Named “Chicagoans of the Year” (2017), the Spektral Quartet performs “Looking Skyward” on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, 7:30 p.m., Gates Hall, Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave., Denver. Presented by Friends of Chamber Music.

The twice Grammy-nominated Spektral Quartet is known for creating seamless connections across centuries, drawing in the listener with charismatic deliveries and bold, inquisitive programming. Their program, “Looking Skyward,” evolved out of the cryptic question Beethoven posits on the score to his final work, the String Quartet in F Major, Op. 135: “Must it be?” In addition to performing this Beethoven quartet, the program also features “O Magnum Mysterium” by Tomas Luis de Victoria, Eliza Brown’s String Quartet No. 1, and the Colorado premiere of “Enigma” by Anna Thorvalsdottir. According to the quartet, “This is music for the big questions, without the promise of definitive answers. Taking the time to ask them—with the expedient of this astonishing music—is all that is required.”

Spektral Quartet brings light and darkness—and the mysterious space in between—into orbit through this new multimedia work, “Enigma,” by Anna Thorvaldsdottir and video artist Sigurdur Gudjónsson. Inspired by the 2017 solar eclipse, Thorvaldsdottir’s enchanting and beautifully disorienting sounds take on an even more vivid hue through Gudjónsson’s evocative imagery, promising an absolutely unforgettable live experience.

Tickets: Available at www.friendsofchambermusic.com or by calling the Newman Center Box Office at 303-871-7720. $40 for adults; $10 for ages 30 and under.