Sphinx Chamber Orchestra Tour

Another great review of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and Harlem Quartet in The New York Times today...

Rite of Strings, for Black and Latino Youth
By VIVIEN SCHWEITZER

During a concert by the Sphinx Laureates on Tuesday evening, a girl sitting in a row of children behind me at Carnegie Hall wondered aloud why performers always exit the stage between bows.

The formal traditions of classical concerts sometimes surprise newcomers. What may have surprised veterans, on the other hand, was seeing so many minority children and teenagers in the audience, and that kind of presence is something the Sphinx Organization — a nonprofit group dedicated to increasing the presence of blacks and Latinos in classical music as performers, composers and audience members — wants to encourage.

Sphinx, founded in 1996, offers an annual competition for black and Latino string players, and laureates perform in the excellent Sphinx Chamber Orchestra, now midway through its inaugural national tour. Chelsea Tipton II, resident conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, led a diverse program of works for strings on Tuesday, opening with the Fugue from Villa-Lobos’s “Bachiana Brasileira” No. 9.

The violinist Elena Urioste, the 2007 winner of the Sphinx Competition senior division, offered a passionate, virtuosic rendition of the “Ballade” from Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 3 for solo violin. She also performed the solo part in the Ponce-Heifetz “Estrellita,” played here in a languid arrangement for violin and string orchestra by Geoffrey McDonald.

The concert, presented by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, also included a lively rendition of the jazzy “Alla Burletta” from Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Generations” Sinfonietta and an elegant performance of George Walker’s romantic “Lyric for Strings.”

The Harlem Quartet, consisting entirely of first-place laureates of the Sphinx Competition, was joined by the guest artist Paul Katz, the former cellist of the Cleveland Quartet, for the first movement of Schubert’s String Quintet in C.

In a video presentation about the organization’s goals, Melissa White — the second violinist of the Harlem Quartet, a Sphinx laureate and a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia — discussed the isolation she felt growing up and encountering so few black and Latino classical musicians. The violinist Aaron P. Dworkin, Sphinx’s founder and president, said from the stage that as a biracial classical musician he had also experienced isolation, and that classical music would benefit from the involvement of a wider section of society.

The program also included the presentation of a new prize created in honor of the violinist Isaac Stern, which the organization hopes will be awarded annually to one particularly gifted Sphinx musician. The inaugural recipient was the violinist Clayton Penrose-Whitmore, 15, who demonstrated his skills during a buoyant performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto in B minor for Four Violins, which concluded the concert.

Get the full review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/arts/music/23sphi.html

Seasoned musicians shine in group's debut

From the strikingly beautiful extemporized version of the "Star Spangled Banner" to the emphatic finale of Michael Abels' "Delights and Dances," the debut concert by the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra yesterday in Orchestra Hall was an artistic triumph and a marvel of institutional collaboration.

Under the sensitive baton of Chelsea Tipton II, the touring orchestra was nothing less than professional in its performance of works tracing the history of classical music from Baroque and Classical standards to late-breaking compositions reflecting today's society.

Keep reading: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081013/ART10/810130364

More great news stories about the tour...

Detroit Free Press

Detroit's Sphinx Organization has won national acclaim for its pioneering work to boost the number of minority musicians in classical music. While best-known for the annual Sphinx Competition for black and Latino string players each winter, the organization also oversees a growing empire of education programs, camps, residencies, the Harlem String Quartet (composed of former Sphinx laureates) and an annual gala at Carnegie Hall.

Keep reading: http://www.freep.com/article/20081009/COL17/810090321

The Detroit News

Violinist Melissa White could be the poster girl for the Sphinx Organization, which for the last dozen years has helped talented African-American and Latino string players find a place in the American landscape of classical music.

White, 24, an African American and native of Lansing, graduated last year from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and is now taking advanced training at the New England Conservatory in Boston. She's also a member of the Harlem String Quartet, which leads a parade of young Sphinx honorees who will play at Orchestra Hall on Sunday afternoon on a tour that's headed for Carnegie Hall.

Keep reading: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081011/ENT01/810110392

Toledo Blade

Chelsea Tipton II, resident conductor of the Toledo Symphony, has been scarce this month on his home turf. But he's getting a lot of exposure around the country as maestro of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra during its inaugural tour.

Tipton and the SCO, plus its resident string group, the Harlem Quartet, will touch down for a performance at 2 p.m. Oct. 12 in Detroit's venerable Orchestra Hall.

Keep reading: http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081005/ART10/810050279

Plus, a great review in the Memphis Commercial Appeal

A partnership between the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and the Germantown Performing Arts Centre brought forth a thrilling performance by young musicians who are, happily, the future of classical music.

Tuesday's concert at GPAC by the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra and the Harlem Quartet was a gratifying mix of music from Mozart to Marsalis, deftly led by maestro Chelsea Tipton II.
Harlem Quartet

The groups are part of the Sphinx Organization, a group formed in 1996 to provide increased diversity in the classical music world. Its educational programs and competitions have been providing black and Latino musicians opportunities to pursue and excel in their careers.

Keep reading: http://www.gomemphis.com/news/2008/oct/08/concert-review/

More great press about the tour!

From the Chicago Tribune…

Sphinx looks to change makeup of U.S. orchestras
By John von Rhein | Chicago Tribune critic
October 3, 2008
For decades, professionals in classical music have furrowed their brows over the lack of minority representation in the player rosters of U.S. symphony orchestras. Although minorities have made tremendous strides in many other fields, African-Americans and Latinos make up only 1.7 to 1.8 percent of professional American orchestras, according to the most recent survey by the League of American Orchestras.

Rather than wringing its hands over the situation, the Sphinx Organization is addressing the problem directly.

Keep reading: http://tinyurl.com/3ozuqk

And from the Urbana News-Gazette…

Harlem Quartet plays for Prairie Elementary students

Urbana students got down to Mozart on Wednesday morning.

They shook their shoulders to Duke Ellington, nodded their heads in time to a Cuban conga.

Packed in to the Prairie Elementary School gym, the students got a preview of the Harlem quartet, a nationally known string quartet playing with the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts tonight at 7:30.

Keep reading: http://tinyurl.com/4gezqb

This story about the tour appeared in Sunday's Chicago Sun-Times.

Youthful orchestra showcases several local musicians and breaks some barriers

Chicago audiences know a little something about top-flight orchestral performances by talented teens and college-age musicians.

Free concerts by the Civic Orchestra, founded as a training ground for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra nearly 90 years ago, sometimes rival those of its big musical brother. The area has some fine student orchestras, and Gustavo Dudamel, classical music's hottest young conductor and a favorite of listeners here, burst onto the international music scene leading stunning concerts with the high-energy players of Venezuela's Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra.

Local music lovers can catch a glimpse of another highly praised youth orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. Founded 12 years ago in Detroit as a competition to encourage gifted young African-American and Latino string players interested in classical music, the Sphinx Organization has put together a fall tour for its Sphinx Chamber Orchestra. In addition to the Harris Theater concert, the orchestra's inaugural eight-city tour includes a performance at Carnegie Hall on Oct. 21.

Read the rest of the article here: http://tinyurl.com/3mku77