The Chiara String Quartet plays by heart, performing amazing feats of musical memorization by playing without sheet music. Equally renowned for bringing fresh excitement to traditional string qyuartet repertoire and creating insightful interpretations of new music, the Chiara has been lauded for its "highly virtuosic, edge-of-the-seat playing" (The Boston Globe). The Grammy Award-nominated ensemble is committed to the creation of new music and has commissioned and premiered new works by contemporary composers since its inception, including the works on this program by Friedman and Frank. The Shanghai Quartet joins the Chiara for William Bolcom's homage to Mendelssohn's Octet.