KCStudio.org: Harlem Quartet Comes to Carlsen Center as Ensemble-in-Residence

KC Studio

Harlem Quartet Comes to Carlsen Center as Ensemble-in-Residence for Heartland Chamber Music Festival

by Libby Hanssen

July 2, 2019

The Group’s July 31 “Cross Pollination” Concert Will Draw from Diverse Cultures, Exploring Ragtime, Afro-Cuban Rhythms and Classical Music

The Harlem Quartet debuted in 2006, named to honor the Harlem Renaissance of 100 years ago. The ensemble was founded by the Sphinx Organization, which uses classical music to further social justice. It has traveled the world promoting diversity in classical music and engaged young audiences by presenting both traditional string quartet repertoire and a variety of styles by underrepresented composers.

This July, the Harlem Quartet returns to the Kansas City area as ensemble-in-residence for the Heartland Chamber Music Festival at Johnson County Community College’s Carlsen Center.

“Our main goal is to inspire the kids by helping them identify with the music and the performers, to see people that look like them,” said Ilmar Gavilán, violinist and founding member of Harlem Quartet. The quartet includes fellow violinist and founding member Melissa White, as well as Jaime Amador on viola and Felix Umansky on cello.

Harlem Quartet has come to Kansas a few times, including a 2017 residency with the Heartland festival, which has previously invited the Miami String Quartet and the Parker Quartet.

“Having a professional string quartet every summer to work with our local and national students is so critical to their development,” said Victoria Olson, one of the festival’s founders and co-artistic directors.

Harlem Quartet’s concert is called “Cross Pollination.” It explores influences from various cultures in the string quartet and brings together these diverse worlds.

Willliam Bolcom’s “Three Rags for String Quartet” began life as a work for piano, exploring the ragtime style, while Claude Debussy’s “String Quartet” in G minor incorporates the persistent rhythms of Indonesian gamelan. Debussy’s writing style influenced the jazz musicians of New Orleans, and those musicians, in turn, shared ideas with musicians in Cuba, where Gavilán grew up in a prominent musical family.

Originally from Havana, Gavilán studied classical violin but also learned styles like jazz and salsa that he heard on the radio and in the street, at social clubs and carnival. “The music is all around you,” he laughed, “so you pick up a couple of things.”

They’ll also perform a work by Gavilán’s father — composer and conductor Guido López-Gavilán. His “Cuarteto en Guanguancó” uses Afro-Cuban rhythms and textures. The program concludes with Johannes Brahms “String Quartet No. 3, Op. 67,” a pleasant, playful work that has youthful charm, ideal for a primarily young audience.

The concert is a classic example of the sort of eclectic viewpoint the group brings to the genre. Harlem Quartet has worked with masters of many idioms, including Chick Corea and Gary Burton. The quartet was featured on the Grammy Award-winning tune “Mozart Goes Dancing” from Corea and Burton’s album “Hot House.”

An inspiring opportunity for students

But their stay in Kansas is more than just an inspirational performance. During their two-day residency, they also coach the Heartland participants, working with students from middle school through pre-professional level players.

“We work it out that every single student gets to work with them in their group, so it’s really hands-on for the 80 students in the festival,” said Olson.