As the tradition of a weekly chess game begins, the White and Black Queens position themselves to reign over their armies and command them to victory, while two chess players converse about their lives as consultants at opposing high-profile advertising firms. As the queens advance, and the conversation unfolds, the veiled jealousies that underlie the façade of this friendship are exposed. These chess games, once played in the spirit of friendly competition, now involve mind games that extend beyond the board. Who will give their game away? Who will yield the board? Who will be victorious? At what cost?
About Quince Ensemble:
Singing with the precision and flexibility of modern chamber musicians, Quince Ensemble is changing the paradigm of contemporary vocal music. Described as “the Anonymous 4 of new music” by Opera News, Quince continually pushes the boundaries of vocal ensemble literature.
As dedicated advocates of new music, Quince regularly commissions new works, providing wider exposure for the music of living composers. They recently received a Chamber Music America award to commission a new song cycle by Chicago-based composer, LJ White, and released their third studio album, Motherland, on New Focus Recordings in April 2018, available on iTunes, CD Baby, Spotify, and Amazon.
In 2016, Quince was featured on the KODY Festival Lublin, Poland in collaboration with David Lang and Beth Morrison Projects. They have also appeared on the Outpost Concert Series, the Philip Glass: Music with Friends concert at the Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, Alia Musica, and the SONiC Festival in New York. During the 2018-19 season, they will collaborate with International Contemporary Ensemble, Lincoln Center, Linfield University, Vespers Concert Series, Kamratōn Ensemble, Connecticut Summerfest, and UC Berkeley, to name a few.
Comprised of vocalists Liz Pearse (soprano), Kayleigh Butcher (mezzo soprano), Amanda DeBoer Bartlett (soprano), and Carrie Henneman Shaw (soprano), Quince thrives on unique musical challenges and genre-bending contemporary repertoire.