2011 FACULTY
The Cecilia String Quartet
Min-Jeong Koh | Sarah Nematallah | Caitlin Boyle | Rachel Desoer
www.ceciliastringquartet.com
Photo Credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
Praised for their 'extraordinary commitment and maturity' (Montréal Gazette) and 'talent, passion and mastery' (Jacques Robert, JR Multimedia), the Cecilia String Quartet is one of Canada's most exciting young ensembles today. First Prizewinners at the 2010 Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC), they are currently the Resident String Quartet at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada.
The CSQ has performed across North America and in Europe for organizations such as Music Toronto (Toronto, Canada), The La Jolla Music Society (San Diego, USA), ProQuartet (Paris, France), and the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Ottawa, Canada). They also toured Ontario, Québec and British Columbia with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada on their Desjardins Concert Series, and will tour with them again in the Maritime Provinces in 2012. In addition to their first prize at BISQC, they were winners of the BISQC Canadian Commission Piece Prize, 2nd Prizewinners at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, winners of the SACEM Prize at the 2010 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, First Prizewinners and winners of the Melpomene prize at the 2008 Rutenberg Competition at the University of South Florida, and winners of the 2007 Galaxie Rising Stars Award in Canada. Committed to teaching and outreach, the CSQ has taught and performed at the Austin Chamber Music Festival in Texas, San Diego State University in California, McGill University in Québec, and QuartetFest at Laurier University in Waterloo, and has presented educational programs for elementary and high schools across the USA, Canada, and France.
The CSQ is highly interested in taking on large scale projects that are aimed at musical exploration and innovation. In 2009 the CSQ embarked on the large scale project 'BLiM' (Breathing Life into Music), a month long residency in France generously supported by ProQuartet and the Centres Culturels de Rencontre Association in France and Europe (ACCR). The project culminated in the performance of two quartets by Théodore Dubois that were lost for the past century, as well as a new piece written for them by American composer Liam Wade. They kicked off 2010 with another large-scale project at the Banff Center for the Arts, involving collaborations with Common Sense Composers Collective and the Afiara String Quartet, and culminating in the premiere of four brand new quartets written for them.
Most recently, the CSQ was the Resident String Quartet at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, and the Resident String Quartet for the 60th anniversary season of Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. Since their inception in 2004, the quartet has held short and long term residencies at San Diego State University, Laurier University, the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and the University of Toronto where the quartet was formed. Their debut performance at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto was met with high praise, and their first season culminated in the receipt of the University of Toronto Felix Galimir Award for Chamber Music Excellence after only 6 months as a quartet. Since this time they have participated in many prestigious summer festivals, such as the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York, the Stanford Chamber Music Seminar in California, the Deer Valley Music Festival in Utah, the Schleswig-Holstein Chamber Music Festival in Germany, the Great Lakes Music Festival in Michigan, and the Aspen Music Festival's Advanced String Quartet Studies program.
The Cecilia String Quartet takes its name from St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. They have worked with members of the Juilliard, Emerson, Tokyo, St. Lawrence, Ying, Brentano, Penderecki, and Orford Quartets, among others. Members of the CSQ have attended the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Juilliard School of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Hochschule fur Musik und Theatre MuncheninMunich,Germany.
CSQ Performances have been broadcast on Classical 96.3FM (Toronto, Canada), CBC Radio 2 (Toronto, Canada), KUT 90.5 FM (Austin, Texas), and ABC Classical FM (Melbourne, Australia). Min-Jeong Koh currently plays on the ca. 1767 Joannes Baptista Guadagnini violin on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts and an anonymous donor, and and Sarah Nematallah currently plays on the 1851 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume on loan from an anonymous donor. The quartet would like to thank the anonymous donor and the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous support.
The CSQ has performed across North America and in Europe for organizations such as Music Toronto (Toronto, Canada), The La Jolla Music Society (San Diego, USA), ProQuartet (Paris, France), and the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Ottawa, Canada). They also toured Ontario, Québec and British Columbia with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada on their Desjardins Concert Series, and will tour with them again in the Maritime Provinces in 2012. In addition to their first prize at BISQC, they were winners of the BISQC Canadian Commission Piece Prize, 2nd Prizewinners at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, winners of the SACEM Prize at the 2010 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, First Prizewinners and winners of the Melpomene prize at the 2008 Rutenberg Competition at the University of South Florida, and winners of the 2007 Galaxie Rising Stars Award in Canada. Committed to teaching and outreach, the CSQ has taught and performed at the Austin Chamber Music Festival in Texas, San Diego State University in California, McGill University in Québec, and QuartetFest at Laurier University in Waterloo, and has presented educational programs for elementary and high schools across the USA, Canada, and France.
The CSQ is highly interested in taking on large scale projects that are aimed at musical exploration and innovation. In 2009 the CSQ embarked on the large scale project 'BLiM' (Breathing Life into Music), a month long residency in France generously supported by ProQuartet and the Centres Culturels de Rencontre Association in France and Europe (ACCR). The project culminated in the performance of two quartets by Théodore Dubois that were lost for the past century, as well as a new piece written for them by American composer Liam Wade. They kicked off 2010 with another large-scale project at the Banff Center for the Arts, involving collaborations with Common Sense Composers Collective and the Afiara String Quartet, and culminating in the premiere of four brand new quartets written for them.
Most recently, the CSQ was the Resident String Quartet at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, and the Resident String Quartet for the 60th anniversary season of Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. Since their inception in 2004, the quartet has held short and long term residencies at San Diego State University, Laurier University, the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and the University of Toronto where the quartet was formed. Their debut performance at the Arts and Letters Club in Toronto was met with high praise, and their first season culminated in the receipt of the University of Toronto Felix Galimir Award for Chamber Music Excellence after only 6 months as a quartet. Since this time they have participated in many prestigious summer festivals, such as the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar in New York, the Stanford Chamber Music Seminar in California, the Deer Valley Music Festival in Utah, the Schleswig-Holstein Chamber Music Festival in Germany, the Great Lakes Music Festival in Michigan, and the Aspen Music Festival's Advanced String Quartet Studies program.
The Cecilia String Quartet takes its name from St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. They have worked with members of the Juilliard, Emerson, Tokyo, St. Lawrence, Ying, Brentano, Penderecki, and Orford Quartets, among others. Members of the CSQ have attended the University of Toronto, the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Juilliard School of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and the Hochschule fur Musik und Theatre MuncheninMunich,Germany.
CSQ Performances have been broadcast on Classical 96.3FM (Toronto, Canada), CBC Radio 2 (Toronto, Canada), KUT 90.5 FM (Austin, Texas), and ABC Classical FM (Melbourne, Australia). Min-Jeong Koh currently plays on the ca. 1767 Joannes Baptista Guadagnini violin on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts and an anonymous donor, and and Sarah Nematallah currently plays on the 1851 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume on loan from an anonymous donor. The quartet would like to thank the anonymous donor and the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous support.
