The DaPonte String Quartet starts its 26th season with a special look at Bela Bartok, a composer with whom the DSQ has an intimate and unusual connection. They will be playing his Quartet No. 3, along with Mozart's Quartet in E flat Major and Brahms's Quartet No. 3 in B flat Major, Op. 67 in five concerts from Portland to Rockport Nov. 4-12.

In the early '90s in Philadelphia, the DSQ studied the Hungarian composer very closely with musicians from his inner circle, such as Zoltán Székely---Bartók's sonata partner and friend --and other prominent Hungarian masters, recalls DSQ co-founder, cellist Myles Jordan. The result was "what amounted to an apprenticeship in the Austro-Hungarian tradition."

The program, dubbed "What Goes Around...," starts with the Mozart, "one of his more introspective quartets," says DSQ violinist Ferdinand Liva, which emphasizes "beauty of phrase" above all else. The Bartok is both his "most strident, most rhythmically powerful, and shortest quartet," according to Liva. The program ends with an unusual quartet by Brahms, a composer "known for his somber moods," says Liva. "But this piece is entirely different. It is uplifting and joyous, full of hope."

"What Goes Around..." is the first in their three-concert winter series. It will be performed in Damariscotta, Rockport, Boothbay Harbor, Portland and Brunswick as follows:

Nov. 4 – 4 pm - St. Columba's Church, 32 Emery Lane, Boothbay Harbor;

Nov. 5 – 3:00 pm – Lincoln Theater, 2 Theater St., Damariscotta;

Nov. 9 - 7:30 pm – Jewish Museum, 267 Congress St., Portland;

Nov.10 –7:00 pm – Rockport Opera House, 6 Central St., Rockport;and

Nov.12 – 3:00 pm – Unitarian Church, 15 Pleasant St., Brunswick.

The DaPonte String Quartet is Maine's premier string ensemble. Founded in 1991 in Philadelphia, it moved to Maine over 20 years ago and now performs more than 40 times a year state-wide and year-round, as well as touring the Northeast.

Tickets are $25, and are available at www.DaPonte.org, at Sherman's Books in Damariscotta, Camden, and Boothbay Harbor; Longfellow Books in Portland; or Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick. More information: 529-4555.