This program is made possible in part through a collaboration with the Tucson Desert Song Festival (TDSF).

SAMUEL BARBER
String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11
I. Molto allegro e appassionato

WILLIAM GRANT STILL
Songs of Separation (arr. John Largess)

TAMAR-KALI
Pleasure Garden (World Premiere, AFCM Commission)

SAMUEL BARBER
String Quartet in B Minor, Op. 11
II. Molto adagio
III. Molto allegro

— Intermission —

GEORGE WALKER
Lyric for Strings

FLORENCE PRICE
String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor
III. Juba. Allegro

MARGARET BONDS
Creek-Freedman Songs (with string quartet)

Notes on the Program
Heralded composer Tamar-kali, whose work spans alternative, classical, and film music genres, has collaborated with the Miró Quartet and soprano Karen Slack to create Pleasure Garden, commissioned by Arizona Friends of Chamber Music.  A song cycle featuring poetry from women writers of the Harlem Renaissance, Pleasure Garden highlights rich text focused on the simple pleasures of nature against the backdrop of the burgeoning metropolitan grandeur of 1920’s Harlem. This world premiere is paired with the work of the great mid-century composer Margaret Bonds, one of the first Black composers to gain recognition in the United States and a frequent collaborator of Langston Hughes, a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The first half of the program uses the Barber String Quartet to frame a general mid-twentieth-century context for Bonds’ work. Additional repertoire features works by her teacher, Florence Price, her friend William Grant Still, and her younger contemporary George Walker. These relationships are integral to telling a more complete story about Bonds’ life as well as painting a broader picture of the African-American classical music community during that era. Tucson Desert Song Festival is proud to include this concert in its 2026 lineup.

> Read: Acclaimed Composer Tamar-kali to Debut Inspirational Work Featuring Soprano Karen Slack and Miró Quartet at Arizona Friends of Chamber Music’s Evening Series in January 2026

Miró Quartet

Formed in 1995, the Miró Quartet was awarded first prize at several national and international competitions, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition. Deeply committed to music education, members of the Quartet have given master classes at universities and conservatories throughout the world, and since 2003, the Miró has served as the quartet-in-residence at the University of Texas at Austin Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music. In 2005, the Quartet became the first ensemble ever to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant.