The Gualala Arts Concert Series is pleased to present a performance of chamber music by the highly-acclaimed Cypress String Quartet. The concert will be on Sunday, May 22, 4 p.m., at the Gualala Arts Center. A previous Cypress appearance in Gualala, in December, 2002, drew an enthusiastic response from a very appreciative audience. The return engagement should provide one of the highlights of our current concert season. The concert will feature Mozart's Quartet in C Major, K.465; Bela Bartok's Quartet No. 2; and Maurice Ravel's Quartet in F Major.

Since its inception in 1996, the Cypress String Quartet - Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, violins; Ethan Filner, viola; Jennifer Kloetzel, cello - has performed to great acclaim worldwide. Praised by the Los Angeles Times for its "musical astuteness and virtuoso resources," the quartet has appeared frequently on NPR's "Performance Today," and has performed in many prominent venues in the United States and around the world. The quartet has commissioned and premiered over 25 works from many of America's leading composers, including Jennifer Higdon, Jeffery Cotton, Elena Reuhr, Grammy-nominee Benjamin Lees, Anna Weesner, Daniel Asia, and Dan Coleman. Current projects include recording the complete string quartets of Benjamin Lees, and a new commission in honor of Cypress' 10th anniversary season from brilliant American composer George Tsontakis: his first string quartet since 1989.

As Quartet-in-Residence at San Jose State University, the Cypress constitutes the core string facility of the University's School of Music and Dance. This innovative residency combines the quartet's strengths in performance and in education to effectively serve both the University and the greater Bay Area. In the Cypress' groundbreaking Call & Response program, each year the quartet selects two works from the standard repertoire - the "Call" - and commissions a third work based on inspiration from the two older works - the "Response." These programs have been presented in dozens of Bay Area schools, integrating performance, outreach, and the commission of new works.

Violinist Tom Stone has performed with the Munich Chamber Orchestra throughout Germany and Austria. He is currently the artistic director of the Centrum Chamber Music Workshop, has served as a panelist for the San Francisco Arts Commission, and is on the Board of the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. Mr. Stone plays on a Carlos Bergonzi violin made in Cremona in 1734.

Violinist Cecily Ward studied violin at the Eastman School of Music and at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and studied Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has participated in the Norfolk, Banff, and Taos Chamber Music Festivals, and was an Aspen Festival Fellow. Ms. Ward has recorded Vivaldi's Summer with the Stratos Chamber Orchestra on the Warner Brothers label.

Violist Ethan Filner has participated in the International Musicians Seminar-Prussia Cove (Cornwall, England) and the Aspen Music Festival. He has performed with Miriam Fried, James Campbell, and with Sir Colin Davis at the 2000 BBC Proms in Royal Albert Hall. In 1998 he performed a series of Chamber Concerts in Helsinki, Finland with fellow Guildhall students as guests of the British Embassy.

Cellist Jennifer Kloetzel is a winner of the Julliard School's top award, the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Leadership and Achievement in Music, and a Presser Music Award. She has appeared at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Sarasota and Aspen Music Festivals, the Prague Mozart Academy, and has performed as cellist of the Cassatt Quartet during the 1995- 96 season. Ms. Kloetzel teaches cello and chamber music at San Jose State University.

Tickets for the Gualala concert are $15 each. Children ages seven through 17 are admitted free. Advance tickets are available at the Gualala Arts Center or at the Dolphin Gallery in Gualala. Tickets may also be purchased at the door prior to the performance. For further information, call the Gualala Arts Center at 884-1138, or visit the website at gualalaarts.org.