New season is start of something big for Delray String Quartet It’s been 11 years since the Delray String Quartet was formed and made its first appearance, but only four since its current lineup took shape. And this one feels like a keeper. And not a moment too soon, because this is going to be a big season, and an even bigger year to come, for the Delray foursome. In addition to its New York debut in April at the celebrated Bargemusic Festival, the group has expanded its exploration of contemporary American music by establishing a relationship with composer Richard Danielpour, who grew up in West Palm Beach. Danielpour has just completed his Seventh Quartet on commission from the Delrays, and it will include a soprano singing texts from the Book of Psalms, in Hebrew. The fine Israeli soprano Hila Plitmann will be the soloist this coming May in Miami for the world premiere, and the quartet will follow that with three days of recording the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh quartets for Naxos. Second violinist Tomás Cotik, a native of Argentina who has a solo career of his own that includes discs of music by Schubert (on Centaur) and Piazzolla (on Naxos) with pianist Tao Lin, is the most recent permanent member. Greg Stepanich Read More