Clarion Quartet explores music suppressed by the Nazis

The Clarion Quartet is a group with a mission and performs at the highest level, but gives few performances because its members have another job — members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Two upcoming concerts are therefore special events.

The musicians formed the quartet to play a single concert exploring music suppressed by the Nazis. They were so inspired by the quality of what they discovered they decided to continue performing together to give this repertoire the exposure it deserves alongside already established repertoire.

Both upcoming concerts will feature music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a Polish Jewish musician who lost most of his family in the Holocaust. Weinberg escaped to Russia where he became a close friend and colleague of Dmitri Shostakovich.

The first of the Clarion Quartet concert will present Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2, with guest violist David Harding, and Weinberg’s Piano Quintet with pianist Dimitri Papadimitriou as part of the Chamber Music Series at Carnegie Mellon.

The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. April 29 in Kresge Theatre, College of Fine Arts, CMU. Admission is free. Call 412-268-2383 to reserve a ticket.

The second Clarion concert will be part of the Music at Rodef Shalom concert series. The program is Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quartet No. 16, Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 7 and Weinberg’s Quartet No. 2.

This concert starts at 8 p.m. at Rodef Shalom Congregation on the edge of Pittsburgh’s Oakland and Shadyside neighborhoods. Admission is free. No reservation required.

Details: 412-621-6566.