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Ilmar Gavilan, violin
Melissa White, violin
Juan-Miguel Hernandez, viola
Desmond Neysmith, cello
| The Harlem Quartet - 2008
The Harlem Quartet, comprising First-Place Laureates of the Sphinx Competition, has a unique and challenging mission: to advance diversity in classical music while engaging young and new audiences through the discovery and presentation of varied repertoire, highlighting works by minority composers. Dedicated to community engagement as well as superb classical performance, this innovative and daring all-Black and Latino string quartet serves as Principal Faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy at Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts, one of the premier independent arts prep schools in the world, and as Visiting Faculty at the Sphinx Preparatory Music Institute at Wayne State University in Detroit.
The Harlem Quartet made their acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut in the fall of 2006 at the Sphinx Organization’s 10th anniversary gala at Carnegie Hall, earning rave reviews from The New York Times. A month later they debuted at the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem. They returned to Carnegie in late January 2007 as participants in Arts Presenters’ prestigious and highly competitive Young Performers Career Advancement (YPCA) program. In addition to being avid chamber musicians, each member of the Harlem Quartet is a seasoned solo artist, having appeared with the New York Philharmonic, the Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Sinaloa de las Artes (Mexico) and Baltimore symphonies and the Boston Pops, among others. As a quartet, they have performed in many communities across the country including Detroit, New York, Atlanta and Boston. The ensemble has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, and their debut CD is currently released on White Pine Music label. They will release their second and third CD on White Pine and Naxos labels respectively. Their 2008-09 season includes performances in Michigan, California, New York, Boston and other communities.
They are co-managed by Sciolino Artist Management (SAM - www.samnyc.us) of New York City, and the Sphinx Organization. For booking information, please contact Sciolino Artist Management, Marianne Sciolino, Executive Director, 212-721-9975; marianne@samnyc.us.
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 | Michael Abels & Sphinx Alumni - 2007
To celebrate the 10th Annual Sphinx Competition, Sphinx has commissioned a new composition from Michael Abels, one of the leading African-American composers in the country. This work will bring together our professional Sphinx Symphony, along with alumni from the first nine years of the competition, joined by this year’s Semi-Finalists as well as the Harlem Quartet. This world premiere, Delights and Dances, is a unique composition that celebrates the wonderful musical traditions of the African-American and Latino communities by utilizing influences of jazz, blues and Latin dance idioms.
All alumni from the previous nine years of the Sphinx Competition have been invited back to join the Sphinx Symphony for this historic world premiere. The alumni joining the orchestra for the commissioned work (which will close the Finals concert) have gone on to study at Curtis and Cleveland Institutes of Music, along with Juilliard, New England, Manhattan, University of Michigan Music Schools, Harvard, and other top institutions. The symphony will also feature those alumni who have now gone on to join the ranks of our nation’s professional orchestras, including current members of the Oregon, Grand Rapids and San Antonio Symphonies. This superb group of musicians (totaling approximately 130) will perform under the skillful baton of Kay George Roberts, a world-class musician and conductor. This gathering of musicians of several generations will serve as a remarkably positive avenue generating a synergy of mentorship, networking and the magic of making music.
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 | Mosaic Singers of Detroit - 2006
One of the three components of Mosaic Youth Theatre's ensemble, the Mosaic Singers masterfully combines the vocal talents of young people from all over the metropolitan Detroit area to create a unique hybrid of harmonious sounds. Mosaic enables these young artists to refine their craft in a professional creative environment that prepares them for excellence on stage and in life. Through this incomparable performing arts training program, the singers achieve critical youth development while working to produce first-rate theatrical and musical performances. In addition to annual performances at the prestigious Max M. Fisher Music Center and the Detroit Institute of Arts, these highly sought-after young artists have performed at the White House, the Kennedy Center, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and in twenty states throughout the U.S. They have performed for dignitaries such as President Clinton and Rose Kennedy and have served as opening acts for such greats as Al Green, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Pete Seeger and Sweet Honey in the Rock.
