Musicians Take Classical Talents to Inner City Classrooms

CONTACT: David Kaplan
PHONE:
(713) 831-4791
E-MAIL: mcinelli@rice.edu

MUSICIANS TAKE CLASSICAL TALENTS TO INNER CITY CLASSROOMS

Anderson Quartet Studying, Reaching Out to Community from Rice’s
Shepherd School

They bring their cello, viola and
violins to Houston’s inner city to play and teach classical music to elementary
school children.

They are the Anderson Quartet, the first African American
music ensemble to win a major competition in the field of classical music. The
acclaimed quartet has performed live on ”Good Morning America,” at the Kennedy
Center for President Clinton’s inauguration, in New York’s Alice Tully Hall and
in Paris, France.

The Anderson Quartet has recently moved to Houston to study
in the Quartet Training Program at Rice’s Shepherd School of
Music.

The 10-year-old Anderson Quartet is devoted to community
outreach. Working with the non-profit, educational reform group Project GRAD,
they have begun teaching music classes on Fridays at Looscan, an HISD inner city
elementary school. The Anderson Quartet will also give free concerts at the
Houston Zoo and the Wortham Theatre, each presented by Da Camera of
Houston.

Anderson Quartet violinist Marianne Henry notes that the
group formed because they were musician friends who happened to be African
American. But when they noticed the response they were getting from minority
audiences, they realized they were role models and soon felt that they had a
mission: ”Through personal interaction with the public, to create new and
diverse audiences for the field of chamber music.”

When they lived in New York City, the Anderson musicians
performed on the sidewalk for tips and drew huge crowds that spilled into the
street. In those days they were an all-female group and when performing they’d
get marriage proposals from strangers. The Anderson Quartet later studied at the
famed Eastman School of Music.

On Dec. 2, the Anderson Quartet will give its first Houston
recital, at the Shepherd School’s Stude Concert Hall at 8 p.m. On April 8, 2000,
they will give a free concert at the Houston Zoo and on Feb. 2, 2000 a free
lunch time concert downtown at the Wortham Theater. The zoo and Wortham concerts
are presented by Da Camera of Houston.

Named after legendary contralto Marian Anderson, the
Anderson Quartet will be studying with renowned cellist, Paul Katz a founding
member of the Grammy Award winning Cleveland Quartet and one of the most
sought-after cello teachers in the world.

For interviews with the Anderson
Quartet or more information, please call David Kaplan at (713) 831-4791 or
contact him by e-mail at <dkaplan@rice.edu>.

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