I had the pleasure of meeting Janos today at a luncheon for the 25 or so
critics who have descended upon the Strings of the Future.  Two comments
occur to me.  I think the title of the festival may refer to the fact that
the quartets invited, accomplished though they are, tend to be made up of
youngish musicians, generally below 40, I should think.

Although I agree that this is a wonderful event, and I'm glad that Janos
has proclaimed it as such to the wide world, I'd like to point out an even
more remarkable one.  The Ottawa Chamber Music Festival takes place the
last week of July and the first week of August each year.  This year it
will present 78 concerts in 15 days.  Aside from half a dozen high profile
concerts, for which a modest surcharge is levied, admission is on the basis
of a single pass.  This year I believe it will cost $40.  In recent years
the Julliard, Hagen, Emerson and Tokyo quartets have played in the
festival, not to mention a dozen excellent, though less famous quartets and
trios.  Pianists Jeno Jando, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Angela Hewitt and others
have also participated.  And these are just the names that come to mind
without reflecting on the matter.  Among this year's big names are the
Kronos and Tokyo quartets and violinist Cho-Liang Lin.

And no, I don't work for the festival, I review it. But I can tell you,
it's a real pleasure.

Richard, who invites you to visit his music, outdoors and other WWW sites
at: http://infoweb.magi.com/~richard/