The California Quartet, from Southern California, participated last year in the Emerging Artists program of Yehudi Menuhin Seminar. San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music are delighted that they have now joined us as an Affiliate Ensemble. The members of the quartet are Bridget Dolkas, first violin, Maia Jasper, second violin, Christine Grossman, viola, and Erin Breene, cello. The quartet was formed in 2000, and Maia, the newest member, joined them in January.

All the members of the group perform regularly with orchestras and chamber groups in Southern California, however, as Bridget Dolkas explained, although you get to play great repertoire with wonderful soloists and conductors, “there is little personal input in the final interpretation of the music to the audience”. The formation of their own quartet has given them the artistic freedom and luxury to study music in depth and bring their own interpretation of it to the public. “It is very satisfying and exciting to spend time tearing apart a piece of music, studying it in detail, and then putting it back together”. As a team they are drawn to energetic and dramatic music, and “music with a sense of humor”. Among their favorite composers are Prokofiev, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Dvorak. Their performance energy is palpable, (as this interviewer can attest to) and they have been praised for “their spirited musicality, lyric and soulful playing ability, charismatic on-stage demeanor, and interactive ensemble style”.

The quartet is interested in encouraging the expansion of chamber music in the San Diego area, attracting new audiences, and in particular they would like to interest younger audiences. They have received a grant for next fall from the Arts Council of the City of Carlsbad for a two-part concert and lecture series on the influence of jazz on chamber music. There will be open rehearsals, lectures, as well as two world-premiere, jazz-influenced compositions.

This year the California Quartet was a finalist in the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition. They have also been accepted to perform at the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival, the Juilliard Quartet Seminar, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and the Muir Quartet Seminar.

The California Quartet just found out that they have been invited to the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Indiana. They will be travelling there in the end of April to compete in the final rounds of this major competition.

Mary Wildavsky (published in SFFCM's May 2006 newsletter)

N.B. The information contained in this article was correct at time of publication. Please refer to the date the article appeared in our newsletter.