Atom String Quartet Returning to San Francisco

Atom String Quartet players Dawid Lubowicz, Mateusz Smoczyński, Michał Zaborski, and Krzysztof Lenczowski (from their Eventbrite event page)

The Atom String Quartet is a Polish group that seems to be equally at home with the string quartet repertoire and in the domain of jazz. This past August they released an album of the music of Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki; but an Amazon.com search reveals a rich collection of jazz albums, as well as contribution to a tribute album for Nat King Cole (for those who read yesterday’s article) produced by Polish guitarists Maciej Miecznikowski and Krzysia Górniak. The quartet’s performers are violinists Dawid Lubowicz and Mateusz Smoczyński, violist Michał Zaborski, and cellist Krzysztof Lenczowski, who came together to form the group in Warsaw in 2010. They made their first American tour early this past year, following a performance at the Seventh Liverpool International Jazz Festival at the end of February, which included a visit to San Francisco. Their approaches to improvisation draw upon Polish folk music, indigenous music from other regions of the world, classical music, and the most recent contemporary styles.

Next month the group will return to San Francisco. They will give a performance beginning at 8 p.m. on Friday, January 10. The venue will be the Diane and Tad Taube Atrium Theater, located on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. General admission tickets are being sold for $35. There will also be a VIP rate of $55, which provides reserved center orchestra seating and a reception with the musicians. All tickets may be purchased in advance online from an Eventbrite event page. The concert is being supported by Tad Taube Philanthropies, and The Rotary Club will be funding visits to high schools in South San Francisco for the presentation of lecture-demonstration programs.