Anderson Quartet Believes Classical Music is for Everyone

CONTACT: David
Kaplan

PHONE: (713) 348-6777

EMAIL: dkaplan@rice.edu

ANDERSON QUARTET BELIEVES
CLASSICAL MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE

Award-winning String Ensemble is Devoted
to Community Outreach

They are the first African American music ensemble to win a major
competition in the field of classical music. But what’s even more wonderful
about the Anderson String Quartet is their devotion to community outreach.

They have given concerts
at Alice Tully Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as
well as soup kitchens and institutions for the criminally insane.

They have given a
concert at the Chateau Cantanac-Brown in Bordeaux, France and performed live on “Good Morning America” after performing at President Clinton’s 1992
inauguration. They’ve also performed at juvenile correctional facilities. They
teach on a regular basis in inner city classrooms.

The Anderson Quartet
takes seriously its philosophy that classical music is literally meant for
everyone. “We’re trying to break down that barrier, the belief that classical
music is elitist,” says cellist Michael Cameron.

Even when giving “formal” concerts, they will schmooze between the playing of each musical work.

They entered Rice
University’s Shepherd School of Music this fall to study in the Quartet -more-
Training Program under the direction of Professor of Cello Paul Katz, and will
study at Rice for two years.

Marianne Henry, a
founding member of the group, says that the musicians originally came together
because they were friends who happened to be African American. But once they saw
the response they were getting from minority audiences they realized that they
were role models.

They see their time with
the children as being more than teaching scales.

“It’s so much bigger
than the music,” says Lawrence. “They’re budding human beings and everything you
do with them is important: The way you speak to them, look at them, hug them.
When I take the girls to the ladies’ room, I always have them look in the mirror
and remind them of how beautiful they are. These are the kind of things that
count for life.”

Their own lives have
certainly not been short on variety. In ’93, they performed at the inaugural
celebration for President Clinton. A few years earlier, when they lived in New
York City, the female members of the quartet performed on the sidewalk for tips
and drew huge crowds that spilled into the street. They would often get marriage
proposals from strangers. In ’97, Lawrence received and accepted a proposal from
someone she knew– Cameron.

When they lived in New
York City, they spent considerable time working with children at the Harlem
School of the Arts. The quartet members will be in Manhattan this summer and
plan to spend more time at the school.

Winner of the
International Cleveland Quartet Competition, the group is named after the
legendary contralto Marian Anderson.

For an interview with
the Anderson Quartet or more information, please call David Kaplan at (713)
348-6777.