Prometheus Quartet

Roger Shao, violin
Anthony Chan, violin
Brian Jennings, viola
Wilson Vanderslice, cello

Born from the meeting of Roger Shao, Anthony Chan, Brian Jennings, and Wilson Vanderslice in 2023 at the Juilliard School, the Prometheus Quartet draws inspiration from the mythical figure of Prometheus, a symbol of generosity and boldness. The quartet has studied with leading figures of chamber music and already performs across Europe and the United States.

This year, it joins the Integra, Ast, and Métamorphoses quartets in residence in Bordeaux for Vibre! and will perform in the chapter hall of the Cour Mably another piece from Joseph Haydn’s Op. 33 “Russian Quartets”: No. 2, subtitled “The Joke.” Like “The Bird” or “How Do You Do?”, the Austrian composer delights here in unsettling the listener, interrupting or shifting motifs and surprising with unexpected silences.

After this demonstration of the humor of the father of the classical string quartet, the Prometheus Quartet will perform the “American” Quartet by Antonín Dvořák, composed in 1893 while the musician was serving as musical director in New York. Weary of the big city, he settled in the small Czech community of Spillville, where he wrote a quartet reflecting his discoveries of the traditional music of Native American and African American communities. As often in Dvořák’s work, the viola takes center stage, giving voice to the thoughts of a composer nostalgic for his homeland.