Thursday, October 10, 2013

Wonderful time in Dark County schools

We have spent this week in Darke County, Ohio, visiting schools and bringing a wide range of music to area high school students, including Bartok, Brubeck, Wolosoff, Fujiwara and Eryilmaz.

DARKE COUNTY – Franklin Monroe and Arcanum students were in for a treat this Monday, as the talented Carpe Diem String Quartet performed for a captive audience in both school gymnasiums.
Each Darke County school is being paid a special visit this week by the string quartet as part of an ongoing Darke County Center for the Arts initiative to encourage the arts in youth.
“Carpe Diem did a tremendous job, and we enjoyed having them out,” said Franklin Monroe Principal Jason Wood. “The Darke County Center for Arts does a great job presenting material for our schools.”

http://dailyadvocate.com/main.asp?SectionID=108&SubSectionID=388&ArticleID=150369

Great bar!

Greenville Ohio - the Coffee Pot. Best coffee I have had in quite a while, so if you are in the Midwest make a trip!

Coffee at the best spot east of the Mississippi!

Breakfast at the Coffee Pot, in Greenville Ohio-this place rocks!

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Meet Amy Galluzzo, Carpe Diem String Quartet's amazing new 2nd violinist!

CDSQ's virtual interview with Ms. Galluzzo:

I grew up in England! My accent changes a lot depending on who I'm talking to and what I'm talking about. I moved there when I was 2 and I came back to the States for college.

If I weren't a musician, I would be a physical therapist. I came very close to applying to this or med school, but after much deliberation I realized that I just couldn't imagine myself not playing violin all the time!

Favorite foods/beverages: Chocolate, absolutely. Anything that has chocolate in it or on it!

Favorite composers: This is such a hard question. I think probably Bach; his music is exquisite. But then Beethoven and Brahms are also my favorites. And pretty much everyone else! Bartok is very high on the list for sure. I also love getting to know composers whose music I don't yet know, getting to know their character, their point of view, who they are and what they're trying to say.

Favorite authors: Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe pop into my mind immediately. Some of my favorite books or book series are: Wheel of Time, Belgariad, Sword of Truth, Earthsea series, Shannara series, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Earth's Children, Narnia... the list could go on a lot longer but that should give you some idea!!

Favorite movies: Ok on top of my list of books this is going to reveal my geek-i-ness! Star Wars and Lord of the Rings (original trilogy) are the ones that come to mind. And I always like to watch Four Weddings and a Funeral because the first wedding was filmed at a church near where I lived in England!

Favorite sports: I danced all through my childhood (ballet, tap and 'modern') until I went to college, and I still love to dance and to watch dance productions.  Racket sports too - we lived for a few years in a very strange house in England that had an extremely decrepit tennis court out back. We all would play tennis together as a family and that has stayed with me.

Favorite hobbies: Reading! Ever since I was a child, I would read constantly. I also make jewelry; I can (and often will) spend hours in a bead store. In fact, last summer I wandered into a bead store in Santa Fe with some friends and I almost got left behind because I was so absorbed with searching for the perfect center bead for a necklace for my mother. I didn't notice that my friends, having long since lost interest, were leaving!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Announcing the release of our latest recording! Volume 3 of Taneyev's Complete String Quartets

Our long project is more than halfway completed, with our third volume of the complete string quartets of Sergei Taneyev finally released by Naxos - check it out here! 
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573010
We've been performing and rehearsing the next quartets slated for recording and we plan on wrapping the project up with the final 3 quartets plus a wonderful SURPRISE piece for the final disk!  Stay tuned!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

A wonderful trip to Nantucket performing for the Nantucket Musical Arts concert series! Howard was helpful making everything work for us and our hosts were gracious and accommodating! Couldn't have been a better visit!
Chas and Co.

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Carpe Diem Quartet at Heifetz International Music Institute.

Just returned from an incredible week at the Heifetz International Music Institute. What an amazing place; the faculty are incredible and the students are out of this world! All created through the vision of founder and director, Danny Heifetz. It was an honor to be there, and we had the opportunity to share some of our vision about chamber music, performance and quartet life! Looking forward to the rest of the summer!