The Vail Series presents The Green Room Ensemble | THE STRING QUARTET CYCLE BY ELEANOR ALBERGA

The Green Room Ensemble is thrilled to present the US Premiere performance cycle of Eleanor Alberga’s Three String Quartets, along with the World Premiere of her Piano Quartet No. 2 “Stark” with the composer herself at the piano, joined by Thomas Bowes and Nathan Meltzer, violins; Jordan Bak, viola; and Sterling Elliott, cello.

The Green Room Ensemble is a performance organization dedicated to expanding and enriching the landscape of classical chamber music. Comprised of a rotating roster of around a dozen musicians, the Green Room Ensemble performs a wide range of music, with emphasis on new music and historically unexplored or neglected works by composers from a variety of backgrounds and heritages. 

The Green Room Ensemble draws values from the two components of its name. A “green room” is traditionally a space where performers can relax before going on stage - a setting that celebrates shared humanity, personal connection, and the artistic process. It is a place where artists can freely express their true selves, experiment with their craft, and engage with colleagues and audiences alike. It is the space that exemplifies the context around the art. This atmosphere is what the Green Room Ensemble strives to create for both its musicians and its audiences. The term “Ensemble” further reflects our commitment to connection and collaboration. While each concert will feature different members from our roster, together we form a unified group with shared musical goals and ideals, all while emphasizing the interpersonal joys of collaboration. 

Nathan Meltzer 

Recipient of a 2026 Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the 2023 Concert Artists Guild Competition, violinist Nathan Meltzer is establishing a holistic and multi-faceted career as both a soloist and chamber musician. A major prize winner at the 2022 Sibelius and Singapore International Violin Competitions, he has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Finnish RSO, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and the Alabama, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Montreal, and Pittsburgh Symphonies, among others. As a chamber musician, Nathan has performed at festivals including ChamberFest Cleveland, Krzyzowa Music, Moritzburg Festival, and Music@Menlo. He is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The Green Room Ensemble, a chamber music organization dedicated to new music and historically underrepresented works. A Juilliard graduate and student of Li Lin and Itzhak Perlman, Nathan plays on a 1682 Andrea Guarneri violin. 

Thomas Bowes 

Thomas Bowes is one of the UK’s most versatile and accomplished violinists - as a soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster and artistic director. Between 1988 and 1993 he was the founding leader of the Maggini String Quartet and together with his wife, the composer and pianist Eleanor Alberga OBE, he formed the duo Double Exposure in 1995. The duo toured extensively with concerts and broadcasts in the United States and Europe and together they made a major tour of China in 1997, winning the hearts of their audiences wherever they played. They returned to China in November 2019. Bowes has been a constant advocate of Alberga’s music and has given first performances and made recordings of many of her works including her two violin concertos. Bowes is privileged to own and play a violin by one of the great Cremonese makers—a splendid 1659 Nicolo Amati. 

Jordan Bak 

Award-winning Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak has achieved international acclaim as a trailblazing artist, praised for his radiant stage presence, dynamic interpretations, and fearless power. Critics have described him as “an exciting new voice in Classical performance” (I Care If You Listen), “a powerhouse musician, with a strong voice and compelling sound” (The Whole Note) and lauded his “haunting lyrical grace” (Gramophone). The recipient of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s ‘Alexandra Jupin’ Award and former Young Classical Artist Trust’s (YCAT) ‘Robey Artist,’ Bak was also a prizewinner in the Sphinx, Lionel Tertis, and Concert Artists Guild Competitions, and has received accolades from ClassicFM, MusicalAmerica, and WQXR. 

Sterling Elliott 

Acclaimed for his stellar stage presence and joyous musicianship, cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and the winner of the Senior Division of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition. Still in his mid-twenties, Elliott has appeared with orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony and the Dallas Symphony. As a chamber musician, he continues his residency in the Bowers Program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, appearing with CMLSC at Alice Tully Hall and on tour throughout the United States. 

He is an ambassador of the Young Strings of America, a string sponsorship operated by Shar Music. He performs on a 1741 Gennaro Gagliano cello on loan through the Robert F. Smith Fine String Patron Program, in partnership with the Sphinx Organization. 

Eleanor Alberga 

Eleanor Alberga is a highly-regarded mainstream British composer with commissions from the BBC Proms and The Royal Opera, Covent Garden. With a substantial output ranging from solo instrumental works to full-scale symphonic works and opera, her music is performed all over the world. In 2015, her commissioned work Arise Athena! for the opening of the Last Night of the BBC Proms, was seen and heard by millions and cemented her reputation as a composer of huge originality and consummate skill. 

Eleanor has gathered a number of awards, most notably a NESTA Fellowship in 2000 and a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award in 2019. In 2020 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music. Eleanor was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021 for Services to British Music.

DENISON COMMUNITY TICKETS 

Tickets are free for Denison students, faculty, and staff. 

PUBLIC TICKETS 

We share these experiences with our larger community by making a limited number of tickets available for public sale on a first come, first served basis at $20 each. 

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The Vail Series was endowed in 1979 by a generous gift from the late Mary and Foster McGaw in honor of Jeanne Vail, class of 1946. Just as it was intended to do, the Series enriches the artistic experience of the entire Denison community. Programmed creatively with the mindful pursuit of learning across traditional academic boundaries, more than 100 individual Vail Series artists have found their way to Denison’s classrooms and stages, but that doesn’t include the dozens of ensembles or full symphony orchestras that have played here over the years.