On Sunday, October 2nd, 2005 at 4:00 p.m., Candlelight Concerts opens its 2005-06 season with a performance by “Opus One” Piano Quartet. The program features Dvorak’s Sonatine, Opus 100 for violin and piano, the Martinu Piano Quartet, and the Brahms Quartet in G minor, Opus 25.

OPUS ONE brings together four of the leading musicians of our time: pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, violinist Ida Kavafian, violist Steven Tenenbom, and cellist Peter Wiley. Veterans as well as present members of the world’s most prestigious chamber groups (including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Tashi, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Orion and Guarneri String Quartets) OPUS ONE is the result of a mutual love of music making between four extraordinary instrumentalists and friends. As soloists as well as chamber musicians, they are each familiar figures in concert halls throughout the world.

The members of OPUS ONE are deeply committed to chamber music education. They often collaborate with young musicians; and one of the innovative projects they have developed is workshops with amateurs and students. Their dedication to varied chamber music combinations, as well as to the works of contemporary American composers, is reflected in much of their programming; and the sheer, obvious joy they have in performing together communicates directly to their audiences.

The group made their debut on October 23, 1998 at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Subsequent seasons have included recital debuts in New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Diego, Philadelphia and Portland, Oregon — all to great acclaim. OPUS ONE’s orchestral debut was with the Chattanooga Symphony, performing Beethoven’s “Triple Concerto,” along with a work written by Douglas Lowry especially for the ensemble with orchestra. OPUS ONE has presented several other World Premieres as well. Along with the Pittsburgh and Cleveland Chamber Music Societies, OPUS ONE commissioned a quartet from Stephen Hartke, which was premiered in December, 2001. The piece, a musical tribute to 9/11 entitled “Beyond Words,” was enthusiastically received.

Recent season highlights of OPUS ONE have included a series at Tully Hall (Lincoln Center) celebrating the music of Antonin Dvorak, and a debut at the June Music Festival in Albuquerque, presenting works of Dvorak alongside contemporary American music. Other engagements included a return to the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society series, a feature on the popular NPR program, “St. Paul Sunday,” and a residence at the Music From Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico.

The October 2nd performance will take place at the Wilton Congregational Church, on Route 33 just north of Wilton Center.