The Classical Connections Series at Hamilton College presents the Marian Anderson String Quartet on Friday, Feb. 10, at 8 p.m. at Wellin Hall in the Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts. The ensemble will perform works by Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, Dmitry Shostakovich and Johannes Brahms.
For more than a decade, the Marian Anderson String Quartet has brought inspiration and hope to every segment of American society, with performance venues ranging from the concert stage to the soup kitchens and from presidential inaugurals to juvenile correctional facilities. On September 30, 1989, the members of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, then known as the Chaminade Quartet, came together, unaware that they would soon change history. It was in 1991, however, that the quartet won the International Cleveland Quartet Competition, becoming the first African American ensemble in history to ever win a classical music competition. To highlight this singular achievement the members of the quartet asked permission of the great contralto, Marian Anderson, to use her name as their own.
The Marian Anderson String Quartet's artistic endeavors have brought them to such venues as New York's Alice Tully Hall, the Corcoran Gallery, the Library of Congress, The University of Southern California and the Chateau Cantanac-Brown in Bordeaux, France. On January 20, 1993, they performed at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center as part of the 52nd presidential inaugural celebration. Driven by their belief in the power of education, the Quartet has also performed in hundreds of churches, libraries, museums, soup kitchens and prisons. They are currently the Ensemble in Residence at Texas A&M University and Quartet in Residence with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra in Bryan/College Station, Texas.
First violinist Marianne Henry has toured extensively as a founding member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet. A native of New Orleans, she has served on the faculties of the Harlem School for the Arts, New York City College, and California State University, Los Angeles. Henry has been a soloist on KUSC Radio's Sundays at Four, a featured soloist with the List-Glenn Festival Orchestra, The South-Central Chamber Orchestra, and the Afro-American Symphony. She has been involved in a myriad of other orchestra work including Phantom of the Opera, the Academy Award Orchestra and The American Music Awards.
Nicole Cherry, violin, is a native of Washington, D.C. A graduate of the Julliard School with a master of music in violin performance, she performs concerts and educational seminars that explore the essence of European classical music. Cherry has shared the stage with a diverse list of artists such as the Audubon String Quartet and famed pop diva Whitney Houston. In the United States, she has performed in such venues as the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Her past performances in Europe, the Middle East and Asia include a tour as a featured soloist in Israel, Egypt, Jordan and South Africa.
Another founding member of the Quartet, as well as teacher and public speaker, violist Diedra Lawrence has shared her passion for chamber music through both her instrument and the spoken word. She has held teaching positions at the City College of New York, the Bowdoin Music Festival and California State University, Los Angeles. Lawrence has been a guest artist with the Southwest Chamber Ensemble, performed as concerto soloist for both the List-Glenn Chamber Music Festival and the Symphony Camerata. She has also performed live on KUSC Radio's Sundays at Four.
Prudence McDaniel, cello, is a native of Des Moines, Iowa. McDaniel has performed as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United State and Portugal. Through participation in the Minority Orchestra Fellowship Program, she was a section cellist with both the Houston and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. She has also been a principal cellist with the River Cities Symphony Orchestra, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and an associate member of the Columbus Symphony.
Tickets for this performance are $15 general admission, $10 for senior citizens, and $5 for students. All seating is general admission. For more information or tickets, call the box office at (315) 859-4331, 1-4 p.m. weekdays.
For more than a decade, the Marian Anderson String Quartet has brought inspiration and hope to every segment of American society, with performance venues ranging from the concert stage to the soup kitchens and from presidential inaugurals to juvenile correctional facilities. On September 30, 1989, the members of the Marian Anderson String Quartet, then known as the Chaminade Quartet, came together, unaware that they would soon change history. It was in 1991, however, that the quartet won the International Cleveland Quartet Competition, becoming the first African American ensemble in history to ever win a classical music competition. To highlight this singular achievement the members of the quartet asked permission of the great contralto, Marian Anderson, to use her name as their own.
The Marian Anderson String Quartet's artistic endeavors have brought them to such venues as New York's Alice Tully Hall, the Corcoran Gallery, the Library of Congress, The University of Southern California and the Chateau Cantanac-Brown in Bordeaux, France. On January 20, 1993, they performed at Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center as part of the 52nd presidential inaugural celebration. Driven by their belief in the power of education, the Quartet has also performed in hundreds of churches, libraries, museums, soup kitchens and prisons. They are currently the Ensemble in Residence at Texas A&M University and Quartet in Residence with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra in Bryan/College Station, Texas.
First violinist Marianne Henry has toured extensively as a founding member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet. A native of New Orleans, she has served on the faculties of the Harlem School for the Arts, New York City College, and California State University, Los Angeles. Henry has been a soloist on KUSC Radio's Sundays at Four, a featured soloist with the List-Glenn Festival Orchestra, The South-Central Chamber Orchestra, and the Afro-American Symphony. She has been involved in a myriad of other orchestra work including Phantom of the Opera, the Academy Award Orchestra and The American Music Awards.
Nicole Cherry, violin, is a native of Washington, D.C. A graduate of the Julliard School with a master of music in violin performance, she performs concerts and educational seminars that explore the essence of European classical music. Cherry has shared the stage with a diverse list of artists such as the Audubon String Quartet and famed pop diva Whitney Houston. In the United States, she has performed in such venues as the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Her past performances in Europe, the Middle East and Asia include a tour as a featured soloist in Israel, Egypt, Jordan and South Africa.
Another founding member of the Quartet, as well as teacher and public speaker, violist Diedra Lawrence has shared her passion for chamber music through both her instrument and the spoken word. She has held teaching positions at the City College of New York, the Bowdoin Music Festival and California State University, Los Angeles. Lawrence has been a guest artist with the Southwest Chamber Ensemble, performed as concerto soloist for both the List-Glenn Chamber Music Festival and the Symphony Camerata. She has also performed live on KUSC Radio's Sundays at Four.
Prudence McDaniel, cello, is a native of Des Moines, Iowa. McDaniel has performed as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United State and Portugal. Through participation in the Minority Orchestra Fellowship Program, she was a section cellist with both the Houston and New York Philharmonic Orchestras. She has also been a principal cellist with the River Cities Symphony Orchestra, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and an associate member of the Columbus Symphony.
Tickets for this performance are $15 general admission, $10 for senior citizens, and $5 for students. All seating is general admission. For more information or tickets, call the box office at (315) 859-4331, 1-4 p.m. weekdays.