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 | Patrice Jackson - 2005
Patrice Jackson, a native of St. Louis, is the sixth generation in her family to play a stringed instrument. She began piano lessons at three with her mother and cello at eight with her father. Ms. Jackson made her debut at thirteen with the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra performing the Elgar Cello Concerto. Since winning the 2002 Sphinx Competition, Ms. Jackson has performed with the Atlanta, Detroit, Dallas, New Jersey, Milwaukee, Omaha, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Grand Rapids, Nashville, Hartford, Chautauqua, and Colorado Symphonies, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra. In June of 2002, she made her international orchestral and recital debut in South Africa. Ms. Jackson has studied chamber music with Claude Frank and the Tokyo String Quartet at the Yale School of Music, as well as the Juilliard String Quartet at the Juilliard School. Patrice was the recipient of the 2002 Yale University Aldo Parisot Prize awarded to "a gifted cellist who shows promise for a concert career." Ms. Jackson has studied cello with Janos Starker and Aldo Parisot. She is a graduate of Yale School of Music and is currently studying at the Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick. Patrice Jackson performs on an Alberto Blanchi cello generously donated by Franklin and Tresa McCallie of Kirkwood, Missouri and Doris Taylor Cope of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
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 | Sanford Allen - 2004
Violinist Sanford Allen was appointed Director of the Clarion Concerts
in Columbia County's Leaf Peeper Series after the death of its founder Newell Jenkins. Mr. Allen started his study of the violin at the age of seven and entered the Juilliard School of Music at age ten, continuing at the Mannes College of Music under Mme. Vera Fonaroff. In 1962 he became the first black musician ever to become a regular member of the New York Philharmonic. Regarding his recording of Cordero's violin concerto with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Strad magazine said: "Its virtuoso challenges are thrillingly met by Sanford Allen a fabulous player who was, incidentally, the first African-American to gain a regular
place with the New York Philharmonic in 1962. Despite the challenging nature
of the writing, the listener's attention is held effortlessly throughout due
largely to the extraordinary commitment and finesse of Allen's playing.
Indeed the intensity generated by this impassioned performance is nothing
short of overwhelming. Well worth seeking out". His solo appearances with orchestra have included the Quebec, Baltimore, Detroit Symphonies and the New York Philharmonic. He served on the advisory panel of the New York State Arts Council and was also a member of the Executive Board of the Kennedy Center National Black Music Colloquium and Competition. In 1998, Mr. Allen gave a premiere performance of Sir Roland Hanna's Sonata for Violin and Piano
at the Kennedy Center in Washington, joined by the composer.
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Brazeal Dennard Choral Ensembles - 2004
The Brazeal Dennard Choral Ensembles, founded in 1972, is a 501 (c)
non-profit organization dedicated to developing the choral art to its highest
professional level though performing choral literature of different styles
and periods. The Chorale researches, commissions, develops and performs
new, rare and historically significant choral works, with an emphasis on
women and minority composers, for the pleasure and enjoyment of audiences
everywhere. It also serves the needs of performers, composers, the artistic
community and youth through music education, lectures and demonstrations,
rehearsals, and opportunities to participate in live performances,
recordings and broadcasts.
Dr. Brazeal W. Dennard, founder and leader of the Chorale, has a
professional career that spans fifty years. Dr. Dennard was an instructor
for the Detroit Public Schools and superwised the school system¹s music
curriculum from 1983 until his retirement in 1989. Dr. Dennard presently
holds the position of adjunct professor at Wayne State University, where he
earned his Master¹s Music Education Degree. In May 2000, Dr. Dennard
received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Olivet College
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 | Take 6 - 2003
In a creative climate populated by
here-and-gone "success" stories and
flash-in-the-pan imitators, Take 6 can
rightly lay claim to having given the world of contemporary music something truly lasting and uniquely its own. Performing in an all-voice, no-instrument "a cappella" format, the six-man group - on its debut recording (1988's million-plus-selling Take 6) - gave the world thick beds of head-spinning vocal arrangements and harmonic eloquence literally never heard before. And now with ten albums, millions of units sold and innumerable Grammy, Soul Train, Dove and Down Beat Magazine awards to its credit, Take 6 continues to surprise, delight and amaze at every turn with its latest release, Beautiful World.
While never losing that grounding in bedrock gospel, over the years Take 6 has built a style and catalog of songs that draw from so many diverse genres of popular music it renders their sound happily and almost hopelessly difficult to categorize. Anyone trying to break down the absolutely singular Take 6 signature sound would find themselves looking at a list that included gospel, jazz, doo-wop, R&B, pop, '60s soul and hip-hop -and that's just for starters. Take 6 has always been, and remains, the most original, innovative and inimitable vocal ensemble ever to make music for the masses. Performing recently with Stevie Wonder on the internationally viewed and multi-network broadcast America: A Tribute To Heroes, it's also clear that Take 6 still maintains the same immediacy and impact on modern culture it has held for well over a decade.
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 | Branford Marsalis - 2002
One of the premiere jazz saxophonists playing today, Branford Marsalis performs with a subtlety of tone and phrasing only the finest interpreters can attain. Equally at home on the stages of the world's jazz clubs as well as its classical halls, Marsalis weaves his way through genres from blues to pop to classical with a musical scope and innovative spirit of daring proportions in a never-ending effort to challenge perceived musical boundaries and limitations.
The New Orleans native was born into one of the city's most distinguished musical families which includes brothers Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason and the family patriarch, pianist/music educator Ellis Marsalis. In 1984, he released Scenes In the City, his first album for Columbia Jazz, beginning a thriving jazz career. He also made successful forays into the pop world with artists such as the Grateful Dead, Sting, and Bruce Hornsby.
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