Celebrated New York musicians, the Harlem Quartet, will present a jazz-inspired string performance on Wednesday, April 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall at Linfield College.
A “Meet the Musicians” event will also be held earlier that day at 1:30 p.m. in the Delkin Recital Hall in the Vivian A. Bull Music Center.
The performance, “Jazzing It Up,” will feature jazz favorites that have been creatively adapted for the string quartet. The program will include “At the Octoroon Balls” by Wynton Marsalis, “A Night in Tunisia” by Dizzy Gillespie, “The Girl from Ipanema” by Antonio Carlos Jobin and other selections.
Members of the Harlem Quartet include Ilmar Gavilán and Melissa White on the violin, Jaime Amador on the viola and Felix Umansky on the cello.
The Harlem Quartet is a New York-based group that has been praised for its panache by “The New York Times.” The quartet’s mission is to advance diversity in classical music, engaging young and new audiences through the discovery and presentation of varied repertoire that includes works by minority composers. The group debuted in 2006 at Carnegie Hall and since has performed for President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House, and has appeared in France, the U.K., Belgium, Panama, Canada and South Africa. The quartet was also featured on “Corea’s Hot House” album, which won Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Album and Best Instrumental Composition.
Gavilán, a native of Cuba, has studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Reina Sofia School of Music in Spain and the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He is currently the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and performs as a regular substitute musician for the New Jersey Symphony.
White is a founding member of the Harlem Quartet. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in performance from the Curtis Institute of Music as well as a master’s degree in performance and a graduate diploma in professional quartet studies from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Amador was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and began his studies in the String Program for Children at the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music. He was accepted to The Juilliard School and later continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music.
Umansky is a frequently sought-after recitalist, chamber musician and pedagogue. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lincoln Center, the Krannert Center and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Umansky received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and an artist diploma from Yale University.
This performance is sponsored by the Linfield College Department of Music and the Linfield Lively Arts music series, in collaboration with Friends of Chamber Music. The Linfield Lively Arts music series features guests in concerts and in outreach activities, including master classes, open rehearsals and “Meet the Musicians” events.
Tickets for the evening performance are available at the door and are $10 for general admission and free for Linfield students with current ID and students K-12. The “Meet the Musicians” event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 503-883-2275 or visit linfield.edu/arts.
