Virtual PASS Concert: Invoke, March 25

Thursday, March 25

Presented by the Quad City Arts Center

Praised by NPR for their music that “all sounds impeccable without losing its sense of lightness and joy,” the string quartet Invoke serves as the latest virtual performance in the Quad City Arts Center's annual PASS (Performing Arts Signature Series) program, with the group's March 25 concert event sure to demonstrate why the Austin Chronicle calls the group “purveyors of chamber music that busts through genres in the quartet's spicy performances.”

Composed of Austin-based string musicians Geoff Manyin, Zachariah Matteson, Karl Mitze, and Nick Montopoli, Invoke was described by SiriusXM classical-music producer David Srebnik as “not classical … but not not classical,” suggesting that the quartet continues to successfully dodge even the most valiant attempts at genre classification. The multi-instrumental band’s other ‘not-nots’ encompass traditions from across America, including bluegrass, Appalachian fiddle tunes, jazz, and minimalism. Invoke weaves all of these styles together to create truly individual music, written by and for the group.

Invoke enjoyed a particularly banner year in 2018 when its musicians won First Prize at the M-Prize International Chamber Arts competition in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as First Prize in the Coltman Competition in Austin and the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition in New York, where they were named “New Music/New Places” Ensemble. Invoke was also the Young Professional String Quartet in Residence at the University of Texas from 2016 to 2018, and the group has previously been selected to participate in the Emerging String Quartet Program at Stanford, as Artists in Residence at Strathmore, and as the Emerging Young Artist Quartet at Interlochen. Having shared stages with some of the most acclaimed ensembles in the country, ranging from the Ensō Quartet to the U.S. Army Field Band, Invoke has also appeared with musicians in greatly varying genres – from chamber rock powerhouse San Fermin to Washington DC beatboxer/rapper/spoons virtuoso Christylez Bacon.

The group's 2015 debut release Souls in the Mud and their 2018 follow-up Furious Creek both feature original works composed by and for the group, and the quartet has also performed and recorded numerous world premieres. Invoke's members are also true believers in championing diverse American voices, including their ongoing commissioning project American Postcards, which asks composers to pick a time and place in American history and tell its story through the quartet's unique artistry.

Admission to the March 25 Invoke concert includes a digital link of the performance along with curbside take-out service from either Crust in Bettendorf or The Combine in East Moline using a prix-fixe menu created for this event. A link to the menus with instructions for placing orders will be provided in advance. Access to the performance will be provided by 4 p.m. the day of the event and will stay active until midnight, and all dinner orders placed in advance will be available for pick-up at 5:30 p.m. Dinner-and-the-concert admission is $50, with $20 show-only tickets also available.

For Invoke tickets and more information on the virtual PASS season, call (309)793-1213 or visit QuadCityArts.com/pass/html.