String quartet hits Hamilton

Beethoven and Dvorak played host at Hamilton College House rooftop lounge on Tuesday night. The Ester Hazy string quartet, from the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music, performed for a group of about 30 Penn students and faculty. The concert was the first in a series of six student chamber performances that Curtis and the college houses will present on campus over the next two months. Curtis, one of the finest conservatories in the world, lays claim to celebrated graduates such as Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein and Gian Carlo Menotti. The efforts of Michael Rose, managing director of the Annenberg Center, along with a grant from The Philadelphia Music Project helped make the new series possible. The Philadelphia Music Project -- a grant program of the Pew Charitable Trusts -- supports programs that foster interest in music around the region. The Ester Hazy quartet has been harmonizing together for about a year. Tuesday's atmosphere was intimate and informal -- the Curtis performers seated themselves at the center of the room, with a single lamp shedding light on both the musicians and the audience. According to violinist Nicolas Kendal, that is "how chamber music originally was meant to be" -- in a comfortable setting among friendly faces. Kendal invited the audience to sit back, relax and enjoy, adding that the setting was perfect for the amorously inclined. The quartet played Beethoven's String Quartet Number 10 in E-flat Major, Opus 74, taking a short break to take questions from the audience. When asked if he and the other musicians play other instruments, Kendall said, "I play drums... I had a folk band... I used to play the viola." To this, violist Anthony Devroye responded, "He only thinks he played viola." The quartet then played Dvorak's String Quartet in F Major, Opus 96 to close the performance. Reflecting on the show, cellist Joel Noyes said, "It's a conversation... for me, I'm playing my part, but I'm also constantly responding to everything that's going on around me." Penn students also reacted enthusiastically to the performance. Nursing freshman Judy Gerber said, "I came up to study and I was more than pleasantly surprised," adding that she had never been to a classical concert. "The atmosphere here was so perfect.... Wow." Jayon You, a College junior and the artistic chairwoman of the Penn Chamber Music Society, urged Penn students to attend the series, adding, "This is one of the rare opportunities to hear high quality classical music at Penn."