Huntington Invited to
Quartet Master Class
A group of Huntington High School string students were in elite company during a recent session on the campus of Long Island University – C.W. Post College when the teenagers attended a quartet master class with famed Shanghai violist Honggang Li.
"Only four other schools were invited to bring a quartet and our school was the only school that brought two quartets," said Lisa Leonardi, Huntington High School's orchestra director and a teacher at the school.
The Huntington contingent performed at the Tilles Center on the C.W. Post campus for the visiting Shanghai String Quartet, which was founded 27 years ago and has recorded nearly 30 CDs. Mr. Li is the violist and coach of that world famous ensemble.
Mr. Li worked with the Huntington students, providing instruction and offering individual suggestions and pointers. After the master class concluded, the Shanghai quartet performed for the high school students.
Attending the master class were Huntington freshman "quartet" members (there were five of them) Christian Jamison, Monica Owen, Ashley Melgar, Jesse Feldman-Stein and Sara Totura, who performed Crowdambo, a mambo for strings written by Jeremy Cohen, the first violinist in Quartet San Francisco.
Huntington's sophomore quartet consisting of Jennifer Polster, Sara Lockwood, Andrea Cerini and Adelia Witt, were also invited. They performed the first movement of Mozart Quartet, Kochel No. 387.
"This is a wonderful experience for these Huntington students," Superintendent John J. Finello said. "We're proud of them and pleased that their talents are being recognized."