Internationally renowned Bayberry String Quartet is collaborating with Oakland Youth Orchestras (OYO) chamber ensembles, for a masterclass and free performance for the public.
The event will be held March 12th from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at University Presbyterian Church located at 1385 S Adams Rd, Rochester Hills, MI.
The Bayberry String Quartet combines performing and education to achieve their goal of encouraging people from all walks of life to enjoy and play music together. Through their individual and collaborative work, the four musicians have impacted the lives of thousands of musicians spreading the joy of music.
“This is a unique opportunity for OYO students. The workshop with the Bayberry String Quartet members will offer them new perspectives in the art of playing chamber music.”–Zeljko Milicevic, an OYO chamber ensembles coach.
Bayberry String Quartet Member, Violinist Nurit Pacht is a top prizewinner in international competitions. As a soloist she has performed at the European conference for the inauguration of the Euro in Brussels and under the auspices of the European Commission and United Nations she toured the former Yugoslavia. In 2015, she performed for Pope Francis on his visit to New York and gave a State Department funded recital tour of Ukraine. Pacht has also toured with orchestras around the world including the Houston Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Pacht has also toured with orchestras around the world including the Houston Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
Violinist, Steffani Kitayama, holds performance degrees from the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory Music and Northwestern University. She has performed with the Grammy nominated Inscape Chamber Orchestra, the New Orchestra of Washington and various chamber music collaborations throughout the States. A passionate chamber musician, Kitayama has studied with some of the great quartet players, notably Mathias Tacke of the Vermeer Quartet and has performed in collaboration with YoYo Ma, Simon Fischer, Peter Salaff, Nurit Pacht and members of the Cavani Quartet, Lincoln Trio and Artemis Quartet.
Violist Gabe Bolkosky has performed and taught across the United States and abroad. Over the last two decades, he spent six years as Guest Artist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor teaching violin and chamber music and as the Executive Director of The Phoenix Ensemble. Bolkosky also directs PhoenixPhest! and PhoenixPhest! Grande, two amateur chamber music festivals held each May and August. Recently, he founded the organization, Musicians Take a Stand, encouraging musicians to hold concerts for humanitarian causes and raise money through social media platforms.
Cellist Laura Usiskin has performed solos and chamber music throughout North America and Europe in such venues as Alice Tully Hall, Palazzo Chigi Saracini (Italy), Weill Hall, Barge and Europe in such venues as Alice Tully Hall, Palazzo Chigi Saracini (Italy), Weill Hall, Barge Music, and many others. In 2017, Usiskin released a solo album “Reimagining Bach” that features the 3rd Bach suite alongside two works commissioned for the album. She is also the Founder of the Montgomery Music Project, an El Sistema strings program for students in Montgomery, Alabama. Usiskin resides in Birmingham, AL, where she is on faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham-Southern College, Alabama School of Fine Arts, and STEP Birmingham. Through UAB, she founded the series “Chamber Music @ AEIVA” that presents free concerts connecting music with visual art. Usiskin graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and Behavior from Columbia University, Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music.