The Joseph Fisch/Joyce Axelrod Residency Program for String Quartet is a two-year program in the School of Music and Dance which offers residency activities including public school outreach and community concerts of all types, coachings with world-renowned La Jolla Music Society artists and SDSU faculty, positions in the SDSU Orchestra, business training and assistance, representation at regional booking conferences and international touring opportunities. The program provides intensive training and coaching for exceptional groups that show the talent and commitment necessary to pursue a concert career.
Within the School of Music and Dance, the SDSU Adams’ Project Performers Network provides career development opportunities and concert bookings for the best emerging performers at San Diego State University while educating and empowering music students with business and performance experience. Joseph Fisch, a San Diego philanthropist and long-time supporter of instrumental programs at SDSU (Joseph Fisch Piano Competition, Fisch Family Scholarships) was intrigued by the Adams’ Project as an added value for young ensemble development. The donation by Joseph Fisch and Joyce Axelrod was designated to strengthen the caliber of performance programs at SDSU by giving students the opportunity to experience and perform with an established string quartet. Fisch stated: “Joyce and I feel that helping the School of Music and Dance has been a two-way street. We have the fun of making friends with members of the string quartets, enjoy our relationship with the faculty and staff and take part at the school in various events and celebrations. Donating has created an important addition to our lives.”
In response to national advertising, quartets submit DVD’s and promotional material to the School. Qualified quartets are then invited to perform at live auditions with a faculty committee. Quartets must exhibit artistic excellence, be articulate communicators and possess strong leadership skills. Once on campus, the quartets serve as role models in the SDSU Symphony Orchestra. By participating in national and international competitions, quartets are able to build their professional profile.
For 2010-12, the Hausmann String Quartet is in residence in the School of Music and Dance. In addition to their residency at SDSU, they were selected as the 2010 La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest Fellowship Quartet. They have been praised for their “charismatic playing and marvelously rich tone.” In 2009 the quartet was invited to participate as Shouse Artists in the 2009 Great Lakes Festival and was awarded a fellowship for Aspen Music Festival’s Center for Advanced Quartet Studies. Prior to their residency in San Diego, the Hausmann Quartet held the Morrison Fellowship Award in residency with the Alexander String Quartet at the International Center for the Arts, San Francisco State University. Hausmann Quartet musicians are Isaac Allen and Bram Goldstein, violins, Angela Choong, viola and Yuan Zhang, cello.
The Fisch/Axelrod String Quartet Residency Program has featured the following emerging artists: Hyperion String Quartet 2005-07 and the Cecilia String Quartet 2007-09. In 2006, the Hyperion String Quartet won the Bronze medal at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, IN, the most prestigious competition of its kind in the U.S. “Our experience in the SDSU quartet residency was instrumental in the development of our career. It offered us training and experience in the in the increasingly important business aspect of today’s classical music marketplace.” (Jonathan and Amanda Brin - Hyperion String Quartet).
The Cecilia String Quartet’s successes included First Prize and the Melpomene Prize at the Rutenberg Chamber Music Competition at the University of South Florida in Tampa, and Second Prize at the 2008 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. Additionally they performed as part of the La Jolla Music Society’s 40th Anniversary Special Events series. The quartet recently won First Prize in the 2010 Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) at The Banff Centre. The Cecilias also captured the Canadian prize for the performance of the, Commedia dell’arte, by Ana Sokolovic, a co-commission of the CBC and the Banff Centre. Following six days of juried concerts focused on classical, Romantic, and contemporary repertoire, the winner was chosen from a group of the world’s most accomplished young string quartets. “Our two years as String Quartet in Residence have been invaluable to us. Being here has definitely made us stronger as an ensemble. We will always remember fondly all the amazing people who have supported us.” (Sarah Nematallah, Cecilia String Quartet.)
Joyce Axelrod created a documentary entitled “Applauding the Cecilias” which won an award from the North American Movie Makers Awards, an organization restricted to amateur filmmakers in the US and Canada. The video chronicled how members of the Cecilia String Quartet persevered in the competitive world of music performance. Over a 3-month period, Axelrod took footage of the quartet preparing for concerts, at performances, daily practice sessions, and at her home over dinner. “They really opened up and we were able to see them as vulnerable, beautiful talented young women and peek into their relationship with each other.”
|
|
|
