Balourdet Quartet Kicks of Chamber Music Society’s Season

The Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth will present the Balourdet Quartet in the first concert of the 2024-2024 season on Saturday, September 14, at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Watching the Balourdet Quartet is as delightful as savoring their rich, transcendent tones. They put their whole bodies into their performances. With the glances, nods and grins as they play, they invite the audience to gambol along with them. It’s obvious these folks like having a good time.

Angela Bae, violin; Justin DeFilippis, violi,n; Benjamin Zannoni, viola; and Russell Houston, cello, have a history of good times. Even their name is taken from the French chef in New Mexico who prepared their sumptuous meals at the Taos School of Music. Antoine Balourdet, according to their website, was “a renaissance man with an exceptional love of life and music.”

Balourdet Quartet | Photo courtesy of Nielsen Competition

In the summer of 2018, at Rice University, DeFilippis, Bae and Houston met Zannoni, and the Balourdet Quartet was set like a well-risen souffle — dense with talent, melting audiences with their light and airy precision.

They’ve been winning awards since 2019. Most recently, in 2024, they won the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. They’ve captured international awards in Canada and Italy and made debuts at Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall during a season of 70 performances.

When not touring, they are the Graduate Quartet in Residence at the distinguished Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Balourdet Quartet | Photo by Kevin W. Condon

CMSFW “Journey Through Textural Colors” presents Balourdet Quartet, “Quartet Building Blocks”

Saturday, September 14
Concert 2-4 p.m.
Pre-Concert Conversation 1:15 p.m. with Artistic Director Gary Levinson

Program:

• Haydn Quartet Op. 64 No. 5 “The Lark”
• Bartók Quartet No. 5 Sz. 102
• Smetana Quartet No. 1 “From My Life”

All CMSFW season performances are held at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth at 3200 Darnell St.

The museum is handicap accessible and parking is free. The cafe is open 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for lunch before performances.

Purchase tickets for Balourdet Quartet at www.cmsfw.org, by phone at 817-877-3003 or at the door. Prices are $40 for general admission, $35 for seniors and $5 for students.