Both a charged reaction to recent political events and a celebration of the perserverance of hope and spirit, New World features 9 new compositions and arrangements from members of the quartet.

On August 23, 2019, Sirius Quartet releases New World on ZOHO Records. Called an ensemble that “works comfortably at the intersection of post-minimalist classical composition and post-bop jazz” by the Detroit Free Press, the quartet’s visceral compositions and arrangements provide ample space for improvisation. The politically-charged and topical album explores themes of immigration, discrimination, and being an agent of change.

The title track “New World, Nov. 9, 2016” was the Grand Prize winner for the New York Philharmonic’s “New World Initiative” composition competition in 2017. Composer/violinist Gregor Huebner balances idyllic and hopeful themes of Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (“New World” Symphony) with the fiercer passages found in the Shostakovich String Quartet No.8 that allude to tensions between the composer and the Soviet Union. “With two immigrant violinists, we in the quartet feel that it’s important to create music that speaks to the moment in which we live and gives hope,” says composer Huebner.

Huebner’s “#STILL” is based on the devastating song “Strange Fruit,” first recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. Eighty years later and institutionalized racism remains endemic.  Composer/violinist Fung Chern Hwei describes the opening work, “Beside the Point” as his “declaration of struggle against discrimination.” Cellist/composer Jeremy Harman’s “Currents” maintains an often vague sense of menace throughout, prodding the listener out of any complacency. The Beatles’ iconic “Eleanor Rigby” and Radiohead’s “Knives Out,” both arranged by Huebner, showcase the group’s fierce improvisational acumen.  Recorded in Germany over two years, New World is the quartet’s first full-length since 2016’s Paths Become Lines. The album is both an impassioned lament for the state of a nation and beyond, and a beautiful and hopeful call to action.

Here is the next exciting project, “Para Un Mejor Mundo,” a collaboration with harpist Evelyn Huber and Sirius Quartet. It will be released on August 30, 2019 by the GLM label in Germany. PREORDER >>

Follow me on Instagram for El Violin Latino concert dates and more.