Friction 4tet will Continue Season Next Week

Photograph of Friction Quartet preparing for the program to be performed later this month

Violinist Kevin Rogers will curate the next Friction Quartet performance, given the title Toy Story. They have prepared a program that will reimagine classical music through play, curiosity, and sound itself. The program will conclude with a “traditional” string quartet (scare quotes because performances are seldom encountered). This will be Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Opus 22, the second of his three “numbered” string quartets, this one composed in the key of F major. The other composer with “numbered” string quartets will be Mauricio Kagel. He also composed three “string quartet” compositions, and Friction will play the first of them.

Each of these quartets will be preceded by music by a contemporary composer. The Kagel quartet will be preceded by “Another Living Soul,” composed by Nicole Lizée. She apparently provided the subtitle: “stop motion in string quartet form.” The advance material I received describes this piece as “a sandbox of textures and zany invention. The second half of the program will begin with Paul Novak’s “Impossible Inventions,” described as “a virtuosic, wildly imaginative journey through every color a string quartet can conjure.”

This will be a Sunday afternoon performance, beginning at 4 p.m. on November 22. This event will take place at the Noe Valley MinIstry, which is located (in Noe Valley, of course) at 1021 Sanchez Street. However, it is not part of the Noe Music series. Instead, tickets may be purchased online through a Zeffy Web page. General admission will be on a pay-what-you-can basis with a suggested donation of $40. The Web page also allows for donations to support Friction Performing Arts, and a tax-deductible receipt will be provided.