneously documents, abstracts, idealizes, and subjectifies what he sees, hears, and feels, resulting in works as joyously polyphonic as this music with its long Chicago legacy and rich contemporary presence. Line and mass are like melody and harmony in these pictures, reverberant with the passion and commitment that imbue jazz and painting alike.”
– Howard Mandel, 2017
