‘Rare Birds’ Roost at Hahn Hall 

Given its members’ history and the quartet’s “inverted” composition, it’s no surprise that Owls has been called “a dream group” by The New York Times. Featuring a distinctive instrumentation variation of the traditional string quartet that trades the second violinist for an additional cellist, the individual Owls are also no strangers to our area. Cellist and composer Paul Wiancko and violist Ayane Kozasa arealso part of the Kronos Quartet, cellist Gabriel Cabezas appeared with yMusic at Hahn Hall last month and as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a CAMA concert at the Granada a couple years earlier, and violinist Alexi Kenney was a featured soloist in the prestigious Ojai Music Festival last summer. 

The Brooklyn-born (where else?) quartet makes its West Coast debut on April 11 at Hahn Hall hot on the heels of releasing its debut album Rare Birds. The decidedly wide ranging program – spanning Norwegian folk, minimalism, Baroque and new music – will include live performances of the entire six-track recording in Wiancko’s “Vox Petra” and “When the Night,” Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s “R qs,” François Couperin’s “Les Barricades Mystérieuses,” Trollstilt’s “Ricercar” and Terry Riley’s “Good Medicine,” as well as Chick Corea’s “Children’s Song No. 12.” Visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu