Join the Bronx Arts Ensemble String Quartet for a special Women’s History Month performance at the University of Mount Saint Vincent, featuring the premiere of a new string composition by Elizabeth Gartman. Celebrate the powerful contributions of women in music with this inspiring program, which will follow a panel discussion.
More details to follow.
PERFORMERS
Bronx Arts Ensemble String Quartet
Jorge Ávila, violin
Evelyn Petcher Brandes, violin
Sally Shumway, viola
Eliana Mendoza, cello
Honduran-born violinist JORGE ÁVILA has won consistent high praise from The New York Times through his many appearances as a soloist, concertmaster, recitalist, and chamber musician. A recipient of various awards and honors, Jorge received his Green Card under the “Extraordinary Talent” category, later becoming a US citizen. He was awarded first prize at the 2001 Mu Phi Epsilon Music Competition, and the Omar del Carlo Fellowship at Tanglewood Music Center. Jorge is concertmaster of the Ridgefield Symphony, DCINY and Sacred Music in a Sacred Space series, and is a longtime artist member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble. He has appeared as concertmaster with the Stamford, Westfield and Greenwich Symphonies. In 2015 Jorge served as concertmaster of the orchestra appearing with His Holiness, Pope Francis, at a televised Mass held at Madison Square Garden.
Violinist and composer EVELYN PETCHER BRANDES brings a passion for innovation and community to both her performing and teaching. Her work frequently blurs the line between performance and workshop; she has performed all over the US and abroad at venues from international concert halls to community spaces like hospitals, museums, and coffee shops. She is a co-founder of Leadlights Ensemble, a community focused string quartet based in Washington Heights, and East Lake Expression Engine, an El Sistema inspired music education program for underprivileged youth in Chattanooga, TN. Evelyn performs regularly with the Bronx Arts Ensemble and Leadlights around NYC, and has been awarded several grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for musical projects. She has served as a teaching artist for organizations such as the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers program, the Bronx Arts Ensemble, the Little Orchestra Society, the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and LEAP NYC
Violist SALLY SHUMWAY has been an artist member of the Bronx Arts Ensemble since 1991. She appears on BAE recordings in works by Carlos Surinach, Robert Baksa, Meyer Kupferman, Soong Fu Yuan, Allen Brings and Roberto Sierra. Sally is a longtime member of the American Symphony Orchestra, and also appears on movie soundtracks, TV jingles and Broadway soundtracks. She is a graduate of the University of Kansas and Manhattan School of Music, and is on the faculty of the Ridgewood (NJ) Conservatory.
ELIANA MENDOZA has performed extensively as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. She received a Diploma in Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. A Winner of the Artists International Competition, she made her solo debut at Weill Recital Hall in New York. Eliana also performed a solo recital on WGBH, National Public Radio in Boston, and reviews from The Enterprise, Brockton, MA have praised her as “…. a total artist…with a fluid touch, an impassioned mood and notable bearing.” Eliana is also a member of the American Symphony Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra and Westchester Philharmonic.
ELIZABETH GARTMAN is a composer, soprano, and educator currently based in New York City. With compositions described as “refreshingly absurd” (The Washington Post) and “innovative” (Twin Cities Arts Reader), Elizabeth’s work explores vocalism in its connection to the physical body. She considers her music to be an autonomous process in performance, centered on active listening and response. Elizabeth’s music has been commissioned by the Washington National Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, New Chamber Ballet, the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Guerilla Opera, InfraSound Ensemble, Ensemble Chemie, Pax Duo, the Why Collective, NYC Virtuoso Singers, Confluss, Bronx Arts Ensemble, Experiments in Opera, and others. Recent accolades include selection as a winner of SOLI Chamber Ensemble’s 30x30x30 Project Call-for-scores (2024), composer fellow with the American Opera Initiative (2023), Honorable Mention for the Darmstadt Ferienkurse Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (2023), the William Schuman Prize for Most Outstanding Score with BMI Student Composer Awards (2021), and runner-up of Beth Morrison Projects’ Next Generation (2022). Elizabeth holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M. Composition 2021) and the University of Illinois (B.M. Vocal Performance, B.M. Composition 2019). She serves as a faculty member at Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School in composition and theory.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Council and District 11 Councilmember Eric Dinowitz.