The Reynolda Quartet to perform "Concert of Gratitude" livestreamed from UNCSA in partnership with Reynolda House

The Reynolda Quartet, composed of faculty from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), will return for “Concert of Gratitude,” the second concert in collaboration with Reynolda House, featuring works that reflect on the strength of the human spirit. The concert will be livestreamed from Watson Hall at UNCSA on Sunday, March 14, at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $10 per household, and free for UNCSA and Wake Forest University faculty, staff and students with valid ID and advance registration; available online or by calling the box office at 336-721-1945.

Renowned faculty members from the UNCSA School of Music will perform Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132, and Smetana’s Quartet No. 1, "From My Life.” With its beloved "Heiliger Dankgesang" (“Holy Song of Thanksgiving”), the Beethoven quartet, written toward the end of the composer’s life, is a musical offering of thanks after recovering from a grave illness. Smetana composed his Quartet No. 1 as a reflection on his own life just after he lost his hearing. Each work provides an opportunity for audiences to contemplate the renewal of strength and gratitude for the gift of life, themes that are of particular resonance as our community navigates the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Reynolda Quartet features violinists Ida Bieler and Janet Orenstein, violist Ulrich Eichenauer, and cellist Brooks Whitehouse, all of whom serve as faculty at UNCSA. The quartet was formed in 2019 as a creative collaboration between two of Winston-Salem’s most beloved cultural institutions.

The partnership continues a long history of collaborations between Reynolda and UNCSA, dating back to the formation of both institutions in the mid-1960s. Since the addition of the Babcock Wing in 2005, Reynolda has featured UNCSA faculty as performers, guest lecturers and instructors. Alumni have performed programs of classical repertoire and works composed by faculty of the School of Music. Since 2006, Reynolda and the School of Filmmaking have presented an annual outdoor film series, and students and faculty in the School of Design and Production have created lighting displays and scenery for events on the historic grounds. Now, the partnership continues as adapted for limitations from COVID-19, presenting its first ever livestreamed event.

More about the artists

An alumna of the UNCSA School of Music, Ida Bieler joined the faculty in in 2013 and was named artistic director of the school’s Chrysalis Chamber Music Institute when it was formed in 2015. She has won prestigious music competitions on three continents, has been a regular performer in major music capitals throughout the world, has recorded for radio and television on five continents, and has appeared with leading international orchestras. She is on the faculty of both the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany, and Kunstuniversität Graz, Austria. Bieler is the creator and director of the Vivaldi Project, a teacher training program in Dusseldorf and at UNCSA, aimed at educating underprivileged youth.

Ulrich Eichenauer joined the faculty in 2018. A former member of the award-winning Mendelssohn String Quartet and principal violist of the Dresden Philharmonic, he taught previously at Harvard, the Arts University of Bern and the Menuhin Academy in Switzerland, and has given master classes in the United States, Germany, Turkey, China, Taiwan and Japan. He was also a member of the faculty at the Guildhall School in London.

Husband and wife string musicians Brooks Whitehouse and Janet Orenstein are founding members of The Guild Trio, winner of both the United States Information Agency Artistic Ambassador and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs competitions. The ensemble has performed throughout the United States and Canada, as well as Europe and Australia. The trio has been a frequent feature on National Public Radio's "Performance Today," and has also appeared on the University of Missouri's public television series "Premiere Performances," and "Front Row Center" on KETC-TV9 in St. Louis.

Orenstein has performed in the U.S. and abroad as a chamber musician, soloist and advocate of contemporary music. As a chamber musician, she has appeared in New York's Alice Tully and Merkin concert halls, as well as at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Orenstein has performed at the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival in Nelson, New Hampshire; the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont; and the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove in Cornwall, England. She joined the UNCSA faculty in 2012, and has taught violin and chamber music at the University of Virginia, UNC-Greensboro and Wake Forest University.

Whitehouse has performed and taught throughout the United States and abroad, holding artist-in-residence positions at SUNY Stony Brook; the Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York; the University of Virginia; and Tanglewood Music Center. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Boston Pops, the New England Chamber Orchestra, and other orchestras. His recitals throughout the northeastern United States have been broadcast on WQXR's "McGraw-Hill Young Artist Showcase," WNYC's "Around New York," and the Australian and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation networks. Whitehouse is also cellist of the European-based Atma Trio and of the Low and Lower duo with bassist Paul Sharpe. He has recorded for the Centaur, CRI and Innova labels. Before joining the faculty of UNCSA, Whitehouse taught at the University of Florida and UNCG.

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