The American String Quartet has teamed up with the writer Phil Klay - who won the National Book Award for Redeployment in 2014 - and the poet Tom Sleigh to present a program called “Lyric in the Time of War.” Phil is a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq, and Tom has reported on the bloody conflicts in Lebanon, Somalia, Iraq, and Libya. The program combines music written in response to war together with Phil and Tom reading excerpts from their work. In a particularly moving presentation, the American performs Shostakovich's Quartet No. 8 while Tom reads a related poem in between each movement. This program offers two perspectives on war; it acknowledges the hardships while recognizing and celebrating the sacrifices made by our veterans.