Jan 21, 2026
Contact Mary Ellen Haupert at 608-796-3770 or mehaupert@viterbo.edu

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Viterbo University Out of Our Minds Chamber Music Series will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Artaria String Quartet with performances by the acclaimed ensemble Sunday, Feb. 1 and Friday, Feb. 6 in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall.

The two concerts will feature works by Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, and Fanny Hensel-Mendelssohn—all composers living and working in early 19th century Germany. Robert and Clara Schumann, in particular, occupied a central position in the musical life of early Romanticism, surrounded by composers whose ideas, friendships, and artistic ideals profoundly shaped one another’s work. Rather than a single stylistic school, this circle formed a living conversation—about poetry, form, emotion, and the expressive potential of instrumental music. These two programs trace those intersections, revealing how deeply personal experiences and artistic exchange informed some of the nineteenth century’s most enduring chamber works.

The concert at 3 p.m. Feb. 1 in the Fine Arts Center Nola Starling Recital Hall features Schumann’s String Quartet in A major, Op.41 No.3, written in 1842. The second work on the program is Schubert’s iconic “Death and the Maiden” String Quartet in D minor, D.810, written in 1824. Robert Schumann was among the earliest to recognize the magnitude of Schubert’s achievement, famously describing him as a composer of “heavenly length.” This quartet exemplifies the emotional depth and formal ambition that Schumann sought to carry forward into his own chamber music. 

The Feb. 6, 7:30 p.m. concert features quartets by the talented Mendelssohn siblings, followed by Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44, with pianist Mary Ellen Haupert. Clara Schumann was the work’s first and greatest champion, and her virtuosity shaped its pianistic brilliance. The quintet embodies the ideals shared by the composers on this program: music as intimate conversation, emotional expression, and structural imagination intertwined. 

“Minnesota’s foremost teaching and performing string quartet,” the Artaria String Quartet is an “exceptional ensemble with impressive confidence in its interpretations.”

Both concerts are free and open to the public.

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