Thu, March 20, 2025 at 7:30 PM
JACK QUARTET
Boulez 100: Livre pour quatuor and Works by Webern, Cage, Cheung
Pierre Boulez Saal
Pierre Boulez’s Livre pour quatuor is among the most complex chamber music works of the 20th century. At the same time, the score—left unfinished by the composer—also has a fragmentary quality. The JACK Quartet, regularly heard at the Pierre Boulez Saal over the last few seasons, performs individual movements from Boulez’s only string quartet, pairing them with recent works by Eva-Maria Houben and Anthony Cheung, among others, and the String Quartet in Four Parts by Boulez’s contemporary John Cage.
Artists
Violin
Violin
Viola
Violoncello
Program
EVENT TIMELINE
five questions for austin wulliman
How would you describe your new piece Escape Rites in five words?
Obsolete machinery unearthed by anxious minds
What is different when you write for the ensemble you’re a member of?
The techniques and harmonic language this piece is built on stem from the years of in-depth work together as an ensemble, building our practice of extended string playing, microtonal tuning, and polyrhythmic grooves. I learned how this piece feels from my years of playing together with the quartet.
Looking at the rest of the program, whose music feels closer to you—Boulez or Cage? And why?
They are both close to me in different ways. But they both make me feel a little uneasy…
What’s the biggest challenge when composing for strings?
I’m a violinist, I love writing for strings. I don’t think of the instrumentation as a challenge but rather a joyful limitation to what the instruments do well.
Is there a particular quality or kind of expression you look for when writing music?
I’m looking for a way to share how my mind works: trying to create a language that gives me new ways to say things and new things to say.
MEDIA
That commitment to finding the music — the sheer beauty — in what could be merely exercises in complexity, to treating every composer like a distinct style that can be ever more fully inhabited, is what sets JACK apart.Zachary Woolfe, NYT 2023
YOUR VISIT
How to get there
Pierre Boulez Saal
Barenboim-Said Akademie
Französische Straße 33d
10117 Berlin, Germany
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Public transport
U-Bahn U2 Hausvogteiplatz (350m) U5 Museumsinsel, U6 Unter den Linden (600m)
Tram M1, M12 Mitte / Am Kupfergraben
Bus 147 Werderscher Markt (100m), 100, 300, N5 Staatsoper (300m)
By Car
Q-PARK parking garage Unter den Linden / Staatsoper
Bebelplatz 2
10117 Berlin
Theatre tariff (5:30 pm – 11:30 pm by prepayment): €10
More information on getting there by public transport, bike, or car is available on our Getting there page.
Opening Hours
Box Office
Monday to Friday 2 pm to 6 pm
Closed on weekends and holidays
On performance days, the box office is open one hour prior to an event on weekdays and two hours on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
Papagena Call Center
Ticket hotline +49 30 4799 7411
Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm
Sunday and public holidays 2pm to 8pm
Food & Drinks
Casalot Catering welcomes Pierre Boulez Saal visitors before and after concerts, serving a variety of dishes of Arab cuisine.
On concert nights, the catering opens one hour before the start of an event and remains open after the performance. You may also place pre-orders for intermission right at the counter.
More info on our catering here.
Accessibility
To book wheelchair-accessible seating, other seats for visitors with disabilities, or companion seats, please contact us directly.
+49 30 4799 7411 | tickets@boulezsaal.de
All wheelchair seats are accessible by elevator. All visitors, including patrons using a wheelchair, will enter the Pierre Boulez Saal through the main entrance. Tickets will be checked at the hall doors.
In order to make access as easy as possible, we kindly ask that you inform us of your requirements when booking your tickets.
Restrooms for visitors with disabilities are located in the basement and on the balcony level and are accessible by elevator.
Four parking spaces for visitors with disabilities are available on the street Hinter der Katholischen Kirche.
