JACK Quartet will then perform the World Premieres of works by Face the Music musicians and composers Paris Lavidis and Jack Gulielmetti. A sixth-grader at St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn, Lavidis attends the pre-college program at Mannes College where he studies clarinet and violin. His Interference pays homage to horror films with evil child protagonists. Jack Gulielmetti, whose primary instrument is electric guitar, is an eleventh-grader at The Calhoun School in Manhattan and also attends the pre-college program for composition at The Juilliard School. Gulielmetti’s Genesis draws inspiration from a photograph taken by the composer.

The program concludes with Steve Reich’s Triple Quartet (1999). Playing live (without recording) Reich’s seminal work for three string quartets, will be musicians from Face the Music and JACK Quartet—two forces on the new music scene paying tribute to "our greatest living composer" (The New York Times).

Under the direction of founder and conductor Dr. Jenny Undercofler, Face the Music has played across New York City at venues such as Le Poisson Rouge, Merkin Concert Hall, Roulette, BAM Café and the Bang On A Can Marathon, and have opened for the Philip Glass Ensemble at the River to River Festival. The group has been featured on WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase, NPR’s All Things Considered, and on a live broadcast marking the opening of NY Public Radio’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. In 2011, Face the Music and Dr. Undercofler were honored with the ASCAP Aaron Copland Award.

Face the Music features over 125 students, from 5th through 12th grade, from the entire tri-state area. Students attend over 40 schools including all NYC arts-high schools and all NYC pre-colleges. Many of the performers are students or alumni of Kaufman’s own Special Music School, the only K-12 public school in New York City that integrates pre-conservatory musical training with academic education.

Comprising violinists Christopher Otto and Ari Streisfeld, violist John Pickford Richards, and cellist Kevin McFarland, JACK is focused on the commissioning and performance of new works, leading them to work closely with composers including Helmut Lachenmann, György Kurtág, and Wolfgang Rihm. The quartet has performed to critical acclaim at Wigmore Hall, Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Library of Congress, La Biennale di Venezia, and Carnegie Hall.