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The Composers Project also continues the tradition of South Shore Music, the notable summer music series with a 75-year history. Since last year, South Shore and the Westport Arts Center have joined forces to present year-round chamber music with an array of world-class artists, ensembles and composers of all eras. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. with a pre-concert talk followed by the concert at 8 p.m., at Westport Town Hall, 110 Myrtle Avenue, Westport. Tickets are $35; student tickets (under 18) with valid ID are $5. The 2008 Composers Project artists-in-residence are the four members of Antares, who have curated this series and, in addition to playing two of the seven concerts, will be on hand to conduct pre-concert talks with each of the featured composers. The concert will feature the work of composer Karim Al-Zand with a piece written especially for Enso Quartet called "The Art of Conversation" (2007). Also on the program will be "String Quartet, Op. 20 No. 2" by Haydn and "String Quartet" by Ravel. The Enso String Quartet includes Maureen Nelson (violin), John Marcus (violin), Melissa Reardon (viola) and Richard Belcher (cello). In addition to audience appreciation and the critical acclaim, the Enso String Quartet has earned its place in the ensemble world with multiple honors at the 2004 Banff International String Quartet Competition, including the Piece de Concert Prize for the Quartet's riveting performance of a new work, and claimed victories at the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. The ensemble'ss 2005 debut on Naxos Records, a two-CD set of Ignaz Pleye's six string quartets, Op. 2, has garnered rave reviews. The ensemble was appointed Quartet-in-Residence at the summer 2006 Boston University Tanglewood Institute and is resident with the Houston-based new music organization Musiqa. The Enso String Quartet members hold degrees from The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, New England Conservatory, Guildhall School of Music (UK) and the University of Canterbury (New Zealand). The ensemble formed in 1999 while students at Yale University and completed graduate residencies at Northern Illinois University with the Vermeer Quartet and at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. The quartet'ss performances have been broadcast on PBS, Chicago's WFMT, Wisconsin Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio, Houston's KUHF, Australia's ABC Classic FM, Radio New Zealand and Canada's CBC radio. The ensemble's name, enso, is derived from the Japanese zen painting of the circle which represents many things: perfection and imperfection, the moment of chaos that is creation, the emptiness of the void, the endless circle of life and the fullness of the spirit. Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand's (b. 1970) compositions are wide-ranging, from settings of classical Arabic poetry to scores for dance and pieces for young audiences. Al-Zand is the recipient of several national awards, including the Sackler Composition Prize, the ArtSong Prize and the Louisville Orchestra Competition Prize. He is currently on the faculty of the Shepherd School of Music (Rice University) in Houston and is a founding member and vice-president of Musiqa, Houston's premiere contemporary music group. Al-Zand received his bachelor of music degree from McGill University, with majors in both music theory and composition. While in Boston, Al-Zand worked periodically as a jazz musician, both as a pianist and directing for two years the Dudley House Big Band, a 17-piece jazz ensemble he formed at Harvard University in 1994. One of his several compositions for the ensemble, "It's About Time," was awarded in the 1996¨C1997 Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators (MAJE) Composition Contest. "The Art of Conversation" by Al-Zand was commissioned by the Laguna Beach Music Festival for the Enso String Quartet. The piece is meant to serve as a work both for their regular concerts and for their many "outreach" programs, designed to introduce audiences to aspects of chamber music-making. From its earliest origins, the string quartet has been regarded as the perfect medium for dynamic and refined musical interaction, often likened to a lively conversation among companions. Using this analogy, a full presentation of "The Art of Conversation" features short spoken dialogues, performed by the quartet, which alternate with the seven movements of the piece. Each conversation parallels the type of musical discourse featured in the subsequent movement. The spoken material is omitted in a concert version of the piece, but listeners will quickly identify the sort of group dynamic being played out in each movement: the first has the instruments cooperating, the second is a monologue for the first violin, the third features two distinct duos, and so on. In terms of musical material, the piece is cast as a loose set of variations. Upcoming presentations in the Composers Project and the South Shore Summer Music Series will be the Biava Quartet with Kevin Puts on Saturday, July 19, and Antares with Joel Puckett on Friday, August 15. The Westport Arts Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating arts experiences that contribute to individual growth and enrich the community. The Westport Arts Center is supported with funds from The Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc., Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Light & Power, Fairfield County Bank, Gault, Inc., Main Street Resources, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, and Westport Resources. For information and tickets, contact Westport Arts Center at 203-222-7070, purchase online at www.westportartscenter.org, or visit the gallery, M-F, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sat. and Sun. from 12 noon to 4 p.m., at 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport. © Copyright by StamfordPlus.com. 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