Friday, July 16, 2010

'Sphinx Organization Announces Launch of the Catalyst Quartet!'



[The Catalyst Quartet. From left to right, cellist Karlos Rodriguez, violinists Karla Donehew Perez and Bryan Hernandez-Luch, and violist Christopher Jenkins. Photo: Win Lubin.]

The Catalyst Quartet, a Sphinx Ensemble, comprises top Laureates and alumni of the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Competition for young Black and Latino string players. Founded by the Sphinx Organization, members of the Catalyst Quartet combine a serious commitment to diversity, excellence and education with a passion for accessible modern works. The members are violinists Bryan Hernandez-Luch and Karla Donehew Perez, violist Christopher Jenkins, and cellist Karlos Rodriguez.

Graduates of top music schools in the country, including the Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory of Music and Cleveland Institute of Music, the Catalyst Quartet serves as principal faculty at the Sphinx Performance Academy at Oberlin College and Roosevelt College in Chicago, Illinois, and as visiting teaching artists at the Sphinx Preparatory Music Institute hosted by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The mission of the ensemble is to advance diversity in classical music and inspire new and young audiences with dynamic performances of cutting-edge repertoire by a wide range of composers.

Having recently received coachings from Annie Fullard of the Cavani Quartet, in residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Catalyst Quartet will next be in London conducting educational residencies through In Harmony England, a program based on Venezuela’s El Sistema. They will also be featured in a forthcoming BBC documentary on music education.

The Catalyst Quartet will make their debut at Carnegie Hall on October 5th, 2010, and at the National Conference for Grantmakers in the Arts, in addition to appearing as the featured Guest Artists for the 14th annual Sphinx Competition for young Black and Latino String Players presented by the DTE Energy Foundation. Members of the ensemble have performed as part of the national Sphinx Chamber Orchestra Tour, which has met with critical acclaim since its inception in 2008 and embarks on its third annual tour this Fall.

The Sphinx Laureates at Carnegie Hall is presented with generous support from Sheila C. Johnson and Bloomberg. The Sphinx Chamber Orchestra tour is made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Support for youth and community programs through Musical Encounters-The Tour! provided by Target.

Meet the Members of the Catalyst Quartet!

Bryan Hernandez-Luch began his violin studies at the age of six. Hailed by the press for his compelling performance at the 2003 Sphinx Competition, Bryan won first place in the senior division while performing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. As a Sphinx Laureate, Bryan has appeared with the Cleveland, Atlanta, New Jersey, Utah, Chautauqua, New World, Colorado, Nashville, Grand Rapids, Prince George Philharmonic and Battle Creek symphony orchestras as well as Canada's National Arts Center Orchestra. Also an avid chamber musician, Bryan was the first violinist and founding member of the Sphinx Quartet. Bryan has studied at the Manhattan School of Music, University of Utah, and Brigham Young University. Bryan's principal teachers include Igor Gruppman, Hasse Borup, Isaac Malkin and Nell Gotkovsky. He has also worked with Itzhak Perlman, Joseph Silverstein and William Preucil.

A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Karla Donehew Perez began playing the violin at age three. She entered the children's string program at the Conservatory of Puerto Rico at age seven. There she studied with Henry Hutchinson, concertmaster of the Puerto Rich Symphony Orchestra, with whom she performed as a soloist. She continued her studies with Zaven Melikian, former concertmaster of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Karla completed her Bachelors and Masters degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying performance with the heralded violin teacher Paul Kantor, David Cerone and William Preucil. Karla was awarded as a Laureate in the 2008 Sphinx Competition. Recently, Karla was featured on the Young Artist Series for the Festival del Sole, in Napa Valley, California and was guest concertmaster of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Currently, she is entering her second year as a fellow of the New World Symphony.

Christopher Jenkins, violist, is a sought-after performer in the classical and rock worlds in New York City. Having performed in the viola sections of the New York Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, and American Ballet Theatre, he has soloed in London and Manchester with jazz great George Russell’s Living Time Orchestra, and was the violist of Invert, an alternative-rock string quartet, and the Haven String Quartet. Past multi-year Laureate of the Sphinx Competition, Chris has served as violist for the Sphinx Quartet, and performed at the Quartet’s Carnegie debuts in both Stern and Weill halls in 2005. He is currently associate principal viola of the Miami Symphony and assistant principal viola of the Reading Symphony.

In the spring of 2004, Mr. Jenkins graduated from the Manhattan School of Music, where he earned a Professional Certificate studying with Michael Tree and Karen Dreyfus. He earned his M.M. at New England Conservatory, where he studied with Martha Katz, and his B.A. at Harvard University, where he concentrated in music and psychology and studied with Michelle LaCourse of Boston University. He has served as Dean of the Sphinx Performance Academy since 2007, and was awarded the Sanford Allen Award in 2010 by the Sphinx Organization in recognition of his professional achievements as Dean.

Cellist Karlos Rodriguez made his orchestral debut at the age of thirteen to great audience and critical acclaim. Karlos has since been an avid recitalist and chamber musician appearing at many of our important musical venues including Carnegie Hall, Merkin concert hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel center, and Radio City Music Hall. Karlos has also had the honor of working with distinguished artists such as the Beaux Arts Trio, American, Cavani, Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, Miami, Orion, Tokyo, and Vermeer String Quartets; Janos Starker, Lynn Harrell, and Steven Isserlis. His teachers have included Richard Aaron, Peter Wiley, and David Soyer. Karlos has attended and been a guest artist at the ENCORE School for Strings, Sarasota, Aspen, and Kneisel Hall chamber music festivals, Cleveland Chamber Music Society, and the Philadelphia Orchestra Chamber Music Society. Karlos is a top alumnus of the Sphinx Competition and veteran faculty member of the Sphinx Performance Academy.

Also as a teacher he is on the faculty at Summertrios and coaches chamber music at the Schneider Series-New York String Seminar. He is also the co-founder and music director of the Amagansett Chamber Music Festival. Karlos has worked on various Broadway musicals and Pop albums, most recently with Shakira and Marc Anthony. In addition to his other musical activities he is also the Principal Cellist of the Florida Grand Opera Orchestra in Miami. [The Founder/President of The Sphinx Organization is violinist Aaron P. Dworkin (b. 1970), who is profiled at AfriClassical.com.]





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