Eliot Street Coffeehouse Presents A Quartet of Berklee College of Music String Quartets

A benefit concert for the First Church in Jamaica Plain 

The Anger - Haas - Parks - Jonsson Quartet
The International Gals of Quartetdom
The Four Corners Quartet
The Resurexon Quartet

Saturday, December 7, 8pm

6 Eliot Street, Jamaica Plain- Ma
Students, seniors and unemployed $10
All others $15 advance, $20 at the door
Tickets http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/512633
Website: http://www.firstchurchjp.org/eliotstreetcoffeehouse/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/6EliotStreet/
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Telephone - (617) 942-0716

The Eliot Street Coffeehouse at the First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian-Univeralist, located at 6 Eliot Street, is the result of a merger of First Church’s own “Eliot Street Soirée” series, and “notloB Parlour Concerts”, presented since 2006 across the monument at the Loring-Greenough House. 

The season began November 1 with a CD release concert by Fellswater, supported by Elizabeth and Ben Anderson, and continued on November 22 with the The Bombadils from Montreal, supported by Cat and the Moon. 

Eliot Street’s third concert of the season promises to be outrageous. Orchestrated by Professor Darol Anger, it will feature not one, not two, not three but FOUR string quartets!

Darol Anger's Berklee String Quartet, featuring Darol Anger (David Grisman Quartet, Republic of Strings, The Furies), Brittany Haas (Crooked Still and Republic of Strings), Catherine Bent and Lena Jonsson, playing contemporary international music from Brazil, Scandinavia, and the US. 

Fiddler, composer, producer and educator, Darol Anger is at home in a number of musical genres, some of which he helped to invent. Exceptional among modern fiddlers for his versatility and depth, Anger has helped drive the evolution of the contemporary string band through his involvement with numerous pathbreaking ensembles such as his Republic Of Strings, the Turtle Island String Quartet, the David Grisman Quintet, Montreux, his Duo with Mike Marshall, and others. 
He has performed and taught all over the world with musicians such as Dr. Billy Taylor, Bela Fleck, Bill Evans, Edgar Meyer, Bill Frisell, David Grisman, Tony Rice, Tim O’Brien, The Anonymous 4, Marin Alsop and the Cabrillo Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, Mark O’Connor, and Stephane Grappelli. Today Darol can be heard on NPR’s “Car Talk” theme every week, along with Earl Scruggs, David Grisman and Tony Rice. He was also the violinist on the phenomenally popular Sim City computer games. In addition to performing all over the world, he has recorded and produced scores of important recordings since 1977, is a MacDowell and UCross Fellow, and has received numerous composers’ residencies and grants. He has been a featured soloist on dozens of recordings and motion picture soundtracks. He is an Associate Professor at the Berklee School of music. He recently began an ambitious online Fiddle School at ArtistWorks.com.
http://darolanger.com/ 

California-born Brittany Haas is widely regarded as one of the most influential fiddlers of her generation. She grew up honing her craft in fiddle camps nationwide, and came to her unique sound through the old time fiddling of Bruce Molsky and the innovative stylings of Darol Anger. A prodigious youth, she began touring with Darol's Republic of Strings at the age of 14. She simultaneously studied baboons in the evolutionary biology department of Princeton University and joined seminal chamber-grass band Crooked Still. She has toured with them since, and also performed with Yonder Mountain String Band, Tony Trischka, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas (her cellist sister), Abigail Washburn, and The Waybacks. She played her fiddle on Steve Martin's Grammy Award-winning CD, "The Crow," and performed in his band on Letterman and SNL. She released her debut self-titled solo album at 17, produced by Darol Anger and featuring Bruce Molsky, Mike Dana Bruce Marshall l, Alison Brown and others. Currently residing in Boston, she is the co-leader of the Brittany Haas/Dan Trueman band who released their debut record "CrissCross" in 2011. She also plays in a fiddle duo with Lena Jonsson, an all-girl indie old-time band called The Fundies, and a trio with Jordan Tice & Paul Kowert.
http://brittanyhaas.com/

Cellist Catherine Bent, originally from London, was on the vanguard of crossover string players in New York in the 90’s, performing everywhere from Broadway shows to the Knitting Factory. In addition to her active chamber music life, she has toured and performed with Cirque du Soleil, Joe Jackson, Greg Osby, Lee Konitz and Kanye West, and has credits as a side musician and arranger on dozens of recordings. Catherine also performs in Rio de Janeiro and has made appearances on Radio Nacional as soloist with the legendary choro group Conjunto Época de Ouro. Her bands have included Trio Choro Brasil, Waters of March, Midnight Sun, Axis String Quartet, Axis Electric Strings, and new acoustic jazz quartet The Why. Catherine is on the faculty of Berklee College of Music, where she teaches in four different departments and brings her love of chamber music, improvisation and mixed styles into the classroom.
http://www.catherinebent.com/

Lena Jonsson is a curious musician, always searching for new projects and new musical meetings. She was brought in Hälsingland, a region in Sweden with a rich tradition of folkmusic and culture, in a family where everyone plays the fiddle. Even if she is brought up with folkmusic, she is not stuck in old wiews of how the music should be played, she is very open and likes to find new ways to express herself within the frame of folkmusic. She has studied traditional Swedish music one year at the music conservatory in Falun and three years at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and is currently studying at Berklee College of Music. 
http://www.lenajonsson.com/

The International Gals of Quartetdom are a dynamic & diverse quartet of four young women hailing from across the globe. Under the guidance of the inimitable, Darol Anger, they are united by their love of contemporary string music. The International Gals are Marta Roma (Cello, Barcelona), Sadie Currey (Violin, Tennessee), YeJi Yoon (Violin, Korea) and Adrianna Ciccone (5-String Violin, Canada). 

