By Lookout Staff

June 10, 2024 -- The Santa Monica Public Library’s acclaimed Soundwaves new music series is winding down with a concert this month by the Isaura String Quartet.

The performance at the Main Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard, will take place June 22 at 3:30 p.m., making the series' penultimate concert.

The Isaura Quartet's Soundwaves concert represents "multiple generations of experimental composition," event organizers said.

They range from from the ninth string quartet by Gloria Coates (1933-2023) to a piece by inti figgis-vizueta (born 1993), as well as work by Los Angeles-born Laura Cetilia.

The quartet will also give the US premiere of a new composition by Sarah Hennies, whose music Pitchfork called “intimate, immersive, and unusually empathetic.”

The Isaura Quartet has performed with artists ranging from pop star Demi Lovato to experimental opera composer/director Sean Griffin, concert organizers said.

The quartet -- whose members are CalArts graduates and work as freelance musicians and educators -- also appears on David T. Little’s Grammy-nominated album Black Lodge.

Soundwaves was created in 2016 by librarian/musician Jeff Schwartz and composer Daniel Rothman to present cutting-edge music at the Santa Monica Public Library.

It has received grants from the Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library and the Amphion Foundation. Programs have included collaborations with the Angel City Jazz Festival, Piano Spheres, Jacaranda Music, Microfest, Cold Blue Music, and the Dog Star Orchestra.

For a complete list of shows, including many videos, visit soundwavesnewmusic.com.

All Library programs are free and open to the public. Parking is available underneath the Main Library, several bus lines and the Metro E line stop nearby, and there are bike racks.

The MLK Auditorium is wheelchair accessible. Call (310) 458-8600 to request additional accommodations.