Four Seasons String Quartet

Approval Type

Community Based

Artistic Discipline

Music

Program Type

Performances, Workshops, Residencies, Lecture/Demonstation

Populations/Areas of Interest

Grades K-6, Grades 7-12, In School, Young Adults, Adults, Older Adults, Intergenerational, Persons with disabilities, At-Risk, Underserved

Artistic Approach

The Four Seasons String Quartet is a professional chamber ensemble. We perform public concerts, school concerts, festivals and special events. We have a variety of styles including Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and contemporary music programs. The Four Seasons String Quartet is dedicated to educating both young and adult audiences in the values of live classical music. How we do this is to provide music programs that are both beautiful to listen to and educational. Our performers enjoy talking to the audience about each piece and composer to make the experience more interesting to the audience. Your patrons will enjoy many of our familiar pieces and some new music. Many of our musicians are solo artists who amaze the listener with their virtuosity.

The Four Seasons String Quartet members are all public and private music teachers, who appreciate the needs of modern students and groups. We want to make it easy to enjoy our music today and in the future.

Teaching Artist Approach

As a teacher and an artist I seek to engage the audience in the music. I talk about the composers and their lives before performing each piece. I enjoy helping people of all ages to learn about classical music and why it is so valuable. Once people get a first hand experience with live music, they will have a better appreciation for how it is made. Knowledge is power. We program music that is familiar to most audiences. We want them to be able to go home humming the melody of their favorite piece.

Program Management Strategies

When programming a concert I like to work closely with the administrators of the school or community that we are performing for. I want to get an idea of what the theme is for this event and what the objectives are. We taylor each event to the individual group. We will provide you with a typed program and handouts if desired. Most programs are audience friendly. We also have school concerts. The leader of the group can give brief talks about the music before performing. We also have follow-up evaluations and curriculum available.
It is always best with school concerts to have the main teacher there to make sure the students are safe. We can arrange meetings with staff if necessary.

Program Description

The Four Seasons String Quartet has several wonderful programs available for every audience and budget. Here are some of the programs that are available.

Night in Vienna - Four Seasons Orchestra or Quintet
Royal Baroque - Four Seasons Orchestra or Quartet
Angels in Paradise - Four Seasons String Orchestra
Serenade Her With the Classics - String Quartet

Program Descriptions

Night in Vienna - Four Seasons String Quartet
Beautiful classical music by Johann Strauss, Mozart
Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven and more. We will
perform waltzes and serenades from Vienna in her
full glory during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Royal Baroque - Four Seasons String Quartet
Give yourself the royal treatment. We will perform
music that was written for kings and queens by
J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Pachelbel,
and others. Hear about the lives and music of
these great Baroque masters.


Angels in Paradise -- Four Seasons String Quartet
Hear music that inspired the angels. We will perform
beautiful holiday favorites and classical music to warm
your heart. Our strings will perform glorius music to
celebrate the year. This program is perfect for families.

Romantic and 20th Century Women Composers
Come and enjoy the other half of music by women
Composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. We
will amaze you with music by Fanny Mendelssohn,
Clara Schumann, Louise Kerr, Gwyneth Walker,
Joan Tower and others. Learn about the life and
music of these great women composers. This
program comes with a singer and bassoon soloist.

Serenade Her with the Classics
Four Seasons String Quartet
We will perform a variety of light classical and Baroque
chamber music for your audience. They will hear many
familiar favorites from the classical repertoire. We can
give brief snapshots of each piece and composer for concertsor perform this program as background music. Thisprogram is perfect for new audiences and those who liketo hear only the best music. This program is great for
Mother's Day, afternoon teas, and luncheons. It is also
light on the pocket book too!

Technical Requirements

The Four Seasons String Quartet usually works well with the standard orchestra lighting set on the stage. The soloists usually perform accoustic only. If the auditorium is very large, we may need one or two microphones. If you have the hands free microphones that is even better. Our technical requirements are fairly simple. If you have recording capability we may want to record the concert.

Space Requirements

If you are hiring the Four Seasons String Quartet or the Four Seasons Brass Quintet then we will need an eight foot by eight foot stage or space. The string quartet takes up about as much space as a grand piano. It would be nice to have two green rooms if possible, one for the men and one for the women in the orchestra. If those rooms can be locked during the performance that would be nice. We can also store our cases back stage or in another room.

Supply Requirements

The Four Seasons String Quartet requires four chairs without arms. We can bring our own black stands if you do not own any. We do not need very much in the way of supplies for this group. If you have four bottles of water that would be nice. The Four Seasons Brass Quintet needs five chairs without arms. If you have stands that is wonderful, if not we can bring them with advance notice.

Special Considerations

The Four Seasons String Quartet has worked with all sizes of audiences from 10 people to 10,000. If you are building a stage we will need stairs with hand rails. We will also need wooden strips and rails on the back and sides of any portable stage to keep musicians from falling off as a safety precaution. The students or audience members should not come onto the stage or into the performing area during the performance for safety reasons. If you have a light backstage as we are coming on that will help. On certain concerts we may need to warm up or rehearse prior to the performance. It is good to plan to have that area available two hours before any concert. We also need to make sure that the air conditioning or heating is turned on early in the day so that it is ready when we arrive. Any band shells should be in place before the rehearsal and not be moved until the rehearsal or concert is finished.

The Four Seasons String Quartet does not need a stage. If you are putting us on a small raised platform then we will not need rails or strips for that.

References

Laura Kent - Fine Arts Director/Academic Services Consultant with Pendergast School District. lkent@pesd92.org or (623-772-2290.

Marj Sheramn - Strings Teacher with Scottsdale Unified School District. msherman@susd.org or (480) 484-1400.

Eric Broomfield - Arizona Repertory Orchestra of Scottsdale. Azreporch@gmail.com or (480) 350-9115.

Fees

Please contact the Four Seasons Orchestra for quotes on our wide variety of programs. We have string quartet concerts as low as $550.00 and larger orchestra concerts that range in price depending on the program and location. We can tailor each concert to fit your budget. We also have duos and trios available for smaller budgets. It will also depend on the number of hours and the travel time to your location. Our rates are very reasonable so give us a call today so we can give you the most affordable price.

Educator/Staff Training

The Four Seasons String Quartet programs help to enrich the professional development of staff and educators by broadening their knowledge of classical music and orchestral instruments. Many of our programs have curriculum that meets with the state standards of education in the music field. We often integrate music with history and literature. The teachers or staff may request a curriculum package to go along with our program. We recommend that the staff read the stories to the students or audience members before hand to get them aquinted with what they are going to hear. It may also be a good idea to play a CD of music by the same composer to get the students/audience enthusiasm and anticipation levels up.

How Arizona State Academic Standards are Addressed

The Arizona State Academic Standards in the Arts have specific core knowledge developed for each grade level. Our educational programs such as "Peter and the Wolf" and "The Little Engine That Could" help to teach the instruments of the orchestra, dynamics, listening skills, knowledge of composers, and story development. Our program for string quartet, "Carmen Lost Her Violin," is actually both a geography lesson and a music lesson combined. We perform music from numerous countries and pick up clues so that Carmen and the audience can find her violin. At the end we ask the audience to tell us which country the violin is in. The students will listen more closely to the music if they are playing a musical game. In the process they learn the styles of music that come from each country. If you would like to gear your program towards a specific age level for the state academic standards, we will be happy to work with you to emphasis those arts standards.