Marta is a versatile cellist from Barcelona. She graduated in classical cello and Music Education in 2011 and now she is developing her studies at Berklee College of Music. She has performed in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, US, Japan, Philippines, playing different kinds of music with various ensembles.

YeJi is a classically trained violinist, composer and arranger from Seoul, Korea. She studied Music theory and composition at SungShin Women's University. Now, she is attending at Berklee College of music and majoring Contemporary Writing and Production as a scholarship student.

Sadie is a fiddler and vocalist with panache and grace. The eldest of five children born into a musical family, Sadie started taking violin lessons at the age of 7. She has found her style and voice through years of performing with her family band CurreyKorn, Missouri-based Bluegrass band Midnight Flight, and through a year of Music Performance study at the University of Missouri. 

Adrianna is quickly establishing herself as a distinctive voice in the new-acoustic music scene. Her style, while rooted in the Ottawa Valley & Québecois fiddle traditions, continues to be inspired by the many different regional fiddles styles of Canada and the world including Appalachian, Métis, Cape Breton, Irish, Scottish & Scandinavian music. 

The Four Corners Quartet
Layth Al Rubaye (Jordan)
Ellen Story (USA)
Alliz Nicholas (England)
Naseem Alatrash (Palestine)

“Four players sit at the corners of a round table
Back to back they face one and another
Draw their instruments and play for each other. ”

Challenging cultural difference through music, The Four Corners string quartet celebrate their own identities whilst exploring each others musical influences. Originating from Jordan, USA, England and Palestine, they converse in middle-eastern, jazz, classical and folk styles. Their signature work Maracaibo composed by the notable cellist and Berklee Professor Eugene Friesen, uses complex rhythms native to traditional Venezuelan music, which acts as the backdrop to virtuoso improvisations and exciting extended techniques. Formed in 2013 at Berklee College of Music, Layth Al-Rubaye, Ellen Melissa Story, Alliz Nicholas, and Naseem Alatrash represent a new generation of young artists who enrich listeners with unique interpretations and shatter the traditional impression of the string quartet. Based in Boston, USA, the quartet enjoy performing at The Museum of Fine Arts, The Massachusetts State House, Berklee College of Music and for Layth’s cat Gordita.

The Resurexon Quartet
Isa Burke, Adrian Zemor, Holland Raper, Anna Stromer
The Resurexon String Quartet is a brand-new quartet of Berklee students who hail from diverse musical backgrounds, but are united in their desire to innovate and build bridges across musical styles. Under the direction of Darol Anger, they continue to propel the world of contemporary string music to new places. They are violinists Isa Burke and Holland Raper, cellist Adrian Zemor, and violist Anna Stromer. 

Isa Burke is a fiddler and songwriter who grew up in Maine and is now based in Boston. She was raised in a musical family and grew up in New England's rich folk community, and that tradition formed the foundation for all of the music she creates. Now in her third semester at Berklee studying violin performance and songwriting, Isa is developing a voice and a reputation as a rising talent in Boston's roots music scene. Her fiddling draws upon Appalachian old-time, bluegrass, Celtic, Québecois and Scandinavian traditions to forge a style rooted in tradition, yet undeniably powerful and new.

Holland Raper is a violinist from a suburb of Detroit. Trained in both classical and Celtic fiddle styles since a young age, Holland has performed in the DSO Civic Ensembles and represented the United States in the Fleadh Cheoil Irish Music Championships. She is currently a 7th semester student at Berklee, planning to graduate this May.

Born and raised in New York City, Adrian Zemor studied cello at Third Street Music School for 12 years. In high school, he started to branch out from the classical world, and played in a metal band while continuing his classical studies. He is currently a 5th semester performance major at Berklee, where he has been studying classical, rock, folk, and jazz.

Anna Stromer is a Boston-based violist who has performed with Yo Yo Ma, Richard Stoltzman, Mark Wood, Mark O’Connor, Issac Delgado, The Dear Hunter, Wyclef Jean, and Thirty Seconds to Mars. Anna has also been working with the Vitamin String Quartet as part of their live performance string quartet and with them has performed on MTV Unplugged with Thirty Seconds to Mars and on the 100th episode of Gossip Girl. Anna is currently enrolled at Berklee College of Music where she is majoring in music business, and is excited to perform as part of a string quartet with the Boston Ballet for “Cacti” in May of 2014.

TURN YOUR RADIO ON! Saturday, November 7, 8-10am. Darol Anger and Brittany Haas will be Doug Gessler's live, in-studio guest on "Lost Highway" on WMBR, 88.1fm, streaming at wmbr.org. Tune in for a chance to win tickets for a QUARTET OF BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC STRING QUARTETS.

Thanks to J.P. Licks for providing coffee and hot chocolate and Fiore's for providing pastries!