The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Meta4: Declarations of Love on Friday, May 2, 2025 at 7:30pm ET in Buttenwieser Hall at The Arnhold Center and streaming online. Tickets start at $40 for in-person and $25 for online streaming. Tickets are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/meta4. Online streaming is also available for 72 hours following the performance.

The extraordinary Finnish string quartet Meta4 makes a rare US appearance – and their NYC mainstage debut – with a thoughtful program examining adult love in all its nuances and complexities. The ensemble is striking in their colorful, muscular sound and in their visual impact – with the exception of the cellist they perform standing up, allowing for freedom of both movement and expression. Their program, Declarations of Love, begins with Janacek’s gorgeous manifesto on love, his second string quartet, “Intimate Letters,” inspired by the letters of adoration he exchanged with his young muse, Kamila Stösslová. British composer Sally Beamish’s Nine Fragments/String Quartet No. 4 is inspired by Robert Schumann’s A-Minor String Quartet. Beamish writes, “My quartet consists of 9 very short, fragmentary movements – each tilting a broken mirror towards a particular passage in Schumann’s work and reflecting widely differing moods; from melancholy to elation.” The concert culminates in a performance of the Schumann quartet, with its mercurial examination of love.

Program
LEOŠ JANÁČEK String Quartet No. 2, “Intimate Letters”
SALLY BEAMISH Nine Fragments — String Quartet No. 4
ROBERT SCHUMANN String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1