THE BLACK BOX Classical Series presents Quartett Giocosa in collaboration with the pianist Irina Kotlyar. Violinists Heather Goodchild and Irina Fainkichen are joined by Irina Naryshkova on Viola and Elizabeth Schultze on Cello, and Irina Kotlyar​ on Piano to perform Quintet By Robert Schumann Op.44 in E flat Major and Quintet by Antonin Dvorak Op.81 in A Major.  Tea will be served. Quartett Giocosa was formed in 2017.  Liz, Heather and the two Irinas met years ago at the Cape Symphony, where they are all members. Being apparently a little slow on the draw it took a good five years for the girls to figure out that they would make an excellent string quartet.  Collectively the members of QG have had the good fortune to play with some amazing musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Mstislav Rostropovich, Anne Sophie Mutter, Mark O’Connor, Wynton Marsalis and Sarah Vaughan.  They have worked under the leadership of conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jane Glover, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa, and of course the incomparable Jung-Ho Pak.  They have played with fabulous orchestras including the Bergen Philharmonic, the Royal Danish Orchestra, the Atlanta and Oklahoma Symphonies, the Boston Lyric and Chicago Opera Companies and the Upsala Chamber Orchestra. 

Irina Kotlyar, born in Kharkov, Ukraine, earned her degrees from Rubin Academy of Music. With Gregory Shifron, the Kotlyar-Shifrin Piano duo has won several International prizes and awards, including the Murrey Dranoff International Two Piano Competition (1999, Miami, USA) and the International competition in Poland (1999), and had performed throughout Isreal, Europe and America.