Formosa Quartet

Formosa Quartet

For centuries, the United States has been seen as a place of hope, opportunity, and refuge—a destination for those fleeing war, persecution, violence, and disaster. Yet this promise exists alongside a complex history that challenges us to examine both America’s ideals and its realities.

The Formosa Quartet’s American Mirror Project | Refuge explores these reflections through the stories of two refugee composers, Benjamin Britten and Erwin Schulhoff, who both sought escape from escalating violence in 1939 only to have their fates dramatically diverge. Through their music, Refuge asks what it means to find sanctuary—and what happens when it remains out of reach.

This program also journeys across America’s musical landscape with Compass, tracing iconic sounds from the East, Midwest, South, and West, and explores the Athenaeum’s early beginnings on Native homelands with a segment titled 1008 Wall Street. It concludes with the West Coast premiere of Dana Wilson’s Mirror for String Quartet and Narration, featuring original texts by members of the San Diego community.