Verona Quartet

Steven Banks, saxophone

Fall 2025

Dialogismós: A meditation in music

The Verona Quartet and saxophonist Steven Banks will present an immersive

program that will invite the listener to explore and reflect on the various forms of love

as understood through the lens of the ancient Greeks. These include Agape (selfless

love), Mania (obsessive love), Philautia (self love), Pragma (enduring love), Ludus

(playful love), Eros (erotic love), Philia (affectionate love), and Storge (familial love).

The centerpiece of the program will be a new 20-25 minute work for saxophone and

string quartet written by Christopher Theofanidis. The rest of the program will be built

around the types of love that he will explore in his piece.

To ground and guide the audience, the program will be bound together by a series of

guided meditations that will lead the listener to realize the vital importance of self-love.

Program:

Debussy: Syrinx (Eros), 3’ (offstage prelude)

Mendelssohn: “Ist es wahr” (Pragma), 2’

Debussy: Syrinx (Eros), 3’

Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata”, mvt. I. Adagio (Mania), 4’

Mozart: Oboe Quartet (Erotoropia/Ludus), 15’

Arvo Pärt: Fratres (Agape), 10-11’

Reena Esmail: Magan Rehna (spiritual/Agape & friendship/Philia), 6’

INTERMISSION

Christopher Theofanidis: New Work, 25’