For the first time in more than a decade, the Belcea Quartet performs in Ann Arbor, opening the Chamber Arts Series with their fifth UMS performance.

Their program includes Mozart’s String Quartet No. 19, the last in a series of six sophisticated quartets that he composed over three years (1782-85) and dedicated to Franz Joseph Haydn, universally recognized as the “father” of the string quartet. Beethoven’s last quartet — and the last major work he completed — closes the program.

“These were gorgeous and stirring performances,” said the New York Classical Review of Belcea’s 2023 performance at Zankel Hall. “The quartet’s sinewy, back-lit sound carried so much of the sonic beauty of the music, and the energy behind the playing was full of style, feeling, and expressive depth.”