Experience an enchanting evening of live chamber music for strings in the magical surroundings of Stonewall Farm in Keene. Brothers Mark, Erik and Ken Schumann have been playing together since their earliest childhood – violist, Veit Hertenstein completes the quartet. The four musicians enjoy the way they communicate without words. The Schumann Quartet has reached a stage where anything is possible, because it has dispensed with certainties.

This also has consequences for audiences, which from one concert to the next have to be prepared for all eventualities: “A work really develops only in a live performance,” the quartet says. “That is ‘the real thing’, because we ourselves never know what will happen. On the stage, all imitation disappears, and you automatically become honest with yourself. Then you can create a bond with the audience – communicate with it in music.” Program • Mozart String Quartet No.20 in D major, K.499, “Hoffmeister” • Prokofiev String Quartet No.1 in B minor, Op.50 • Smetana String Quartet No.1, JB 1:105, “From My Life” The Schumann Quartet: Erik Schumann, Ken Schumann – Violins, Veit Hertenstein – Viola, Mark Schumann – Violoncello February Listening Club https: https://ashuelotconcerts.org/2025-february-listening-club/