Pacifica Quartet shines in festival debut

Jul 21, 11:44 PM

On Tuesday night, the Pacifica Quartet filled St. Mark’s Episcopal Church with the mellifluous sound of Mendelssohn’s Opuses 12 and 13, injecting these early Romantic works with passion and pathos. The festival’s presentation of the complete Mendelssohn string quartet cycle continues on Friday, July 31, with the dazzling Opus 44 quartets.

Earlier on Tuesday, American Public Media Senior Producer Brian Newhouse led the season’s first Cafė Conversation, “Audience Engagement in the Age of Digital Media.” Special guests Mary Falvey (Finance Chair, San Francisco Classical Voice) and Jonathan Gruber (Founding Director, Ulysses Arts, Ltd.), along with festival artists, Chamber Music Institute students, and members of the community, provided a fascinating array of perspectives on contemporary classical music culture, making for a lively kickoff to the summer’s Cafė Conversations. The series continues on Wednesday with A Conversation with the Pacifica Quartet (12:00 p.m., Martin Family Hall).