About Caroline Shaw

Composer Caroline Shaw is the American composition talent of today. A violinist, violist and singer herself, she was the youngest composer ever to win a Pulitzer Prize for her Partita for 8 Voices. She wrote The Evergreen especially for the Ragazze Quartet, which she describes as her ‘Climate Piece’.

Ragazze also plays two earlier pieces by Shaw. Plan & Elevation is a five-part piece inspired by the architecture of a country house. In the duo Limestone and Felt for viola and cello, Shaw explores the contrast between hard and soft surfaces.

There are also several violin duets by the unruly grandmaster Luciano Berio, who portrayed his friends and colleagues in a long series of loving short pieces.

The highlight is Mozart’s delightful String Quintet in G, for which Ragazze is assisted by violist Judith Wijzenbeek.

The Welsh visual artist Jony Easterby transforms the room into a magical hortus (optional).