Quartet San Francisco Visits Huntington
Huntington High School orchestra students enjoyed a very special experience last Friday when Quartet San Francisco paid a visit for a unique workshop and concert.
"I enlisted Quartet San Francisco to do a workshop with two of my high school string quartet groups as well as a concert for all of my orchestra students later in the school day," said Lisa Leonardi, Huntington's orchestra director.
Quartet San Francisco was scheduled to perform a concert at Freeport High School on Saturday, but flew in from California one day early at Ms. Leonardi's request to work with the Huntington music teacher's students.
Two Huntington quartets worked with the professional musicians. The first of the quartets included Jennifer Polster, Sara Lockwood, Andrea Cerini and Adelia Witt. The second one consisted of Christian Jamison, Ashley Melgar, Jesse Feldman-Stein, Brian Gilbert, Sara Totura and Ben Nikodem.
"Actually, this second group included a bass, so it's really a string quintet," Ms. Leonardi said. "Brian Gilbert and Jesse Feldman-Stein shared the viola responsibilities."
The Huntington student-musicians learned Quartet San Francisco literature, composed by its first violinist, Jeremy Cohen. Ms. Polster's ensemble performed "Tanguori" and Mr. Jamison's ensemble performed "Tango Toscana" and "Crowdambo."
"Quartet San Francisco listened and coached them on various special effects that this Latin flavored music called for, such as Latigo and chicharra," Ms. Leonardi said.
Quartet San Francisco members have extensively studied Latin musical techniques "and are extremely polished," Ms. Leonardi said. "In fact, they have been nominated for a Grammy three times. They put on a very exciting concert for all of my 119 string students at the end of the school day. They also infused some John Coltrane and a bit of other eclectic styles."
To learn more about Quartet San Francisco, visit www.quartetsanfrancisco.com.