Meg Cairns
Cairns Artist Management
3711 NE 34th Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
(435) 232-3903
cam@frystreetquartet.com
www.frystreetquartet.com
[Note:  the FSQ is based at Utah State University, Logan, UT]

Availability:  July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008

Founded in 1997, the Fry Street Quartet took its name from the little street in Chicago on which it was born. Early encouragement came from the late Isaac Stern, who invited the quartet to chamber music seminars at the Jerusalem Music Center and Carnegie Hall, and Earl Carlyss of the Aspen Music Festival’s Center for Advanced Quartet Studies.  At Mr. Stern’s invitation, the quartet gave its Carnegie Hall debut on the Alexander Schneider Young Artists Series at Weill Hall in a performance that “spoke of precision, preparation, excitement, profound heritage, and ultimate satisfaction (The New York Concert Review.)”  Making their European debut, the quartet was sponsored by Carnegie Hall and the U.S. Department of State on a concert tour of Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Republic of Yugoslavia, and Slovenia as ambassadors of the Carnegie Fellows Program.  The FSQ won the Millennium Grand Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the First Prize at the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition, and a top prize at the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition.  The Fry Street Quartet is currently the faculty quartet-in-residence at Utah State University.

Outreach Options:

For three years, the Fry Street Quartet was the quartet-in-residence in Hickory, North Carolina, as recipients of a Rural Residencies grant funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and Chamber Music America.  During that period, the quartet performed hundreds of outreach activities with extraordinary results.  Hickory’s chamber music audiences went from 30 to 300, the sixth grade beginning orchestra suddenly had 60 children signed up, and the quartet residency continues in Hickory to this day funded with local support.  From bringing classical music to underserved schoolchildren in rural and urban settings, to teaching future auto salespeople about teamwork and communication at a trade school, their dynamic, insightful and witty approach makes music come alive and explores the far reaches of the intersections between music and life and how those connections can make a difference.

The Fry Street Quartet offers outreach opportunities for all ages.  Pre-school and elementary school children learn the basics, such as identifying the instruments and the different sounds they produce, but also are encouraged to use imagination and hear the “story” behind the music and observe the emotional elements they perceive.  Children and adults alike connect with the youthful energy of the quartet and their unique use of humor and whimsy to illustrate musical points.  “Informances” and lecture demonstrations are another option for audiences of varying ages, and can be held in a wide variety of settings.  Residencies and master classes are a particular strength of the FSQ, and they provide memorable coaching experiences for musicians at every level.

Customized audience development is a hallmark of the FSQ’s work.  The quartet can individualize a program or residency to fit the needs of virtually any organization. Such programs include tailor-made audience development concerts aimed at particular demographics, such as the “under forty crowd” and potential new subscribers.  A dinner or reception can be attached to this event, offering audience members an opportunity to interact with the musicians in person.

Preferred Performing Space:

Recital Hall, Auditorium (can also do more intimate spaces)

Technical Requirements:

• Four music stands
• Four appropriate chairs (straight chairs, no arms)
• Appropriate acoustics