WINSTON-SALEM – A string quartet from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) School of Music has been chosen to participate in the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild 2011 Master Class led by Joseph Lin, first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, at 10 a.m. Sunday, March 20, in Price Music Center on the campus of N.C. State University.

 

The public is invited to observe the master class at no charge. For more information, see: http://www.rcmg.org/master-classes.htm.

 

The quartet was also selected to perform prior to the Juilliard String Quartet’s performance at 3 p.m. March 20 in the A.J. Fletcher Theater in the Progress Energy Center in Raleigh. The quartet’s pre-concert program will begin at 2:15 in the theater’s lobby. For more information about the Juilliard quartet’s performance, see: http://www.rcmg.org/programs/masters/1011/Juilliard-String-Quartet.htm.

 

The quartet, which calls itself the Shostakovich String Quartet, will be performing Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8.

 

The quartet, coached by UNCSA School of Music faculty-artist Brooks Whitehouse, includes: violinist Alan Pearce, a college junior from Vilas, N.C.; violinist Jessie Snoke, a college sophomore from Lexington, N.C.; violist Jasmine Hayes, a second-year graduate student from Newport News, Va.; and cellist Haley Krajewski, a college sophomore from Johns Creek, Ga.

 

“The group has worked harder than any group I have ever coached here,” said Whitehouse. “They have thrown their hearts and souls into this challenging quartet, and their passion shows in their performance of it.”

 

Biographies

 

Jasmine Hayes is a native of Newport News, Va. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a B.A. in Music Education. She studied viola with Molly Sharp (principal viola, Richmond Symphony) and Steven Schmidt, also of the Richmond Symphony. She also studied violin under Yoko Kato (formerly of the Richmond Symphony), Susanna Klein of the Richmond Symphony, and Regine Barrau. Hayes has performed with Winston-Salem Symphony, UNCSA Symphony Orchestras, VCU Symphony Orchestra, The Intercollegiate Orchestra, The Richmond Philharmonic, Petersburg Symphony, River City String Quartet, Windemere String Quartet, as well as various chamber groups in the Richmond and Triad areas. Hayes is currently working on a master's degree in viola performance at UNCSA, under the instruction of Sheila Browne. Hayes has studied violin and viola for 16 years, and is currently the Violin/Viola Instructor for Forsyth Country Day School in Lewisville.

 

Haley Krajewski is a sophomore cello performance major at UNCSA, where she studies with Brooks Whitehouse. She started playing the piano when she was seven and began private cello lessons at 12. Her previous cello teachers include Alexandria Rice, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra cellist Joel Dallow, and Georgia State University cello professor Martha Gerschefski. On acceptance to UNCSA, she was named a William R. Kenan, Jr. Excellence Award winner, which will cover all tuition and fees for her four years at UNCSA. She is an active member in the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra and has performed in the UNCSA opera productions Maria Stuarda and Cosi Fan Tutte. She has also been asked to play for various student recitals and UNCSA’s Spring Dance. She is very involved in her school string quartet, which is now performing at  various venues in the Winston-Salem area. She is often called to play in ensembles for weddings, business functions, and other special events as well. In the summer of 2010, she traveled to Johnson City, Tenn., for Mark O’ Connor’s Fiddle Camp to study with folk cellist Ben Sollee. The experience was valuable to her growth as a more versatile cellist. She has also participated in master classes with Jeffrey Solow, Hans Jorgen Jenson, Robert Jesselson, and Daniel Laufer. She plans on continuing her studies at UNCSA to obtain her Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance.

 

Alan Pearce is a student of Kevin Lawrence at UNCSA. Pearce has held principal and concertmaster positions in the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra, and was selected as soloist for Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. He has also attended and played in master classes for the Miro and Emerson string quartets. Having played in honorary recitals in Heber Springs Ark., and Cannon Music Camp in North Carolina, as well as performed in Emerging Artists Concerts from 2010-11 at UNCSA, he has been noted for his excellence in chamber music. Recently Pearce has played in master classes for Lila Brown of Boston Conservatory as well as violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky.

 

Jessie Snoke is a college sophomore at UNCSA, where she studies with Kevin Lawrence.  She has studied violin for 12 years.  In 2007, she won the Winston-Salem Youth Symphony's Concerto Competition and soloed with them the following fall. She has attended Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival for five summers and has participated in chamber music master classes with Lila Brown and Timothy Eddy. 

 

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established as the North Carolina School of the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, UNCSA opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from high school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. UNCSA is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. UNCSA is located at 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.

               

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