Harlem Quartet is a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

that was originally composed of first-place laureates of the Sphinx Competition for Black and Latino string players. They were formed in 2006. The members are first

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist Ilmar Gavilán, second violinist Melissa White,

violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

Jaime Amador, and

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

Felix Umansky. The Quartet won

Best Instrumental Composition The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition (including its previous names) has been awarded since 1960. The award is presented to the composer of an original piece of music (not an adaptation), first released during the eligibility year. I ...

at the

2013 Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

for Mozart Goes Dancing.

Career

2006–2008: Career Beginnings and Take the "A" Train

The Harlem Quartet debuted at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

in the fall of 2006 at the Sphinx Organization's 10th anniversary gala concert, and played there again in late January 2007 as participants in Arts Presenters' prestigious and highly competitive Young Performers Career Advancement (YPCA) program as well as in October 2008 with the Cleveland Quartet's cellist Paul Katz at the annual Sphinx gala. They have returned to Carnegie on numerous other occasions. In 2006 it made its debut at Harlem's legendary

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

with a well-received performance of Wynton Marsalis's At the Octoroon Balls. In collaboration with cellist Carter Brey, it performed in December 2008 at the Library of Congress in a concert including Schubert's Cello Quintet which employed the Library's matched collection of Stradivari instruments. The Harlem Quartet has been featured on WNBC, CNN, the ''Today Show'', WQXR-FM, and the Art Beat section of the ''NewsHour with Jim Lehrer'' website. In 2007 White Pine Music issued the quartet's first CD, ''Take the "A" Train'', a release that was featured in the November issue of ''Strings'' magazine that year.

2009−2011: Paul Chihara: "Love Music" and greater success

The quartet opened its 2009−10 season returning as featured soloists on the national Sphinx Chamber Orchestra Tour, making thirteen stops coast-to-coast including Carnegie Hall, Eastman School of Music, Oberlin College, and Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. In December it played two performances at the White House for guests of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and made an appearance Christmas morning on NBC's Today Show. In 2009 the quartet also performed by invitation with Itzhak Perlman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and made its London debut performing at the residence of the US ambassador to the UK. Throughout the season the quartet will collaborate with seasoned artists such as Carter Brey, Yehuda Hanani and Paul Freeman and the Chicago Sinfonietta, performing Mozart's "Sinfonia Concertante", Brahms's "Double Concerto", and Michael Abels's "Delights & Dances" for solo string quartet and orchestra. Its second CD, featuring works of Walter Piston, was released in 2010 by Naxos. On a third recording by the quartet ''Eternal Evolution'' they collaborated with pianist Awadagin Pratt to showcase works by Judith Lang Zaimont. In the summer of 2008, as participants in The Perlman Music Program, the quartet members worked daily with such master musicians as

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

Donald Weilerstein Donald Weilerstein (born 1940) is an American violinist and pedagogue. Early life and education Weilerstein was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Berkeley, California. He began playing the violin at the age of four and earned a Bachelor o ...

, Paul Katz, and Roger Tapping. The quartet spent two week at Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in June 2009, performing and giving master classes, and has been invited to return for the 2010 festival. The Quartet started touring around this time.

2012−present: Delights & Dances success and touring

In 2012 the quartet start touring performing in the US and UK. They also are featured on ''Delights & Dances'' with

Mei-Ann Chen Mei-Ann Chen (; born 1973) is a Taiwanese American conductor. She is currently music director of the Chicago Sinfonietta and conductor laureate of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Early life and education A native of Taiwan, Chen wanted to be ...

and Chicago Sinfonietta released on 28 May 2013. The Quartet won Best Instrumental Composition at the

for ''Mozart Goes Dancing''. In 2012, former cellist

Paul Wiancko Paul Wiancko (born 1983) is an American composer and cellist of the Kronos Quartet. Early life and education Paul Kenji Wiancko was born in San Clemente, California. He began playing the cello at age 5 and composed his first piece at age 8.

and former violist Juan Miguel Hernandez both left to pursue other careers. In replacing Wiancko, White and Gavilán decided to no longer categorize the quartet by color. Harlem Quartet along with Chick Corea and Gary Burton, recorded the album titled “Hot House.” The ensemble is set to continue their “Hot House Tour” in Japan in June 2014.

Accomplishments

Discography

*Take the 'A' Train (White Pine) (2007) *Paul Chihara: Love Music (2011) *Delights & Dances (2013)

Awards

Grammys

External links

''Harlem Quartet'' Website

The Sphinx Organization Website

White Pine Music

References

{{authority control Musical groups established in 2006 American instrumental musical groups American string quartets