
WILLIAMSBURG— The William & Mary Office of the Arts announced its inaugural William & Mary Presents! season will continue with contemporary chamber music from Benjamin Verdery and the Ulysses String Quartet Jan. 31 in the Music Arts Center Concert Hall.
According to the university, Benjamin Verdery and the Ulysses String Quartet combine to explore the rich talent of American composers. The program will include compositions by two of the performers, Benjamin Verdery and Christina Bouey, as well as compositions from contemporary music history, including Leonard Bernstein and Jimi Hendrix. The musical collection of the program will celebrate the diversity of styles and voices that make up American musical heritage, it added.
Guitarist and composer Benjamin Verdery has performed at venues and festivals and has been called an “iconoclastic player” by The New York Times. With a repertoire spanning solo Bach to Jimi Hendrix, he has released more than 30 curated videos and 18 recordings of original and arranged material, the university notes.
Verdery has also composed extensively for classical and non-classical guitar, with performances by the Assad Duo, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and guitarists David Russell, Scott Tennant and John Williams.
Founded in 2015, the Ulysses String Quartet includes Christina Bouey, first violin; Rhiannon Benerdt, second violin; Peter Dudek, viola; and Grace Mei-En Ho, cello. According to William & Mary, the group’s name, “Ulysses,” reflects Homer’s hero Odysseus and his arduous voyage home, and underscores the quartet’s constant pursuit of artistic and personal ideals.
According to the announcement, the Ulysses String Quartet believes in “the power of music to inspire, enlighten, and bring people together and aims to highlight BIPOC and female composers,” and the group’s interactive programs “help demystify traditional classical music and introduce listeners to the inner workings of a string quartet.”
Benjamin Verdery and the Ulysses String Quartet perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31 in the Music Arts Center Concert Hall. Benjamin Verdery will conduct a masterclass at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30. and Ulysses String Quartet will conduct a masterclass at 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 30. Both masterclass sessions will be in the Music Arts Center Comey Recital Hall. The Charles Center Arts Masterclass Series is made possible by the Elliot E. and Helen Y. Cohen Forum Endowment.
All tickets for Arts Quarter events are available in electronic form only and can purchased online at wm.universitytickets.com. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the Box Office located in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall on William & Mary’s campus the day of each performance beginning one hour prior.