[Melissa White on violin, will perform with the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra on Tuesday night at Kutztown University's Schaeffer Auditorium.]
Originally Published: 10/7/2010
By Susan L. Peña
Reading Eagle Correspondent
“When violinist Melissa White was 4 years old, she happened to see Itzhak Perlman with Elmo on 'Sesame Street,' and 'liked the way his chin fit so perfectly in the chin rest.' Now, two decades later, she is part of the Harlem String Quartet, which will appear with the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and violin soloist Elena Urioste, on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Schaeffer Auditorium as part of the Kutztown University Performing Artists Series.
“The kind of chance encounter and inspiration that White had as a child is what the Sphinx Organization is all about. In addition to holding competitions (of which Urioste and all the players in the Harlem String Quartet are winners) and running programs to help musicians of diverse ethnic backgrounds, the organization sends musicians into economically challenged schools to help children have contact with young artists who can inspire them.
“White, a native of Lansing, Mich., started Suzuki-style lessons at 6, and by the time she was 11 her mother, an elementary school guidance counselor, was driving her the five hours each way to Chicago for instruction. Her last two years of high school were spent at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy, a boarding school for musicians, and after that she was accepted into the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. In 2007, her last year there, as part of an outreach program, she visited schools in the Reading School District, performing and interacting with the students, and gave a recital at Stirling and played a solo with the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra.
“As a teen, White appeared on the radio program 'From the Top,' with host Christopher O'Riley, an experience she said was 'as much fun as it sounds. It lets kids be truly themselves.' She also competed several times in the Sphinx Competition, winning first in the junior division in 2001. The prizes were a year of concert appearances with major symphonies, and coaching by the late Isaac Stern. At the age of 14, White made her first recording with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, performing 'An American Concerto' by Gwenyth Walker on Albany Records.
She has been a member of the Ritz Chamber Players in Jacksonville, Fla., and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Musicians in New York. White is currently working on her master's degree at the New England Conservatory. The Harlem String Quartet made its debut in 2006 at Carnegie Hall as part of the Sphinx Organization's gala concert, and they have since performed at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. The rest of the quartet is comprised of violinist Ilmar Gavilan, a native of Havana, Cuba; violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez, a Canadian; and cellist Desmond Neysmith, who earned a bachelor's degree from the Royal College of Music in London.”
“White said they will be performing 'La Oracion del Torero' ('The Bullfighter's Prayer') by Joaquin Turina, and an arrangement of the spiritual 'Wade in the Water.' She said she will also play a duet with Urioste: Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins, Op. 56. Urioste, a celebrated violinist with an already extensive performing background, was soloist with the Reading Symphony Orchestra in September 2008. [The Harlem Quartet is an ensemble of the Sphinx Organization, which was founded in 1996 by violinist Aaron P. Dworkin (b. 1970), who is profiled at AfriClassical.com]
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