FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Portland String Quartet to perform at Bates Oct. 2

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Portland String Quartet will perform at Bates College Friday, Oct. 2, at 8 p.m. in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. The program features Franz Joseph Haydn's "String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 76, No. 2," Charles Ives' "String Quartet No. 1 'The Revival Meeting'" and Johannes Brahms' "String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51, No. 2." Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors. To purchase tickets and for more information, call 207-786-6135.

Described by The New York Times as a "model of experienced ensemble playing," the Portland String Quartet is composed of violinists Steven Kecskemethy and Ron Lantz, violist Julia Adams and cellist Paul Ross. The ensemble's recording of George Chadwick's "Piano Quintet" with Virginia Eskin was named 1989 Classical Recording of the Year by The New York Times, and their recording of "Bloch: The Five String Quartets" was named outstanding chamber music release of 1983-84 by The Washington Post and The Boston Globe.

The Portland String Quartet members have been performing, teaching and recording since 1969. Artists in residence at Colby College since 1986, their chamber music workshops gained international acclaim when the United Nations educational division sponsored their string quartet workshops in Caracas, Venezuela, in the 1970s. Their 14 recordings on the Arabesque and Northeastern labels include string quartets by Antonin Dvorak, Franz Schubert and Richard Strauss.