Harlem Quartet
Harlem Quartet performs for students at Leestown Middle School in Lexington, Kentucky.
Ilmar Gavilán, violin; age 37 Melissa White, violin; age 27 Juan Miguel Hernandez, viola; age 26 Paul Wiancko, cello; age 28
F
ormed by the Sphinx Organization in 2006, the Harlem Quartet made its Carnegie Hall debut in the fall of that year. Sphinx’s mission, shared by the quartet, is to promote diversity in classical music through engaging young audiences and performing varied repertoire, including jazz and works by minority composers. Now completing their second year in New England Conservatory’s Professional String Quartet Training Program, the ensemble has performed in such far-flung venues as the White House (for the Obamas in 2009) and New York’s Blue Note jazz club (with Chick Corea in November 2011). Their June 2012 performance of Randall Craig Fleischer’s West Side Story arrangement with the Chicago Sinfonietta and Music Director Mei-Ann Chen will be recorded for the quartet’s fourth album, where it will be featured alongside works by Benjamin Lees and
30
African-American Abels.
composer
Michael
Eileen Reynolds: What do you remember about the quartet’s first rehearsals? Melissa White: At first it was horrible! We didn’t think this was going to work. We’d never played with each other—we’d been thrown together, and our styles of learning were so different. But the Sphinx Organization had booked us a concert engagement, so we had to play. We worked for two months and luckily along the way we were able to find a way to work together. We performed a movement of Wynton Marsalis’s string quartet, and our chemistry onstage when we finally went to perform was just magnificent. Ilmar Gavilán: Most of us in the quartet didn’t have any jazz experience, so the first time we read the Marsalis it sounded really strange—really classical. It didn’t sound groovy at all! It took a while, but we finally got it. That’s one of the first major adjustments we had to make. Now jazz is a part of the second half of every program we play. Reynolds: Paul, you joined the quartet to
replace founding cellist Desmond Neysmith in
2010. Was that a difficult transition? Paul Wiancko: After a group has been
together for a while, you get to know each other well. And many times it’s difficult to break old habits and communicative shortcuts. But when I joined, everyone made an effort to start fresh and to include me every step of the way. Certain pieces they’d played before they re-learned, in a way. It almost becomes a new piece when the personnel is different. I was very lucky that they were willing to do that. Reynolds: Any advice for young quartets? Gavilán: Go to summer festivals that
feature quartets. The experience of living together and learning something together really fast shows you how much tolerance you have for the job. How good are you at communicating with your colleagues? How do you respond to outside comments? How great is your ability to compromise, and to lead when you have to lead? Then, if you really want to be successful, which is different from being simply good, you have to find a niche: something unique about the way you present music—something that sets you apart from other groups. n symphony
WINTER 2012