What They’re Saying…
"My daughter always begins her violin practice with her Quartet
Project music. My husband and I have to ask her to stop playing
Hudson and spend some time on her other music."
mother of Quartet Project workshop participant
"I took a more detailed look at your website and listened to
some of the pieces. You are doing GREAT work, contributing to
a real void in the chamber music repertoire…"
Violist Josephine Liu Moerschel is executive director of Elemental Strings, a youth
orchestra for elementary school students in Santa Monica and co-director of the
Los Angeles branch of Junior Chamber Music. An active performer in Los
Angeles, she received a doctorate in viola performance from the University of
Texas-Austin.
"…a wonderfully refreshing alternative to the standard classical
quartet repertoire…"
Jennifer Stirling received her training as a violinist and violist at London’s Guildhall School of Music, the New England Conservatory, and SUNY-
Stony Brook. In addition to a busy performing schedule in Boston, she teaches and coaches chamber music at Phillips Exeter Academy and is a
member of the board of directors of ACMP—The Chamber Music Network.
“We live in a world of wide musical horizons. Why should young musicians be confined to eighteenth century
Vienna? The Quartet Project is a great idea at the right time.”
Founder of the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, violinist Colin Jacobsen has played chamber music with musicians such as Joshua Bell, Mark
O'Connor, and Phillip Glass. As a touring member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, he has collaborated with musicians from Asia and the Middle
East.
"The music has real depth. I liked it the first time I played it, but I liked it better after we’d played it two more times. I
think that I’ll like it even more after playing it five more times."
Wolfgang Lhotka teaches violin, viola, and chamber music at the Musikschule der Region Wagram in Austria. Trained at the Vienna Conservatory, he
performs regularly with the Wiener Kabinett Orchester and other ensembles.
"Hearing the music of different levels all together in the concert makes one appreciate even more the quality of the
compositions, and get a glimpse of some of the scope of the composer. Everyone played so well, and in such a short
time the pieces had a coherence and tightness that was delightful. Geoffrey’s passion is contagious, and it is fanning
into flame one that we as a family have had and dreamed of for our children."
father of Quartet Project workshop participant
"The Quartet Project has the potential to have a deep effect on students of chamber music everywhere."
Sebastian Ruth is founder and executive-artistic director of Community MusicWorks, violist with the Providence
String Quartet, and a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.
After we had rehearsed Hudson’s music, we returned to playing Haydn: I was struck by what an impressive
change playing the Hudson had made in their music making.
Isabelle Schneider earned diplomas in violin performance and pedagogy at the Musikakademie Winterthur-Zürich and the
Musikakademie Basel. She performs regularly with Klangforum Wien, the Wiener Kammerorchester, and the Vorarlberger Sinfonie
Orchester. She teaches violin and chamber music at the Musikschule Tulln, outside Vienna.
"I find the Quartet Project a brilliant idea and would love to incorporate it into our summer chamber music
school. Our intermediate and secondary students need just this kind of repertoire."
Tessa Petersen is executant lecturer in violin at the University of Otago (New Zealand). She has enjoyed an active career in the UK, US,
and New Zealand and has recorded music of Leo Sowerby on the Gasparo label. Her arrangement for violin and piano of Allen Shawn’s
“Tango” is published by Oxford University Press.
"Geoff Hudson's Quartet Project is an exciting solution to a long-standing and widespread problem. This
innovative work promises to enrich our musical future by opening the world of chamber music to string
players of all ages and abilities."
Violist Kenneth Freed joined the Minnesota Orchestra after five years in the Manhattan String Quartet. He founded the Learning
Through Music Consulting Group, a non-profit which seeks to put music at the center of all children's education.
"Students (and teachers) crave some variety. We need inspiring modern repertoire for young players, something they can sink their teeth into. I enthusiastically
support the Quartet Project, and await its completion eagerly."
As violist with the Silo String Quartet, Kerryn Coulter recorded albums with Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave, as well as multiple recordings on the Vitamin Records label. She now lives in Vienna, where she
teaches at the American International School.
"There is a decided lack of quality contemporary music that is within the scope of non- or not-yet-professional musicians. I was delighted to find in Geoffrey
Hudson that rare combination: a gifted, accomplished composer with a genuine and active interest in the needs of professional teachers and the students with
whom we work. The Quartet Project is an intelligent and thoughtful response to this hole in the repertoire and I am enthusiastic to hear the results."
Gabrielle Deakin is Head of Strings at the Escola Municipal de Música “Mestre Montserrat”in Barcelona and plays principal cello in the “Orquestra de Cambra del Garraf”.
"It is essential for our students’ musical development that they play in quartets from a young age. They need to
learn ensemble playing, how to listen, read a score, and make interpretive choices from the very beginning. This is
often not possible with the standard quartet repertoire. The Quartet Project will address a need and fill a void. As a
faculty member at Drake University, I am thrilled to be involved in this groundbreaking project. "
A distinguished performer and teacher, violinist Sarah Plum is Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at Drake University (Des Moines, IA).
"Having played and heard several pieces from the Quartet Project, I endorse this venture enthusiastically. Geoffrey
Hudson’s music is clever, lyrical, and filled with rhythmic vitality. I salute the Quartet Project and look forward to
its completion."
Violist Virginia Barron has been associated for many years with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival as performer, teacher and
associate director. Other summer chamber music festivals include the Ravinia Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Algonquin Music Festival,
and Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival.
"There is a real need for new and fresh repertoire for
beginning and intermediate string players using the
rhythmic and harmonic language of the twenty-first century. As young musicians begin their chamber
music journey, they should play music of our own time to complement and balance the existing
classical repertoire."
Violist Ann Roggen teaches at William Patterson University and is Vice President of the New York Viola Society. She performs with
the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the New York Philharmonic, and many other ensembles.
"There is often a wide discrepancy between what students are musically ready for and their technical
abilities. Coaches assign beginning and intermediate students quartet after quartet of Haydn and
Mozart. These are brilliant compositions, of course, but
children are drawn to more contemporary sounds long before they are ready for the technical
challenges this music requires. When students play music by living composers they get to see music
as an ongoing art form, one with direct relevance to their own lives. The Quartet Project is an important
undertaking and I welcome its contribution to future generations of chamber musicians."
