Coming up in Philly music: Three continents via five instruments

At the next 1807 & Friends concert, the members of the Wister Quartet will work with one of their most popular partners. Guitarist Allen Krantz plays with most of the local chamber groups, and his appearances always produce attractive concerts. The guitar has never established itself in the heart of the chamber-music world the way the violin family has, but it has accumulated a poetic, appealing literature.

The program will include a Villa-Lobos guitar solo that pays homage to the Indigenous musical tradition of the composer’s native Brazil and a Boccherini quintet, for guitar and strings, that portrays the march of the night watch in Madrid. Krantz will be featured as a composer with the first performance of a new duo for guitar and cello. The concert will end with the Wister musicians performing a piece for which they seem to have a special affinity: Dvořák’s “American” quartet.

The 1807 & Friends chamber series has been a mainstay of the Philadelphia music scene for more than thirty years. Most of its regular performers are Philadelphia Orchestra musicians who are chamber-music enthusiasts. Its core group, the Wister Quartet, is a highly active foursome that serves as the core for two other chamber series: the Amerita Chamber Players and the German Society’s Wister and More series.

1807 & Friends presents the Wister Quartet with Allen Krantz on guitar on Monday, November 12, at 7:30pm at the Academy of Vocal Arts (1920 Spruce Street, Philadelphia). Tickets ($20) are available at 215-438-4027, online, and at the door.